Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Full Spectrum Cycling #200 – Jeff and Mars from El Wrongo – RAGBRAI Route – Liver Giver Report, Pencil Sharpeners and Post Show Tunes

Transcript

Full Spectrum Cycling #200 – Jeff and Mars from El Wrongo – RAGBRAI Route – Liver Giver Report, Pencil Sharpeners and Post Show Tunes · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:01
  [upbeat rock music] Hey, everybody.
• 0:18
  This is Full Spectrum Cycling, show number 200. Woo! [bell ringing] Woo! Big show number 200. 200. That's a hell of an, that's a hell of a number, show number 200. I'll drink to that. I'm gonna wet my whistle. Right?
• 0:32
  As a matter of fact, Tony, Tony- Around the side of the hill... [laughs] Tony brought us- Getting ready to go up the hill... what is that stuff? It's, uh, some kind of whiskey. It, uh, whiskey from Trader Joe's. Oh.
• 0:42
  Or, yeah, Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's whiskey. Ah. Mm. Little whistle wetter. Woo. Uh, so this is, this is the first, uh, taste of not beer- Mm-hmm. [laughs]... this year, as a matter of fact. So let's see how that goes.
• 0:58
  Made it through the whole month of January just only doing beer, no other things. I like that. That's good. I don't know. I thought it was pretty good. I might keep it going. That was my intention.
• 1:07
  Without- That was my intention... special occasion action. Yeah. There you go. Like Monday. Of which this is one. Oh. [coughs] [laughs] Oh good, now I'm coughing. That's not what I need to do. Okay.
• 1:20
  [laughs] Welcome back. Yeah, after yester- a- after yesterday, after last week's, uh, slide, slide into home base thing. Da, da, da, wee. That was ugly. Coughing is not good right now. That was ugly. I'm sorry.
• 1:33
  I don't know. That was- I'm, I'm thinking bruised now. I'm not thinking so much about... It might be cracked back there. Yeah. Microfractures of the- Microfracture... of your rear, uh, rib cage.
• 1:43
  Rear wings on the back of the back. You did go down pretty hard. Well, here's the thing. So there was snow, which was fine, and there were thick slicks, which was fine when there was gravel and- Snow...
• 1:55
  parking lot under the snow, but- There was ice... apparently there was ice under the snow- Yes, there was... when I was coming into the- There still is... to the, um- [laughs]... what do they call that thing?
• 2:03
  The parking rack. Yeah. And Tony goes, "It looked like you sped up." [laughs] I'm like- It did. I thought you were going faster. I'm like, "What?"
• 2:11
  I did not wanna be [laughs] going faster, but yeah, that was sort of a body slam. Yeah, that, you went down really hard. It had echoes of the Lunds wheelie into the 101 pylon thing. Oh, it was pretty close. Oh.
• 2:24
  Because I was coming, I was walking- [laughs]... and I was just coming around the bend and then I saw the, just at the end of it- Yeah... boom. I'm like, "Whoa, wait."
• 2:33
  I dismounted my bike and saw you coming at me way too fast. [laughs] Yeah, and just was, like, trying to stop, though. Yeah. [laughs] Well, glad you're- Okay, so-... glad you're at least partially okay.
• 2:42
  Yeah, I think it'll be, you know, by next week I'm thinking, maybe. [laughs] That's what I'm hoping. I still am bruised from that wipe out, the black ice wipe out. I just, I guess all- And you, and-...
• 2:52
  old, old guys don't- Right... heal anymore as much. Well, and you navigated Last Rites pretty deftly- Yeah. [laughs]... even, e- even though there were some, uh- Well, there was-...
• 3:02
  very aggressive humanity people, pieces- Yeah... moving about. Well, it... So yeah, last Friday was our, what do you call them? Not roommate. [laughs] Our, our building mate, James, it was his 48th birthday, I think.
• 3:18
  I think you are correct. 52? No, 48. Oh. He's still, I think he's still- I thought he's been 50. Nope. No, I don't think so. He's behind, underneath me.
• 3:24
  Anyway, he's pretty- I thought a couple years ago we had his 50th birthday party. Oh, I might be going backwards then. Maybe. Still sure it's... Whatever.
• 3:30
  It was his show at a, at a local, I call it a punk palace- Mm-hmm... called Last Rites, which was really a good show, I thought. Hell yeah. Yeah, yeah.
• 3:39
  They had, uh, four bands and I, I would, had said I'd do some photos before this calamity last week, and I thought, "I'm gonna go there and see how it goes," 'cause I'm not slam dancing here, folks, with this thing. Oh.
• 3:52
  [laughs] And I, I was, it was going fine and then Hurricane Category Four Lloyd showed up and I was like, "Uh-oh."
• 3:59
  [laughs] 'Cause he does the thing where he, he shakes your hand but he kinda rotates your arm socket- Yeah... so it almost pulls it right out of your shoulder. [laughs] I'm like, "Bro, bro, no, bro, please." Lloyd.
• 4:10
  But- Lloyd... yeah, and then, uh- Lloyd... there was a couple people there that were... I had to keep them at arm's length. Oh, shit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But otherwise it went, it went okay.
• 4:19
  I, of course- Yeah, Jessi- Jessica was in- Oh my God... whirling dervish mode and was like- Right... "Well..." I'm like, "What the hell is going on?" Yeah. And the preamble I had with that was,
• 4:30
  uh, stopped down at Sabbatic and, I mean, I had to go to the bathroom bad, so it was like beeline right for the bathroom, and I heard, like, noise, blah, blah, blah, somebody talking loudly.
• 4:42
  Didn't think anything of it until I was in the bathroom and I could hear it- Stealth... clear as a damn bell. Oh, no. River West's own Whisper. Whispering Jeff. Whispering Jeff. Wow. Blah, blah, blah, blah.
• 4:54
  Oh my God, he- It's, it's-... so close- What's his last-... kicked. I swear to shit this guy was gonna fucking pull a fucking knife or a piece or something on him.
• 5:03
  I mean, [laughs] this guy was like up to here- Yeah, Whispering Jeff is-... with his shit, man... definitely n- not an accurate description. It's a- Yes, it's-... 180 degree- Yeah So his name's Bob? No.
• 5:14
  [laughs] Loud Bob? You know this guy. I do know Whispering Jeff. Oh, yeah. Anyway, so- That was- But at least- That was exciting... he didn't come to Last Rites, though. Very true. Very true.
• 5:25
  I, and I played my avoidance technique of pinball on that one, where I was just, "Nope, I am the bumper, not moving." Not addressing, not looking, and not, eh, engaging. Right on. It worked out nicely. Right on.
• 5:38
  [laughs] Little victory. So we have any notes for this, uh, your podcast? Yeah, there's quite a few here for some reason. I don't know what's going on here. Well, it's chilly this- The 200th... that's right.
• 5:46
  It is a little chilly this week. It's gotta be robust and full of- Well, let's, uh, we have a potential call from somebody who played at the fatbike.com 100th party. Oh, how long ago was that?
• 5:59
  Do you think he's sorry or not sorry? I'm not sure, but he kicked ass at Last Rites. El Rongo, Jeff Scanlon, and Mars, that was a very good- Hell yeah... I would put them on the top of that bill.
• 6:10
  I didn't see the last band though, so [laughs] gotta be honest. Oh, true. Yeah, well, I think, I think it was James. Nope. They were in the middle. They were in the middle?
• 6:20
  It was Rosa Parkinson's, then Hawk as a Weapon, then- Oh, the last band... El Rongo Oh, oh, I thought you were talking- And then- I thought you were talking the last band at the 100th. Oh, no, no, no.
• 6:30
  [sighs] No, I think Chris was the last band- Yeah... at the 100th. Uh, uh, Slug, Slug, ugh, Slug Rejecter. And I would, did not see them. Were they good? Uh, I didn't see them either. Oh [laughs]. I started to.
• 6:40
  I started to hear them. They sounded good, but all of a sudden it was like- There you go... Yeah. It was mid- It pretty much was like- It was closing... "Hey, uh, my Uber's here," and it was just like, "What? Oh, okay.
• 6:49
  Okay, I guess we're going." I didn't even close my damn tab, which is fine. Well, it just was- Because it's one of those places... closing in on the midnight thing, and I was like, "Yeah, yeah." Yeah.
• 6:57
  I mean, it's the place that like scans your card and gives it back just to, you know, so I don't have to do the- Do they 20% tip you for your forgetfulness? [sighs] I think so. I think it was. Nice.
• 7:05
  I think it was in there, and, eh, what the hell. Well. I'll take it. Yeah, for sure. It wasn't... I mean, it was an affordable bar that took cards. I like that. There you go.
• 7:14
  I kinda thought it was gonna be a cash bar, but it was, eh, I don't know. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. There's a couple- Enough of my financial woes. There's a couple quick things bike related.
• 7:25
  Oh, this was- [laughs]... kinda ish. Well, sort of. Mm. Yeah, well, and that's why, uh, Mr.
• 7:30
  Scanlan we're, uh, gonna talk to I think in a little bit, uh, is a f- fat bike rider, and he has traveled across Iceland and other extremely fun things.
• 7:40
  He's, he's not just a fat bike rider, he's a titanium fat bike rider. Oh, yeah, titanium fat bike. So real quick before... Hey, look at that. I'm gonna push a button in a second, but, um- Oh...
• 7:51
  Fat Bike Worlds are moving to Colorado again, Leadville 2024- Oh... instead of Crested Butte, which- Have you been to Leadville? Oh, yeah, for sure. Oh. Yeah, I, I love Leadville. It's way the fuck up there.
• 8:02
  Um- I do too. I do too. And World Naked Bike Ride Milwaukee is June 24th, 2023. Thanks for the warning. [laughs] There you go. Just keep your, keep your blinders on and your eyes closed, folks.
• 8:13
  Man, there's some- All right... there's some s- yeah, uh- I'm a-pushing the button. I pushed the button and- I ain't body shaming. I'm just, uh- There it is, uh, welcome to the radio program.
• 8:20
  Caller, who do we have on the line? Oh, hello, gentlemen. You got El Rongo here. El Rongo. El Rongo. Uh, is it the, uh, entirety of El Rongo? Yeah, I got Jeff here and- What's going on? Hey. Oh, yep... Mars here too.
• 8:34
  What's up, Mars? Right on. Are you guys... Is this a normal practice night for you guys? Yeah, Wednesdays will be normal get together and rock out night. Cool. Right on.
• 8:43
  We were just, uh, talking about your Last Rite show last week for James' party, and also how you guys, I... It's been a long time, five years probably, but that you played the Fatbike.com 100th party.
• 8:56
  So I thought since we're not, you know- Yeah... we're not flush with cash to do a big bash for the 200th here, we'd get you guys on and kinda rehash some of the, the glory days of fat biking and El Rongo and et cetera.
• 9:08
  So welcome to the show, guys. It's, uh, it's, it's Jeff and it's Mars, yeah? Yes, sir. Yeah, congratulations on 200, guys. That's a, that's a big deal, and, you know, we were really, uh, happy to be a part of the 100th.
• 9:21
  That 100th was just such a blast, and, uh- [laughs] It really was a good- Yeah, we actually, uh... Yeah, we're just actually setting up from that show on Saturday tonight, so, uh- [laughs]...
• 9:32
  and, and, and such from that. We've had a busy couple of weeks, but yeah, that 100th was, uh, that was a, that was a fun night 'cause that was with Chris Daisy's band too, if I remember. Yeah, for sure. Mm-hmm. It was.
• 9:44
  You know, he's got a, uh- [audio dips] for the [audio dips] circle band. Yeah, for sure.
• 9:49
  You know, Chris Daisy, have you seen his, uh, have you seen his, uh, laser tag thing down there somewhere s- just north of the Illinois border? I have. [laughs] I have.
• 10:00
  I, I haven't made it down there yet, but I have, and, um, yeah, no, it sounds like, it looks like he might've been in his band.
• 10:07
  He's got a new band that might be playing around too, but- It seems like he goes through bands pretty quickly to me... [audio dips] It's like every year or two there's a new- Oh, that'll happen.
• 10:17
  Yeah, for su- well, not with you guys. How long have you guys been together? Uh, like eight now, right? Yeah, about eight years. Uh, maybe on the long side of seven. Um, yeah, it's been, it's pretty wild.
• 10:29
  You know, Mars was [laughs] caught saying a couple, about a year ago, he's like, "You know, I never really thought this would go past five years," and here we are into our eighth year.
• 10:37
  We just went into the studio last week in Chicago. We went to, uh, uh, Steve Albini's place, Electrical Audio. Yeah. And yeah, I'm gonna name drop that because- Really?...
• 10:46
  that's kind of a, a bucket list kinda thing for us.
• 10:49
  So yeah, we had a great recording session, and, uh, played James's, uh, birthday party, which was with Hawk as a Weapon and Slug Rejecter, and, you know, that, that show was great. That was such a fun night.
• 11:03
  Yeah, well, you guys kicked ass. It was awesome. Thank you. Yeah. So do, so just, uh, since you mentioned going into the studio, uh, how is that, uh, modern day compared to, you know, 15, 20 years ago?
• 11:17
  Is it still basically the same kind of a process, or is it, uh, a little more accessible to the average Joe these days? Or- Digital?
• 11:26
  Yeah, so the thing about Electrical Audio and, and what Steve kinda prides himself on is that everything goes through two-inch analog tape there.
• 11:35
  And they are, they, this studio in particular kinda keeps that old school mentality of capturing the moment, let's get a live take, and make the best out of that live take, and capture, you know, the musicians being musicians.
• 11:49
  Mm. And then run it through a whole analog system. Now, we did use some, you know, toys like Pro Tools and, and some other analog effects through the chains and stuff, but basically, yeah, we knocked out eight songs.
• 12:03
  We played them live. Um, you know, probably three, four takes max on a lot of these songs. We're pretty well-rehearsed, so it went really well. The last day we, we fought through two songs.
• 12:16
  [laughs] Yeah, it was rough Yeah, there was a classic meltdown moment, but it, it really fulfilled the experience, you know? Uh, we've worked with our engineer, our engineer's been at Electrical Audio for 15 years.
• 12:26
  His name's Gregoire, and he's worked on, like, great albums like, you know, the whole Pelican library. Boy, uh, I- In U- In Utero. In Utero. Whoa. Yeah. Uh, Pixies' Trompe le Monde. Nice. Right. Wow.
• 12:41
  And all the Breeders stuff. Yeah, so we're, we're in great company, and they just love having us. We're so lucky that they just love having us, and what we do works well with what they do, so.
• 12:54
  When, when you're- Well, to be, to be specific, we work with Gregoire, the, uh, engineer. That's our man, Gregoire. Absolutely, yeah. So when you guys are, like, selling out stadiums, can I get a backstage pass for free?
• 13:08
  Oh, yeah, Tony, you're in. Free. [laughs] Thank you. You can, you can jump on stage and yell, "Pop the goat." Nice.
• 13:16
  [laughs] So now that you've done the recording session, what, uh, what does it take to get through and master it, and actually get this so- Yeah, let's turn it on... other folks can hear it?
• 13:23
  Yeah, how, how long does that process take? We're... [laughs] Well, we, we drag it out- It's like two, three hours... as long as possible. [laughs] At the end of it probably.
• 13:33
  Uh, 'cause we have, we have two, like, EPs of material in the hopper that we haven't released yet. Um, those will be coming first. Um, artwork to do. Uh.
• 13:46
  Um, but yeah, we, we still have a mixing session to schedule, and so might not be for another several months.
• 13:53
  Yeah, it'll probably take, uh, a month or two to get mixed, to go back and forth, 'cause we're doing everything remotely, so they'll send files, we'll send responses, they'll update it, Gregoire will work on it, et cetera, and we'll go back and forth.
• 14:05
  So we'll say on the last batch, we have three that are mastered and gone through. So after mixery- mixing, we go to mastering, and we, uh, we were using Justin Perkins at, um- [laughs]...
• 14:18
  uh, the, the, the fancy Wammie award-winning mastering place.
• 14:22
  But we found a better fit with the guys in Bronson Arm, um, for these last tracks, and he really embraces, like, the noise metal scene and knows what we wanna get out of these recordings. Nice.
• 14:33
  So after mixing at EA, we send it to this guy in Indianapolis, or, uh, in, in Indiana, and- No, uh, Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo. Yeah.
• 14:41
  And, uh, he, he masters it, puts the final touches, levels everything, and then, so we got three done. We got five out going out for mastering, and then we have to mix these last eight we did in the studio- Nice...
• 14:54
  mix and then master those. So we're gonna leapfrog some songs throughout the year. Right on. Dynamic Sound Services, that's the mastering guy. Yeah. Nice. Shout out to him 'cause he's awesome too.
• 15:05
  So w- if people wanna hear El Rongo these days, what's the best place to go check out the catalog? Um, we finally got ourselves, uh, organized and we're, we're on Spotify
• 15:18
  and all the rest, Bandcamp, probably Tidal, um- YouTube. We got the, the music video for Face First on YouTube. YouTube. Um, yeah. And just El, El, El Rongo is the best search to do for it? Yes, sir. All right, on.
• 15:35
  I search that often- Yeah... just for fun. [laughs] Not gonna lie. Just Google the name. Well- Google the name... so can we get a track- I am now following you on the Spotify. There we go.
• 15:45
  Can we get a track to throw at the end of the, the show for people to hear what you guys do? Yeah, we'll figure something out. We... We're set up. We just set up the mics.
• 15:53
  Maybe we'll record something now, see if, for tonight. But otherwise, we can, uh, we can set up something off of, uh, Brutal Self-Editing Machine. We could, we could also just sneak peek a rough mix.
• 16:04
  Yeah, we have rough mixes from the studio if you guys... Uh, we'll do that. [laughs] Special sneak pre- sneak peek of, uh, upcoming tunes. Nice.
• 16:14
  And we also have a theme song in the works for you, 'cause we love you guys and we love the podcast and, and listen regularly. [laughs] We wanna give you a new theme song. Yep. Yeah.
• 16:22
  So we're, we've got something in the works. Gregoire's gonna mix it for you, and if you guys like it, you can release it to the, the wolves. Shout out. Right on. So- Shout out...
• 16:31
  well, that'd be great because the, the theme song we currently use is the, it's just what comes with the RodeCaster unit when you buy it, so it's like [laughs]... we've used that for 200 shows now.
• 16:42
  You know, it's royalty-free, bro. Well, you're working the hell out of it. Yeah, right. People- Yeah. Like, uh- It just kinda fit with what we do, so- It's gonna have a, like, calliope noise or something. Right. Yeah.
• 16:50
  Da-dee-wump-bee-bung. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So oh, that'd be, that's great. We appreciate it. I'm, I'm excited to s- hear what you guys come up with. And, uh,
• 17:00
  so I d- I did wanna briefly touch, Jeffrey, um, on your, on your cycling, I don't know if I'd call it a career, your cycling adventures, I think. That's a good way to look at it.
• 17:09
  Adventures is probably the, the way to put that. Uh, I know you've done- Sure...
• 17:14
  Iceland, but you've also done some trips around the country where you, where you take a train somewhere and you stay there for a week or so and ride around that area. What, what, uh, what kinda highlights do you have?
• 17:25
  What kinda sticks out in your mind for things you say, like, if you got something, you really wanna ride somewhere, this is where you oughta go. What kinda sticks out as a, a great place for you? All right.
• 17:36
  Uh, yeah, I've done some spot-to-spot bike packing, and I guess right off the top of my head, the, um, Cumberland Gap, the, uh, C&O Towpath and Cumberland Gap from Penns- uh, from Pittsburgh to DC is a pretty amazing- You-...
• 17:54
  bike trip. Um- You posted a lot about how much you love that... yeah, it, it, it's so convenient. There's free camping spots every 30 miles. You can go as far as you want in a single day.
• 18:07
  There were dudes that were racing to, like, DC from Pittsburgh in, like, two days, um- [laughs]... or- Pathletes... I went with one of my college buddies. Yeah, dude, like- On your left. [laughs]...
• 18:22
  like, doing like, like, doing like a century and a half in a day. Um- Shit But the other one I would think, like I like taking the train out to Montana and Idaho. I rode...
• 18:31
  There's a, there's a loop in Idaho called the Selkirk Mountains.
• 18:35
  And when the border is open, it was closed when I went during the COVID times, but the border goes into, the, the loop goes into Canada and back through into Montana and through Idaho- Damn...
• 18:46
  right at the very tip of- No papers? [laughs] And that was, it was just beautiful. How many miles is that?
• 18:53
  Um, uh, well, I did a side loop further into Montana and then south back into the lower part of Idaho, starting and ending in Sandpoint. I think I only, I think I did like 389- Holy... over seven days.
• 19:10
  [laughs] It was very casual, you know? That's, that's impressive, dude. That's impressive. Yeah, you had a pretty good year last year. No, and with the crazy thing, you know, you could say miles and all that.
• 19:19
  The problem with that one was the, uh, much like Iceland is, you don't get the vertical miles in those [laughs] you know- [laughs]... distances.
• 19:26
  Yeah, I rode 30 miles from one town to the next, but it doesn't count like the fjord I climbed out of or- Right. [laughs] Right...
• 19:33
  you know, the, it was like a foothill mountain that you had to get over to get to the next town. And, and that stuff, you know, that's part of the adventure.
• 19:41
  That's where you, you really learn a lot about yourself and fears. Yeah, 'cause typically you're- Fears. Yeah... [laughs] you're- The Idaho one, I was, I almost canceled. Right on.
• 19:52
  Yeah, typically you're doing these solo, right? You're not, you're not doing this with a big party or a, a, a guided thing. This is mostly Jeff on his own, right? Right. Yeah, for, for most of them.
• 20:02
  The, um, Allegheny Passage, the Cumberland Gap I did with, uh, one of my college buddies. But Idaho I did solo. Iceland did solo. I did a, a route through southern Illinois into Kentucky solo.
• 20:16
  Um, that one I got chased by dogs for the first time in my life, and that was terrifying. But- [laughs] Well, uh, we- It would've caught a foot to the skull... nice.
• 20:26
  Well, here's something interesting if you want, wanna get chased by dogs, 'cause I know where all those dogs live, and it's Iowa, because I've been chased there by them tons.
• 20:35
  [laughs] Uh, they, [laughs] they just released the, uh, 2023 RAGBRAI route, and it looks really good. I don't know if you would consider doing a RAGBRAI, but it's, uh, you know, 500 miles- Mm-hmm...
• 20:47
  plus across Iowa in seven days, and it's a, it's a blast. And I think this one is the sixth- Yeah... the sixth most elevation or something. This is like the 50-somethingth year. So it's gonna be...
• 21:00
  You know, people think Iowa's flat, but this'll be somewhere around 18,000 feet over that week. Mm-hmm. So it's, it's not like a mountain, but there's, you're still going up and down a lot. [laughs] Right.
• 21:11
  Yeah, those long, grinding hills are murder. Right. Yeah. That's- Those farm hills are brutal. That's when I get off and stop at the roadside blueberry muffin, you know- [laughs]...
• 21:23
  booth and grab a thing and sit halfway up the hill and eat for a little bit and then continue on. [laughs] Right.
• 21:29
  Speaking of stopping for treats and other bike stuff, I can give you kind of an update on the Kevin Berger's Legs and Liver Giver. Yeah. [laughs] Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 21:38
  Oh, and yes, and also the, uh, the, uh, or the ride home too. [laughs] The extracurriculars. [laughs] Yeah, Lars hasn't heard that part of the story yet, so this'll be fun. [laughs] Um, yeah.
• 21:49
  So this was, uh, this last weekend was the ninth annual Legs and Liver Giver in Madison, Wisconsin, hosted by, uh, the illustrious Kevin Berger.
• 22:00
  A gracious host, who the night before goes out and puts a stack of wood so we can have a fire pit. Um, it's in this little wooded park, for those that don't know. There's, there's only about 20 of us that ever go.
• 22:13
  Um, but a little wooded park right by the Wisconsin Artillery in Madison. And, um, it's about a one-mile loop that he creates. We do it in the end of January, beginning of February every year. Um, a bunch of...
• 22:28
  You know, there's been years where it's been mud. There's been years where it's been 20 below and completely iced out. Um, this year was absolutely perfect. Dave Luntz, uh, familiar to the show- [laughs]...
• 22:39
  um, was, had joined me this year. His bike was inoperable, and I was healing from a foot injury from actually from riding on the Posa Trails. And, um, it was absolutely gorgeous. Perfect conditions, great people.
• 22:54
  Uh, Patrick Siegel showed up. Um, Kevin Berger was there. I thought you said great people. Frank Hahn and Aaron Gabriel. Yeah, a lot of the, actually a lot of familiars to the show were there. Sure.
• 23:05
  And, um, there, it turns out there was a random. Some dude was just riding through the park and sidled up, and as everybody was saying hello and introducing himself, he jumped in. [laughs] Nice.
• 23:16
  It wasn't until like an hour and a half later that we figured out, like he's like, "Oh, wait. No, yeah, I don't know any of you people. I'm just here drinking your beer and hanging out by the fire."
• 23:25
  [laughs] That's fucking awesome. [laughs] And he's like super natural, so yeah. We adopted a new member. Um, yeah, it was, it was fantastic.
• 23:33
  And then so Dave and I got riding home about 5:00 PM, and there was a blizzard [metal clinking] going on. Well, not really a blizzard, but pretty good snow.
• 23:40
  And, um, you know, 40 minutes into the drive home from Madison, Dave's like, "Hey, that's, uh, that's pretty strange that we're seeing a sign for Janesville."
• 23:50
  And, uh, we realized instantly that I had been driving 40 minutes south. [laughs] And- Classic. [laughs] So I proceeded to turn north.
• 24:00
  We made our, uh, ritual stop at the Pine Cone and loaded up on Salisbury steak sandwiches and bear claws and eclairs the side of your, size of your head. Éclair. At this point, the snow's coming down pretty solid.
• 24:15
  Um, but the, you know, I'm driving a sturdy little truck. Had no problems. A couple miles out from Pine Cone, I s- I spin out on the freeway. No. And I slide left across the freeway. There's full traffic.
• 24:29
  Left across the freeway, try to recover. I slide back right across all three lanes, try to recover, slide back left and hit the center rail. Wow. Oof. The whole time Dave and I are like, you know, like,
• 24:43
  just like there's nothing more we could do. I was doing everything right. [laughs] Pumping the brakes, turning into it. It was, it's just one of those things. And we slammed in. Fortunately, the airbags didn't go off.
• 24:53
  Oh. [laughs] Dave goes out, and we were making sure I had traction, that the wheels were working. I was able to drive off. Headlights worked. Everything was good.
• 25:01
  Um, get back to drop Dave Luntz off at his house, and my tire goes flat in his driveway. Oh, nice. Oh. [laughs] And I had broken my rim.
• 25:10
  Yeah, I broke my rim, and it lasted exactly long enough to end up in his driveway where we could use his good jack- Nice... take our time and relax. Have a beer. Yeah, it was- Speaking, speaking of beers- Yeah, exactly.
• 25:24
  [laughs] Since we were talking about mountains, let's, uh, let's be at the top of the hill here now for a second. [laughs] Are you guys, uh, are you guys imbibing- There you go... over there at all?
• 25:34
  Um, I just, yeah, I finished a glass of rye here, sir. Nice. I have, um, [clears throat] a dark lager, Door County Dark Skies. Okay. Okay. Ooh, that's one I haven't tried. Yeah. You like it? Yeah, it's nice. Yeah?
• 25:49
  It's like, uh, oh, shoot, can't remember the... There's like a Polish beer that it's kinda similar to. Like top- Tytryster. It's like Tytryster.
• 25:58
  [laughs] Today here in the studio, I'm g- [laughs] if I butcher this name again- Yeah... I'm gonna read the can because- Yeah... uh, it's a Sierra Nevada called Powder Day IPA. It's one of their seasonals.
• 26:10
  It's basically a January through March thing. It's a double dry hopped, uh- IPA... it's really, really good, I think. Um- It's incredibly good... yeah, I, I'm pretty much a Sierra Nevada fan anyway. As am I.
• 26:23
  But this is one of the ones, like, four times a year they come out with a kind of a seasonal, and this is the cold weather time, and it's, uh, I don't know, it's, i- i- it's, it's, it's shimmery gold.
• 26:33
  [laughs] It's capped by snowy foam. It's warm. But it's a little on the, it's a little on the, uh, aggressive side on the ABV, 7.7. Woo. Mm.
• 26:43
  And it's got, you know, I don't know, does everybody put every kind of hops they can think of in it? Right. Amarillo, Citra, Chinook, Comet, Hercules, Idaho 7, Mosaic- [laughs]... and Polaris are all in this.
• 26:53
  Hercules, Hercules. As well as Munich, 2-Row, Pale and wheat malts. It's insane. There's a lot of stuff in there, but it's tasty. I'm, I'm, I'm digging it. Well- Oh, yeah. Hi.
• 27:04
  [laughs] Yeah, it's good to see Sierra Nevada still around, one of the first mover, uh, craft breweries. Absolutely. Still family-owned too. Yeah. And also, I believe they're in Chico.
• 27:14
  If they're not in Chico, they w- I'm pretty sure they're in Chico... well, which is where our- Yeah. On, on the can, "Family owned, operated and argued over." Chico, California.
• 27:21
  [laughs] Yeah, yeah, which is where, uh, where- And-... Paul Component Engineering is and, and-... Mills River, North Carolina...
• 27:26
  th- that's two good reasons to go to Chico, is visit Paul's Component Engineering and- Hell yeah... Sierra Nevada.
• 27:32
  And if you're lucky on a weekend to do a single speed craziness with those guys, you, um, can't help but have a good time.
• 27:39
  [laughs] Well, if they got a thing in North Cackalacky, then doesn't, uh, Oscar Blues have presence- Yeah... in North Cackalacky as well? They do, but Chico's in California. Yeah, but if you read the- They have both...
• 27:48
  if you read the can. Oh, I wonder if there's a- [laughs] Is there a- They got the kind of thing- And I think Oscar Blues is sold, isn't it? Aren't they- I don't know... owned by someone else now?
• 27:57
  I dunno, as long as Reeb still keeps making bikes- Exactly. Exactly... I don't really care what... Exactly. But yeah, so right on. Uh, what's next, guys, for, for El Rhino? What, do you have some shows coming up?
• 28:07
  What's, what's the, the, the schedule look like? What's the trouble? Yeah, we got, uh, February 12th, um, at Promises. Mm-hmm. Super Bowl Sunday. [laughs] Aha. It's a Sunday? Yeah. So Skip- Super Bowl throw-down...
• 28:23
  Skipper Bowl Sunday? Is it like a, is it like a 4:00 PM-er or is it later at night? It's after.
• 28:29
  Oh, yeah, yeah, 'cause I- After the, the, the- Yeah, I think on the event it, um, it had the, uh, Super Bowl was the opening act. Oh, cool. [laughs] So, so we were at Last- That was clever. That was clever.
• 28:39
  I like- We were at Last Rites last week. Promises is, like, what, a block away from Last Rites? Gift that, yeah. Right. I have not been to- Yeah... so I haven't been to Promises yet. Have you guys played there yet?
• 28:50
  Uh, no, we haven't played there yet, but we'd been there when it was its previous spot as The Music Hall, which is actually the same people from Last Rites.
• 28:58
  But yeah, no, they're, uh, actually the, uh, owner of Promises is- Joey Turbo... the female winner of the Riverwest 24. Wait, what? Is, uh, Claire. Yep. Yeah. Did you not know that? Claire Sorace.
• 29:11
  Yeah, Claire owned Promises. Wait, Claire Sorace is part of Promises? Yep. I thought it was- Yeah... Joey Turbo and another dude, one of his band mates. Peter, uh, Peter something. It's like a group. Yeah. Yeah. Oh.
• 29:23
  Carrie. Much like X-Rayed. Yeah, I know Jen. That's- But yeah, Claire's part of it... okay. Oh, this is exciting. Yeah. You gotta get her involved. Absolutely. We should do a show at Promises probably. Yeah, we should.
• 29:35
  We were gonna try and do a, uh- Promises... we were gonna- Promises. [laughs] We were gonna try and do the, the 200th show before the Last Rites gig you guys did, but- [laughs]...
• 29:44
  I walked in there a couple days before the gig and I had forgotten the exact layout, 'cause we were gonna try and set up in the front of the area by the bar, and I thought there was, like, another four feet [laughs]
• 29:56
  to the right of the door when you walk in. Yeah, there's not gonna be- But there's just a wall there. I'm like, it wouldn't have worked very well, but...
• 30:00
  [laughs] So I'm glad you guys were able to, uh, to join us for the 200th. It's cool having somebody that was at the 100th, for one, and, uh- Yeah... not just the 100th of our show, but the 100th of Fatbike.com show.
• 30:12
  I was there too. I was there. Everyone was there who was anyone at that time. Everyone. It's cool. All right, guys. Well, I appreciate you calling in. Anything you wanna leave us with before we wrap this sucker up?
• 30:24
  Musically-wise? I don't know. Ride bikes, go fast, rubber side down. Excellent. Spotify the shit out of us. Yeah. I don't know. Spotify the shit out of them.
• 30:34
  Uh, let's, let's touch base before Friday so we can get something going, and we'll pop it in at the end of the show and- Our listener can hear something from you guys to, uh, wet their whistle on your, on your Groov- Groovathon, Tron.
• 30:47
  [laughs] And I'm sorry I'm not sorry. Indeed. Yeah, man. [laughs] It's been a pleasure, guys, and we're happy to have been a part of the 100th, and congratulations on 200. Yeah. Right on. Woo! Talk to you guys soon.
• 30:58
  And here's to 300 more, everybody. Right. We don't look a day over- [laughs] 90 will be 95-... blah, blah, blah... but that's cool. We'll just keep doing it till we're bored of doing it, so. [laughs] All right.
• 31:08
  And the hips. Later, gents. The hips agree. Thank you very much. Peace. All right. See you, folks. Later. All right, everybody. El Rongo. Rongo. El Rongo, Jeff and Mars, and Heckene.
• 31:21
  Sounds like they're starting to get some stuff going. Hell yeah. Do you have a Spotify link you can send us? Yes, I can. All right. We'll put that in the show notes. We'll- I think, uh, they've been on Bandcamp forever.
• 31:33
  I do believe so. Remember that time at C- Camp Band? I have a... The last time they were down at Electrical Audio, I have a... Jeff was kind enough to come back with a pencil.
• 31:45
  [laughs] And I have, I still have it, and I use it only for crossword puzzles. I was talking to him at the show about that, and I'm like, "Yes, I still have the pencil, and it's only for crosswords."
• 31:54
  Do you have a pencil sharpener? At work. Good thing I work in a c- fricking campus. Is it electric or is it, uh, manual? Uh, it was manual, the problem being that they remodeled the first floor of my building.
• 32:08
  Guess what ain't there no more? Yeah. The old-timey- Handy crank... ree, ree, ree. Yeah. Ugh. Do I have- Thanks for, thanks for reminding me. I just- Kurt actually had one of those.
• 32:17
  Hell yeah, right across from the e- uh, elevator.
• 32:18
  I have two of them, but one of them is an X-Acto model, and it's 20-plus years old, but the thing is- So- Like, when you think of an X-Acto- When you put it down and it-... what do you think of?
• 32:28
  And, and it turns- Sharp... sharp. Yeah, that's what it is, 'cause the old, I- we have one of the old grindy kind. That one works great. Yeah. The X-Acto one, you're down to a nubbin in about three seconds. Yeah.
• 32:37
  It's like, what the hell just happened? Like the kind that you put down like that, and it had, like, the little, uh, kickstand. Yeah. And you had to, like, like suction cup it to the table. X-Acto window.
• 32:46
  And then you get in there, whir, whir, whir, whir, whir. I'm totally digressing, but have you seen the COVID vaccination commercial with Martha Stewart where she's sharpening a huge sword? No. Oh, you gotta watch that.
• 32:58
  It's fucking hilarious. That sharpening, sharpening is good. Were you talking to my roommate again about... No. [laughs] Andy? No. Eric? Eric, no. S- same, [laughs] same alphabet. [laughs] Here's a question for you guys.
• 33:11
  Although you did send me a link about, of Lucinda Williams doing a cover of some, I don't know, a random thing today- It-... which was interesting... since we talk about MSE every show- That's what I got you...
• 33:21
  and we haven't mentioned it yet this show. Yeah. W- WMSE. Ah. Uh, they, they got shirts on.
• 33:27
  [laughs] By the way, last week I tried to take a picture of Tony's hat with the MSE logo on it, but I took the picture of the other side of his head so we couldn't see the logo.
• 33:36
  [laughs] Oh, and rest in peace, Indonesian driver. Oh. Oh. Oh, no. Rest in peace. That was so sad to hear. Ah, Daniel James will be... A- actually, he was at the show. Oh. Right on.
• 33:45
  Yeah, he was taking selfies and with other people. Excellent. It was pretty, it was pretty goddamn funny. [laughs] So here's my question for y'all- [laughs]... 'cause y'all listen to MSE all the time.
• 33:53
  Do you stream it or do you listen to it on an actual real FM tuner-type stereophonic- I stream it. Stream. Stream. Try it.
• 34:00
  Get yourself an old Pioneer SX-680 or something that you can actually tune it in and some decent speakers. It sounds so much better over FM than it does streaming. Really? It is amazing.
• 34:11
  I mean, I will listen- I don't know why, but it does... when I'm being chauffeured around the town. Oh, in the car radio? Yeah. Yeah, my car radio- Sounds fine... doesn't get it for some reason. Sounds fine.
• 34:19
  It's, it's a hard signal to grab sometimes. It is. It is.
• 34:22
  Which makes streaming easy, but I was amazed at h- 'cause I can go back and forth between it being streamed over the Bluetooth thingy or being FM signal, and I'm like, it's much richer, fuller. That's good to know.
• 34:35
  It's great. Yeah. And I think- As soon as I get into the new house, that's one of the things I'm gonna- And depending on-... purchase, a vintage receiver. Well, I picked up a- What if it's like ticker giveaway time?
• 34:44
  Right. 'Cause you know there's gonna be one that's a couple seconds ahead of the other one. Exactly. So that's the, and anything- Wow... between, like- That's why you, yep... caller three and caller seven. Yeah.
• 34:53
  You know? Well, then I, I think you're streaming, you're, you're getting the handicap. Yeah, you are. Yeah, absolutely. And you have to keep that in mind. Yeah. And you're hoping for the best when they say- Right...
• 35:00
  "I'll take caller number 12?" Yeah. Yeah.
• 35:04
  Oh, I got- So I, uh, I was- The, the caller number three saying I was peeping eBay for a, for a 19-, I think it's an 89 maybe, uh, NAD 4300, which is, uh, still has a nice tuning knobby thing. Mm-hmm.
• 35:18
  It is digital, and it does have presets, but you're basically tuning it like an old-school one- Yeah... and the tuner works that way.
• 35:24
  The only thing that's wrong with it is it doesn't remember the presets, which I don't really care, 'cause I don't really switch stations. Right. I only listen to MSE only.
• 35:30
  I may on a, on a certain day go to 88.9 to listen to a, a noon o'clock request show, but- Maybe... otherwise it's just up the dial, so it's no big deal. Right.
• 35:40
  That's Plus, if you just leave it on, it, it never forgets it. Right. There you go. [laughs] But yeah, uh, 4300 Monitor Series, folks, if you're looking for a good
• 35:49
  FM tuner, that NAD is hard to beat, and I think you can probably pick them up for under a hundo if you're looking around. Can't wait to get into the new house so I can do this shit. Yeah. All right.
• 35:59
  Well, hey, hey, hey, hey. We just- 200. There's actually a whole lot of other crap on here, but we could probably save it for next week. I guess.
• 36:04
  Except this one, because I don't want anybody to get shammed again, that, that Vee Tire Zig Zag. No. What? Don't buy that. [laughs] I'm sorry. Do not- Doesn't it, doesn't it look like it could be all right?
• 36:18
  It looks great. It looks fucking fantastic. You know what's gonna happen? You're gonna buy it, it's gonna suck. Yeah, I just, I was hoping it wouldn't because it- I'm sorry, Vee Rubber... it's, it's what we need.
• 36:25
  I don't know if it's their carcass or the rubber compound or both, but they just- Now, I think-... slow you down... that on an e-bike might be pretty cool. Yeah, when you don't have to worry about power.
• 36:36
  An e-, an e-fat bike. Right. Yeah, an e-fat bike, for sure. I, I, I'm, I... When they're, when I've got them on Item Watch, when they come in stock, I'm gonna buy a couple anyway 'cause they look cool, A, but-
• 36:46
  I don't wanna get suckered into them again. Right. They're gonna be... Yeah, dude. Anyway. I don't wanna say I told you so, but I can't wait to tell you- A totuso? I told you so. A, a, a totuso. A totuso. A totuso.
• 36:57
  Fucking a totuso. [laughs] It's always a fucking totuso. All right, everybody. Hey, again- 200-... thank, thanks to the, uh, thanks to the El Rongo guys, and, uh- And that one caller that listens. Yeah.
• 37:09
  And we'll, we'll- Oh, by the by-... we'll end this here... here- We'll come back next week... Rosa Parkinson's, and that was one of their farewell shows. Right. Yeah, they have two more coming. I just didn't notice that.
• 37:16
  Yeah. Or I didn't pay attention. That was a good band. If you get to s- I think they're in Wausau or something. Wausau. Wausau. Wausau this weekend at the Pull Lock Inn. Yeah.
• 37:25
  In Wausau, and then the 10th at the Barley Pop Live in Madison. Yeah. And that's the end of those guys, which it's a good band. It would be- It really is... definitely be worth seeing them if you can. It should. Yeah.
• 37:34
  Apparently, the guitar play- one of the guitar players is, has family, and now is opening some kind of, forgot what they told me the business was, but he's opening a business that will take a bunch of time, and- Oh, they'll get back to touring...
• 37:47
  it's time to be adulting for a while, apparently. Yeah. All right, everybody. They'll be back. It's next week time. Well, not right now, but- Bye... but next week. Thank you. Come again. [rock music] Oh, look at that.
• 37:57
  That thing's playing. That's- Dun, dun, dun, dun... that's kinda weird. All right. Hey, thanks. Hey, hopefully we'll have a little, uh, El Rongo right after this. Yeah. Lead into- Thank you... Wawa Wa.
• 38:06
  Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meow. [rock music] Falling forward
• 38:25
  With reckless abandon All these hills I did climb Obstacles all the time Obstacles, obstacles It's all downhill from here
• 38:43
  Hold on tight It's all downhill from here All this time Spent in vain
• 38:58
  Proving such a shame Ain't no time left for pain Obstacles, obstacles
• 39:08
  It's all downhill from here Hold on tight It's all downhill from here [rock music]
• 39:50
  It's all downhill from here Hold on tight It's all downhill from here Hold on tight It's all downhill from here
• 40:08
  Enjoy the ride
• 40:12
  It's all downhill from here [rock music]
• 40:36
  Queens and kings Gentlemen and ladies This is a matter of
• 40:46
  Death and life We've been forth and back, low and high Found and lost, day and night Through the far and wide Standing now, far and near Through peace and war We won't be taken Alive or dead
• 41:03
  I won't be caged today [rock music]
• 41:10
  We won't be caged today [rock music] Queens and kings Gentlemen and ladies
• 41:29
  This is a matter of Death and life We've been forth and back, low and high Found and lost, day and night Through the far and wide Standing now, far and near Peace and war We won't be taken
• 41:46
  Alive or dead We won't be caged today [rock music]
• 41:58
  We won't be caged today [rock music]
• 43:08
  We won't be caged today