Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Full Spectrum Cycling #156 – Fat Bike Birkie Blather and Sam McMahon’s Motorcycle Odyssey

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Full Spectrum Cycling #156 – Fat Bike Birkie Blather and Sam McMahon’s Motorcycle Odyssey · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  [upbeat music] Hey, everybody. It's Full Spectrum Cycling.
• 0:17
  Show number 156. 1-5-6. 1-5-6. Seems like it's been an awful long time since we've been here for some reason. Maybe it was that drive up to Hayward. [laughs] Yeah, it could have been.
• 0:28
  Or the Fat Bike Birky, which we'll talk about a little later, but, uh... Hey, guess who's here. Guess who's here now. Who's here in this room now would be JK. Hello. And we got Mr. Tony Berger. Yep. Triple T.
• 0:39
  And the originator of the Triple T, tongue-twisting Tony Tiger whatever, Mr. Sam McMahon, back from his extended ride around, uh, Mexico and points in the south. Welcome, Sam. Thank you. Parts unknown.
• 0:55
  Part- That's where J- that's where George the Animal Steele came from, I'm- Yeah. Right... pretty sure. So I didn't, uh, I didn't... You know, normally we try to maybe have something for the show number.
• 1:05
  Like, sometimes it just works. Yeah. We don't. So 156, I d- couldn't really come up with anything, so I looked it up, and as a number, it's an abundant number. Huh.
• 1:15
  It is a pronic number, which I don't know what that means. Pronic? Pronic. Oh. It's a do- [laughs] a dodecagonal number. Dodecahedra. It is a refractorable number, and it's a Harshad number.
• 1:28
  None of which, except for perhaps an abundant number, I don't know. Right. I don't know what any of that means. Are you high? But some, some kind of magic- [laughs] Are you high and just messing with-...
• 1:35
  tissue crap is going on here with this number? [laughs] He's gonna sound- It's, it's one-...
• 1:40
  philosophical and go off on what that meant, but- I don't know anything about- He'd be completely making it up, and everybody would be like, "Wow."
• 1:45
  I just, I like, probably ought to know more about math than I do, 'cause I don't know what any of that crap is, man. 156 is close to 157, which 157 kinda rhymes like Heinz 57, so this is the Heinz 57 eve show. Preshow.
• 1:59
  Would you like to, uh, factorize the, uh- [laughs]... the number 156? Yeah, what is that gonna be? Uh, 2 to the 2nd times 3 times 13, I guess. Oh my God. Apparently, just in case you were wondering. Oh, math.
• 2:09
  There's the math segment of our show. All right. It's Math Minute with- Yeah... uh, our number 156. Oh, my left eye is hurting. Uh, so, well, it, it was a heck of a nice day out there today. My, oh my. It's still nice.
• 2:23
  Or, or yesterday. Or Wednesday. Or Wednesday. Yeah, Wednesday. It's probably nice out today still. No. No, it's not? Not according to the weather humans. Oh, for God's Christ sake. It snowed. No. Right.
• 2:32
  No, no, it's not happening. I don't believe you. Postle. So Wednesday was a good day. Wednesday was a- It was a windy day... beautiful day. Windy, but who cares when it's 70 degrees? It was 70 degrees.
• 2:42
  Uh, guess what it was up in Hayward Saturday morning when we woke up. Freeze. 2? Minus 15. Oh. Oh. [laughs] I went with, I went with a positive single. But, hmm.
• 2:51
  So they, they pushed the start of the race from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM to warm it up a little bit, and I think it was four below at the start. And the surface- I saw a lot-...
• 3:00
  of the trail was the best it could ever have been. Perfect. I saw a lot- It was like concrete... I saw a lot of your pictures with frost beards everywhere. Yes, that was one of the cool things- [laughs]...
• 3:11
  about photographing it was frost beards were in abundance because- Oh. Yeah... yeah, you're puffing and- You're puffing and... Yep. Yep.
• 3:17
  So I stood out there for two hours with the camera, and it's hard to shoot with gloves on, so my fingers got kinda red and weird feeling for a while. [laughs] Sam, uh, how about for you? But, uh, it was worth it.
• 3:27
  We got some good photos. I got a link in the old show notes z- z- z- zis here from my Flickr, uh, album, and you can go check 'em out there if you wanna see.
• 3:36
  [laughs] Maybe you'll find yourself in there in amongst the photos of many racers. The one listener was there racing? Yeah, probably. I don't know. I mean, Jorge was up there with the Broken Spoke crew. They had a...
• 3:47
  I think they had the most people in the race. Uh, every other jersey I think I saw was a Broken Spoke jersey. Our buddy Will Ross was up there. He took third. He came all the way from Alaska to race. Mm. Yeah.
• 4:00
  Mike, Mike, uh, did it single speed. Well, I'm sure Spinner did. Spinner did not, but- No?...
• 4:06
  Spinner did the long one, and Mike did the mid fat or whatever they call the, the sh- the middle one, not the baby fat, which is the k- Mike and Bert Mike?... the kids race, or... But that's what, uh, Kayla did.
• 4:16
  She did the kids race, which was, like, six miles. [laughs] Mike and Bert Mike, Mike? Yes. Nice. Mike and Bert. Yeah. And, and Chewy tried to, uh, be her coach. He tried to slime his way into that baby fat race with...
• 4:29
  Nope, no bib, no number. You're outta here, buddy. They're kind of, uh, I don't wanna use the term Nazi because it's been overused about- Militants... one and a half million times recently. Super militant.
• 4:39
  But mil- militants Militants... there you go. They ain't brooking no transgressions on the dang old course, I'll tell you that much. Yeah, it's a big course. It's a lot going on. Yeah, for sure.
• 4:49
  I'm not giving them a defense there, you know. [laughs] Well, I- But then again- But it would be, it, it-... letting Spinner into anything without him being paid for and p- hopefully insured is a bad idea. Yeah, he...
• 5:00
  Well, I think he did pretty well. I don't know. He didn't cause too much trouble. I saw him on the course. He was the only guy out there at eight below with shorts on. With shorts. Yeah, that's all I saw.
• 5:08
  He did not have the full vest, Viking vest with bare arms this time, though. [laughs] Yeah, you have to draw a line at animal. Yeah. Well, it's really freaking cold. 15 below.
• 5:17
  [laughs] I gotta put a, I gotta put at least a long-sleeve shirt on. [laughs] Just to confuse the rest of my body. Did he get frostbite? I- Probably...
• 5:23
  his legs were pretty red, but I don't think he actually got where it was killing skin cells or anything probably. He's, he's, he's conditioned. He, he's kind of Icelandic. I mean, I don't think- He's very conditioned...
• 5:35
  they have weird blood or something. [laughs] I don't know. It actually doesn't get that cold in Iceland. Right, because of the Gulf Stream or some such. Greenlander, isn't he?
• 5:44
  And you know what I'd, you'd like to take my Gulf Stream over the Gulf Stream to Iceland. Oh. Or Greenland. I have my jet. So much space there.
• 5:51
  We went to Iceland, uh, first week of June many years ago, and every day it snowed. Every day it was perfect. Every day it was windy. Every day it was calm, sunny, cloudy, raining. Everything, every single day. Nice.
• 6:05
  Kind of like San Francisco-ish. Never been there. Yeah. It's, it's- But in one day, though, so- Yeah, no, that's definitely a, a thing... a Frisco-y thing.
• 6:14
  I had a, I, I, I probably blew the best opportunity in the world, mostly because, uh, Lauf Forks, when they first came out, offered a trip to go to Iceland, and I'm like, "I'll go."
• 6:25
  And I ended up sending, um, Dirty there, and I don't think he's allowed back in Iceland anymore. I think, I re- Probably, he probably drank too much Black Death [laughs]... I think, yeah, I think I recall this.
• 6:34
  I, this was part of a weekly dose of fat and life. Yeah, this is a, this is- Yes... you could probably go back and figure that one out, so- It-... show number 82 or something... yeah... I don't know which one it is...
• 6:42
  it smacks familiar, yeah. But yeah, they have some, they have some liqueur or something- Called, uh, Brennivin... it's the- Nicknamed Black Death. Yeah.
• 6:49
  It's something that you don't wanna drink a lot of if you're not- Yeah, I drank a lot of it... used to it. It, and, and? No problems. I didn't get arrested.
• 6:55
  [laughs] Well, you've got, you got a couple, two, three pounds to absorb it a little bit. Uh, Julie drank a lot of it and she didn't get arrested. Oh. And she weighs about 100 pounds.
• 7:03
  [laughs] I mean, she's got the high tolerance. So yeah, Iceland. I kinda wanna see that. Scanlan rode across Iceland- Yeah... a few years back. Oh, yeah, he rode the loop, didn't he? Yeah.
• 7:13
  Oh, and he played High Dive last Friday. Did you go? Yep. How was it? It was very good. I yelled for popsicles. Care, don't care. Did you? Nice. Yeah. It was a heckle. It was a perfect timed heckle move. Did he do it?
• 7:26
  You're like, "Urm." Did he play it? I'm like, "Popsicles!" And he's like, "Who the fuck?" [laughs] I, I, so- So it worked out nicely...
• 7:34
  I know, I know James knew I was going up to Hayward, but he sent me a note on Saturday, was it Friday or Saturday? Whichever night it was. Going to see Scanlan, I'm like, it's a six-hour commute. What time do they go on?
• 7:45
  Mm. [laughs] Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, yeah, it was a dance, too. It's a th- three-band bill, and it- Ah... it just, you know, whoever draws the short straw.
• 7:57
  Oh, they don't, they- You know, it's like, no, I mean, normally you have like a- They didn't, they didn't just like a good, better, best kind of a situation?
• 8:01
  Yeah, it's like whoever you think the headliner could be would take precedence, or if nobody gives a shit, then you're just like, "Ah, whatever." So when did Scanlan go on, first or last?
• 8:11
  [laughs] First it was first, and it's like, "Oh, no, we're batting cleanup. Wait, change of plan. We're going first." [laughs] Just like, shit, shit, shit. Hot potato, hot potato.
• 8:21
  I think that happened the last time you played there, too. Yeah, and I mean, I, I have no problem watching the other bands. It was just, I was down the road having a cocktail at, uh, Uptowner.
• 8:32
  I was like, I don't, you know, hey, I'll, I'll, I'll, I'll be sitting there drinking and just enjoying the show. So, uh, I, I, I read something semi-interesting today and- Ooh... uh, it appears that- Do tell...
• 8:46
  FLX Bikes- From, of Baby Maker fame? The makers of- Ah... and now Baby Maker 2, is going to apparently start a US production company. Well, that's- Electric bikes... good on them. I mean, if they- So-...
• 9:02
  made enough money to do that, that's, that's awesome... you know, I'm, I'm, I was pretty surprised to see. Maybe it's just more a marketing gimmick, but yeah.
• 9:11
  Are they going to b- if they build the frames here, I'll give them US. If they have them made overseas and assemble them here- Yeah, that's another thing... that's still better than nothing.
• 9:19
  But- But it's also not economically that feasible because a complete bike has totally different tariffs and different price points when you buy components and all that stuff.
• 9:28
  For the most part, you could buy an overseas bike, toss the frame, build the frame here, and still have the parts for less money- No shit... than if you just bought the parts and had them shipped here. Wow.
• 9:41
  Yeah, it's kinda silly. Lots of bikes gonna be ending up in landfills. Uh- That's how your chain reaction folks do that- Or fences... over there in Ireland or wherever they are. Fences. Art. Art.
• 9:51
  Yeah, but not aluminum art because- Al-u-minium Yeah. Ah. [laughs] You all right? Ah, okay, that dovetails into what I was watching right before I came here, was Planet of the Apes.
• 10:05
  I just l- I just looked at the thing that's, that's- You went ah. Oh, no. Is there a caller? Yeah, yeah. I was, 'cause I was gonna push the button. Oh. I went, I went ah. Planet of the Apes, let's hear about that.
• 10:14
  Yeah, Charlton Heston, when he ah, ah, everything is that, so. Well, he's, you know. There you go. All right. Appreciate it. Yeah. Now push the fucking button. I'm gonna push the button.
• 10:28
  Welcome to the radio program, caller. Who do we have on the line? What's happening? It's Big Sexy down in New Orleans, and I'm with people from Michigan. People from Michigan? They must- Michigan...
• 10:40
  they must love it down there. Oh, yeah. It's gotta be, gotta be nice and warm for them. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, we're good. I'm just getting them to the bus stop. They gotta get downtown, and I'm not going with them.
• 10:50
  [laughs] Are you doing the flip-flop at the bus stop? You know, I've been- Bruce Springsteen... but, but I, I've been, I've been, uh, so good. I've been so good since Mardi Gras.
• 11:01
  I've been cleaning up Mardi Gras floats, getting all that free beer and the free booze that they leave on, on the Mardi Gras floats and all that shit, and, uh, now it's about time to hit the road, so I'm guessing about two weeks or so I'm gonna hit the road.
• 11:14
  [laughs] I can imagine, yeah. And I'm head- Some of them... I'm heading your way, River West. I'm heading your way. I, yeah. Well, I saw your post.
• 11:21
  I, and in fact, I already have it in, we have a Big Sexy news section in the, in the show notes this week that kind of outlines some of- Nice... some of where you're headed. Julie, come on. [laughs] Get a room.
• 11:32
  It's sweet, man.
• 11:33
  Um, yeah, like any, any donations are, are, are greatly appreciated 'cause, uh, I mean, I, I'm not like, I'm not hurting for certain or nothing, but anything would be awesome because I don't, I don't have like a real job or nothing like that.
• 11:46
  I'm just kinda, uh, tying up a couple loose ends and I'm hitting the road. Yeah, your job is to entertain the masses. That's your job. Absolutely. [laughs] Li- live vicariously through Big Sexy.
• 11:59
  That's, that's what I say. Yep. Yep, yep, yep. All those c- all those cubicle nerds are gonna be like, "I've gotta check on Big Sexy, ooh."
• 12:07
  [laughs] There's some, there are some weird sounds emanating from your phone, Big BS Cheeseb, sir, you can't be here Yeah, I know.
• 12:15
  I, I got a, I got a bunch of background noise going on now Yeah, well- Yeah, but you- There's stuff happening. Hey, I already have- Let's talk...
• 12:22
  I've got the links to your, um, your Venmo and your PayPal in the show notes too, so if people wanna help Big Sexy on his way when he takes Heather and heads north again- Oh, good... uh, let us know. I mean, you know.
• 12:34
  See, um, see, so, so I work, I worked all of Mardi Gras, and then I, and I, and, and then I did all the, uh, the floats and all that. And so Heather's pretty much good.
• 12:46
  It's just, uh, get- you know, getting, getting past that Mississippi/Alabama belt is, is gonna be a little rough. That's the only thing I need right now. Little, uh, little here, little there kind of thing. Yeah.
• 12:59
  'Cause Heather's ready to rock. Nice. And I'm, I'm pretty much ready to rock too. It's, you know, any little thing will help, you know, just to, just to make sure that we don't have to
• 13:09
  stop because we don't have certain things, you know? Sure, sure. Yeah, like I said, we got your, uh, your Venmo and your PayPal in the show notes.
• 13:17
  Donate to Big Sexy so he can entertain us with his tales of riding across the United States once again. And Heather. Yeah, absolutely.
• 13:26
  And, uh, you know, I hope to be in, uh, Florence, Alabama, by, you know, about Easter-ish. And then, uh, Worcester, Ohio, in about Memorial Day. And then,
• 13:37
  and then, uh, we got the Wyandotte, Battle Creek, and then, uh, Muskegon, and then River West. Nice. Is the best. I'm, I'm gonna be early for the W- I'm gonna be early for the, for the 24, but whatever.
• 13:51
  I'm, I'm, I'm just, I'm just passing through this time, I think. No worries. So- I mean, at least let us know when you're coming, because we'll definitely hook up. We may- Oh...
• 13:59
  we're, we're gonna be on the other side of the lake at some point in the summer, so if that kinda works out for- Yeah... meeting up with you, we'll see. But, uh, yeah, for sure. If it works, it works.
• 14:10
  I'm, I'm still gonna show up. I'm gonna sh- still show up at the Bremen Garden and all that, you know? So, I mean, it, it don't, it, it don't, it don't matter. We'll, we'll be all right. All right.
• 14:22
  Well, we're, we're, uh... JK, hit the thing. I think we're at the top of the hill. We're at the top of the hill over here. [bell ringing] My God, he wanted to ring that thing for a while. Well. Uh, we're gonna- Maybe...
• 14:31
  we're, we're gonna talk, we're gonna talk beer for a little bit, and then, uh, you know, we'll, we'll catch up with you again. Thanks for, uh, calling in today and- Giving us an update... everybody- Yeah...
• 14:40
  everybody support Big Sexy. Let us know when you actually roll- Big Sexy... and you're headed out. Yep. I, I will.
• 14:46
  I'll, and I, and I'll, you know, at least every other week I'll, I'll, I'll check in and- Yes, you will... tell y'all where I'm at. Right on, brother. Awesome. All right. Enjoy. Sounds good. Love you guys.
• 14:56
  Talk to you soon. Love you too, Big Sexy. Talk to you later. Bye. Later. River West is- Is the best. I, I, I hit the button anyways. Yeah, you- Hit the button... River West is the best. Well, we, we...
• 15:05
  It's 'cause we got to the hill. Yeah, JK wanted to really get to the hill. Well, yeah. So today, Tony brought the beer today. Mm. At least the show beer. Three- There's plenty, there's plenty of beer here...
• 15:18
  three sheeps to the wind. [laughs] Sh- uh, three, three sheeps is Sheboygan, right? Up there. Yeah. Yeah. Sheboygan. This is, uh, well- This is the one that DiNardo and his wife ride their bikes to quite often...
• 15:29
  Chaos Pattern, Hazy IPA. It's very tasty. Tony can- It is in- Tony can tell us about it... incredibly tasty. He's got a can. He can read the can just like I can. I can't read. I, uh, honestly- All right... glasses...
• 15:40
  it's a, it's a 6.5%. It's a citrus- It's, uh, it's a 12 ounce can. It's made out of aluminum. Yeah. Uh- It's very tasty... it, it, it, it's a delicious- It's a beverage and it's meant to be-... Hazy IPA.
• 15:50
  Brewed for everyday drinking. I don't... Not all day drinking, though, at 6.5%. No. [laughs] I don't know what... Yeah.
• 15:55
  It's a, kinda the beer that ticks all the boxes when you want to enjoys a, enjoys a hazies or twos, but don't really wanna crack open that hard-to-find premium priced IPA that you spent two days tracking down. I dunno.
• 16:06
  Is it premium priced? How much for a sixer? Just shy of 10 bucks. That seems semi-premium. Yeah. It's not, it's maybe not toppling Goliath premium- Yeah... but it's, it's, you know.
• 16:17
  Everything seems to be at that- Eagle Park Horrible Premium... eh- Should I, should, should I save this beer to share it with my friends? Oh. No. Well, Tony did that. What? So yeah. There you go.
• 16:27
  It's 'cause I already had a six pack at home I had. I don't know. Not before the show, but- These guys, The Three Sheeps, they don't do a bad job. Well, they, they're, they're- Exactly. It is a hazy. It is 6.5.
• 16:38
  We are drinking it now. It's tasty. Did you crack yours, Sam? No, I gotta finish this Guinness. Oh, he still has a, he's still, he's still f- finishing up the- Still throwing pints at Guinness town...
• 16:46
  the bread in a can kinda idea. 'Cause yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. 'Cause Guinness gives you strength. And Stella's birthday, so- Sam propaganda over here... it was also, uh, Justin Timberlake's birthday.
• 16:55
  It was also Justin Timberlake's birthday. Same day as, as Stella. Stella's the 17th. Yeah, I know. St. Patrick's Day yesterday. Yeah, yesterday, St. Patrick's Day. Yeah. Yeah. Who's Stella? Dog. That's my dog. Doggy. Oh.
• 17:08
  It's a doggy, isn't it? It's a dog. Of course it's a dog. It's a- My dad was born on the Ides of March- This is just-... 3:15... beware Ta-da. [laughs] Stella's a sweetheart of a dog, everybody, just so you know.
• 17:19
  We had Pi Day too earlier in the week. Yeah, there was a lot. Did you see Annie Oatmeal when she bring you a pie? Annie. Well, you, you- Annie... we can throw Annie- Oh, Annie, Dreamboat Annie.
• 17:30
  Oh, we can throw a smoke signal. She's maybe down the block. Maybe I just wasn't on the same wavelength. Right. I mean, the, so- [laughs] Well, yeah, there's certain places...
• 17:36
  uh, The House of Rad guys, Brandon that is head of The House of Rad is her cousin, I believe. Oh. So she was- Oh, so there's some-... talking something-... ah, yeah... about some of that too, and such and such...
• 17:45
  wow, they emptied that place out quick. Yeah, well, yes, they did. [laughs] It's like, holy sh- I walked by it, I did like a triple take. I'm like, wow, that's really empty. Yeah. Well, like cool.
• 17:57
  Triple take from Triple T. Well, yeah, like last week it was like slow deliberate, like dinky, dinky, dinky, thingy, moving. Oof. Da, da, da. That is pretty good beer. And then within, yeah, six days.
• 18:08
  After having the dad beer before. What? It was, I, I tell you, the story was Molly brought this home on Friday night, and I opened one, and my first sip was like, "This is show beer."
• 18:18
  [laughs] She went out, and she went out and got one without me even having to do it. All of a sudden she's like, "Hey, I got you another six-pack of that stuff." I'm like, "Yes."
• 18:25
  Well, um- 'Cause you- Since we have Sam here, let's, let's, let's hear about, uh, your thoughts of your trip. And, and kinda just, we did talk about this before you went, last year sometime.
• 18:35
  So maybe a quick outline and, and thoughts of how it turned out, and- Uh-... would, would you do it again kinda thing. I left on the 3rd of January.
• 18:45
  I rented a Budget truck to, uh, get me down below the snow, so I went to Phoenix, where I unloaded my bike and took off from there. Phoenix, I did some exploring in the western desert. Went to Slab City.
• 18:58
  That was interesting. Hmm. Um, and then from there, over through Palm Springs and ended up in LA to pick something up, and then down to San Diego to- Was it cocaine? [laughs] No. Just- [laughs] Water, water filters.
• 19:12
  Okay. [laughs] Yeah. I mean, you made it sound like you went there to pick something up. I just had a quick detour. Probably didn't call it- Sorry, go ahead... how very Hunter Thompson of you.
• 19:20
  [laughs] I was going to Mexico, not from Mexico. Yeah, good point, good point. Um, and then down to San Diego to see an old friend for a couple days, and then
• 19:28
  crossed the border into Baja and spent, uh, like seven days traveling through Baja, which is, yeah, absolutely the most beautiful place I've ever been- Yeah... landscape-wise.
• 19:43
  Um, the place as a whole was a pretty big letdown for me. I was expecting something very, very different. Um, so yeah, I was surprised by what I, what I found there in r- regards to, uh...
• 19:59
  I, I expected a lot of the money from California, Arizona, and close, uh, well-off states to spill down to that peninsula, and it's not the case. It's not very nice at all. Well, it is in the hotels, but- Oh.
• 20:12
  Not really there though so much... I, I stayed in some real shit holes. Really? [laughs] Yeah. And, uh, the, the- What is it? Just like the, like sandals that...
• 20:21
  There, there's some of those kind of, uh- There's not a lot of, there's not a ton of all-inclusive on Baja though. They're more- Yeah... on, on the, on the other side of, from Baja, not on the Baja side. Right.
• 20:30
  And the, the, the garbage and the dead dogs get to you after a while. Oh, no dead doggies. Yeah. So anyway- [laughs]...
• 20:39
  um, and then when I got to the bottom of Baja, I took the, uh, ferry over from La Paz, which was very nice by the way. I expected some crappy little port town. La Paz was very, very nice. Thoroughly enjoyed that.
• 20:53
  Um, over to Mazatlán, so it was about a 16-hour ferry. Ooh. Uh, big ferry, way bigger than ours. Um, semis will fit on there and everything. It was very big.
• 21:06
  And then I, that put me in Mazatlán, and then I just started exploring mainland Mexico. A lot of time on the west coast, some time in the central mountains, a little bit north of, uh, Mexico City.
• 21:19
  Um, just anywhere I had an excuse to go. Uh, originally I was gonna trek through, uh, Guatemala, El Salvador, uh, Honduras, Nicaragua, and into Costa Rica to meet Julie.
• 21:33
  But there was COVID restrictions for three of the five borders that I had to cross. If I were to have a positive test, I would've had a 14-day quarantine.
• 21:43
  Um, and that could've meant that Julie would end up flying to Costa Rica only to not have me meet her there. And so- Which sounds good to me [laughs]... uh, and we- Well...
• 21:53
  we made some adjustments, and, uh, we decided to have her fly to Puerto Vallarta. So I made my way back to Puerto Vallarta and set up a condo for a couple weeks for us to stay in.
• 22:06
  And then from there, I took off and went and, um, hung out in a small town on the western coast called Lo de Marcos for a couple weeks, and just did all kinds of fun stuff from renting e-bikes to doing volunteer work for road cleanup, beach cleanup, drinking a lot, eating a lot, lifting a lot of weights.
• 22:27
  Yeah, I was- Drove my motorcycle. I was- Did you- I was eating and drinking through your pictures. Where... [laughs] Yeah, I was just like, "Oh, yeah." It was- Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah... out of the house.
• 22:35
  'Cause there was like some shit-ass day where I had a picture, and then you like followed up like, "Oh, yeah, this is my sunrise too." Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I was like, "Oh, you son of a bitch." Yeah.
• 22:45
  And then, uh- [laughs] Wait, wait though. How did you work out? How did you... Did, were there gyms that you found or, or- I found a couple- Oh... a couple different gyms that, uh, I would go into, and, um,
• 22:55
  w- I did, uh, some personal training, free personal training at one of 'em. Taught a couple guys some things. And then I have a little workout that I do in the hotel room that I, just something to keep me going.
• 23:08
  Lifting the bed over your head and stuff like that? Uh, mostly, mostly pushups and sit-ups- Yeah... and stuff like that. Sort of isometric kinda stuff. And then, um, when Julie left, I started making my way back.
• 23:20
  Uh, went up around the Copper Canyon area. I did not explore that. As much as I, um, plan to in the future, I'd like to go there with somebody.
• 23:30
  Being alone is fine, but I wasn't necessarily on the best bike for exploring the Copper Canyon. I was on a road bias bike, uh, so I'd like to go back there. Yeah, let folks know what that was 'cause it, it's- Uh-...
• 23:44
  something that I think even from your, for your master plan would've been a, a fun bike to take on that trip. The Suzuki V-Strom. Uh, it worked great. Um, I put almost 10,000 miles on it in two months. Wow.
• 23:57
  Um, I didn't have any problems. I chewed through a back tire,
• 24:02
  which is, you know, I was traveling fast, I was traveling far, I'm heavy, the load's heavy, um, and it chewed through a back tire, and then while I was switching that, I noticed I had some bad wheel bearings.
• 24:15
  Uh, but that was my fault. I had that wheel off, and I should've changed those wheel bearings before I ever left, and I didn't. And sure enough, they went bad.
• 24:23
  But luckily- Well, technically wasn't it cheaper [laughs] to do it in Mexico? Uh, yeah, but it was a hassle. Okay. You know? But it was, it was like the- One-off, so... it was like the best possible situation. Right.
• 24:34
  It happened in a place that I was staying for a little bit. There was a bearing shop about three miles away. I didn't have a total bearing failure, so I could still use the bike to get parts.
• 24:44
  And then, uh, I got hooked up with this BMW shop that did the work for me for next to nothing. Oh, shit. And the guy was an excellent mechanic, so everything was great.
• 24:54
  And then, um, from there I went up through, uh, high desert in, uh, Chihuahua and ended up in, um, oh, what the heck is the name of it?
• 25:05
  Presidio, Texas is where I crossed the border, and then I spent a few days in, uh, Big Bend National Park in- You say it's gorgeous, huh-... southern Texas. It's something.
• 25:14
  There's not much going on down there in Big Bend, is there? Oh, there's a lot. It- It, it's like, but it's like totally huge and open, big. Totally huge. Yeah.
• 25:22
  Uh, what I didn't know is that how significant that mountain range is. I mean, they got numerous 8,000-foot peaks. It's not like some little section of the Sierra Madres that spill in from Mexico. It's like
• 25:36
  freaking huge. [laughs] So if you're a coyote and you're running people over those hills, you're earning your money. Yes. [laughs] Absolutely. Um, yeah, I rode along the Rio Grande for a while. That was pretty cool.
• 25:49
  And then, um, I started trekking through Texas and hit a vulture. Ah. Whoa. Um, exploded all over the front of the bike. Oh, yeah. Blood all over me. I mean, they're not- Geez... they're not small birds, either.
• 26:00
  Uh- They're big, n- yeah. They're- Yeah, it was going about 70... turkeys. Ooh. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I, I, I'm glad you're okay, and I'm so glad that you ended the life of one of those birds.
• 26:13
  [laughs] And then, uh- [laughs]... after I- That's all I can say... after I hit that, I was, I, I went and sold the bike. When I found out, or when we made- That's huge...
• 26:22
  when the, when the, we made the decision to not continue going south and I knew I'd be riding that bike home rather than trying to unload it in Costa Rica, uh, I just put a posting out there on social media to try to sell it to somebody that lived in the Southern United States.
• 26:38
  And I told 'em, "It's got a ton of miles on it. I've been riding the hell out of it for two months, but it's fully optioned. It works great. I'll deliver it to your house."
• 26:48
  And some guy took me up on it, and so I rode it to his house in Moody, Texas and, um, sold it for the agreed price, and then he gave me a ride to the car rental place, and I drove home.
• 26:59
  That's how it's supposed to work, Mike. Yeah. Sold. [laughs] So there weren't, were there, like, pitfalls along the way that you really were super challenging, or did it kinda just- No... flow? No.
• 27:09
  Sounds like it just flowed. Best food? There were, th- th- I didn't have any pitfalls. I was a little bit stre- or not a little bit, a lot of bit stressed out for a couple weeks.
• 27:18
  Uh, just a lot of looming border crossings. Yeah. My- Yeah... my Spanish is diff- is not the best.
• 27:25
  I've learned about 10% of the language roughly, uh, so I could get by, but- Did you use Babbel, or how did you go about it? Uh, I enrolled in a class at Nicolet High School. Oh, okay. They got adult enrichment there.
• 27:37
  Right on. Uh, and then I also used Duolingo, and then, um, I had a little bit in high school, but it's still, I'm a long ways off. You know, I'm, I'm not to the point of conversation.
• 27:48
  You know, if somebody's talking to me, I'm picking words out of their sentences. I'm not like... Yeah, so it's, it's tough.
• 27:54
  And, uh, during that time, you know, trying to make the decision of what the hell we're gonna do, and I wasn't sleeping, wasn't eating, and then, uh, lost a bunch of weight, so that was a little bit stressful.
• 28:06
  But then once we made the adjustments to the trip, and then it was all freaking awesome the rest of the time, you know? [laughs] So it was- Oh... really nice. So it goes this way. No, totally. So it goes this way.
• 28:18
  Your, your definition of losing a bunch of weight and my definition of losing a bunch of weight are a little different. What do you mean? What are you trying to say? A bunch of weight. A bunch of weight.
• 28:29
  You're a bunch of weight. You're a bunch of- What was your best meal? Your ass is a bunch of weight. Ah, the best meal I had. It better be the one that you tormented me with a picture of. [laughs] I know.
• 28:42
  He's texted me like 100 of those. It's like rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah. There was a- There was, it, shrimps in toast points- Oh, the, the, uh-... I do believe, or langoustines...
• 28:54
  uh, cheese stuffed bacon-wrapped shrimp. Maybe. [laughs] That was, that was, that was pretty common down there. That's good. Um, I found a neat little surf bar in Lo de Marcos that,
• 29:05
  I don't know how this all developed, but it was a very, very high-end restaurant. Uh, I shouldn't say it like that. Uh, high quality restaurant. It wasn't necessarily nice. It was just really freaking good.
• 29:19
  And, um, some of the meals that I had there were absolutely outstanding. He had awesome beef tenderloin. He had, you know, pizza. He had ribs. He had, you know, like a mustard cream sauce over- Ribs... over chicken. Mm.
• 29:35
  It was pretty damn good. I did my best to drink all their wine.
• 29:40
  [laughs] So while this trip didn't turn out like you planned, it sounds like you had a great time, and your original plan to get down to the tip of South America, is that something you still would consider doing in the future?
• 29:52
  Yeah, but I wanna be fluent when I do it. Gotcha. Yeah. Si. Si. So. [laughs] Si- Qua... see how Tommy did that, see? Qua. But there's the- Keske...
• 30:02
  the reasons that, that I pulled back on that is, you know, a lot of the countries still are- Yeah, the borders of- The borders are still closed... everything is closed... in Mexico. Yeah, yeah.
• 30:10
  No, I mean, if it was- For another decade... if it was easier- Yeah...
• 30:13
  and, and you had the, and you had, like, Ewan McGregor's, you had, like, his advance team to get you through the borders and all that stuff- You could, yeah...
• 30:20
  you know, if you could spend a million and a half And get a couple of Harley electric bikes. I bet- Yeah, and w- another good thing was-... it would be a pretty good trip...
• 30:26
  is, uh, it was a little bit of a pipe dream, you know, a little bit of an unrealistic goal to get down there. You know- Well, you-...
• 30:33
  as somebody that hasn't done it before, as I planned to, to do that, you know, you look at a map and you figure out miles and things like that, and it's realistic mileage-wise, but when you're actually doing it, that was a unrealistic goal, you know?
• 30:50
  So- Were, were there, were there roads you got to that you were just like, "That's not a road"? Not too bad. Not too bad. You know, I used- Where we're, where we're going, we don't need- I used a-... roads...
• 31:01
  a Garmin GPS. Um, and a, you know, I'd set my destination, I'd, and I'd program in the adventurous routing, is what it's called.
• 31:09
  Uh, and it would send me off on the back roads, the curvy roads, avoiding highways, you know- Okay, cool... the gravel roads, all that kinda stuff. Cool. So it was fine. It was nothing I couldn't handle.
• 31:23
  So, uh, the one thing that would, was, was difficult in riding was, uh, topes is what they're called. They're giant speed bumps, and they're big enough that you'll bottom out your motorcycle on them. Oh, wow.
• 31:35
  Uh, and they're not marked very well, and so if you are, hit one, if you hit one at 30 and you're supposed to be going 10, you're going down. Scraping. Absolutely. Yeah. N- no, I mean, you'll crash.
• 31:45
  Besides scraping it- Sure. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah... you'll straight up crash, so. So did you crash at all? No. Good. [laughs] Good on you, mate. But, but wait. What did you do that speed bump on and had no problem?
• 31:56
  I, uh, what was that thing? The Super 73. Super 73. Yeah, I saw it. Yeah, the, the e-bike. I was like, "Oh, those things are cool." I mean, they, I get them all day long in my emails. I do, too. I do, too.
• 32:05
  They're like, "You really should be riding one of these things." They're pretty fun.
• 32:08
  They have fully adjustable suspension, which blew my mind, front and back, and I was hitting those topes at 35 miles an hour, and it took it. I was g- And th- this was the one that looks a little bit like a scooter?
• 32:21
  Had like a 20-inch wheel maybe? Uh, I think it had about a 20-inch wheel. It had like a, a, a fake gas tank in front. Yep, yep, and a- Uh-... kind of a long seat. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And a pretty big tire. Yeah.
• 32:32
  Yeah, yeah, those are cool. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Lot of fun. So that's why I found a real nice big hill to go down, and I maxed it out and hit a nice big tope- tope at the end. And that's how you got to 37?
• 32:44
  Yeah, something like that. [laughs] Were you airbornt? No, I soaked it up. Oh. [laughs] Really? Oh, really? Yeah, even- No, 'cause it, it feels like a kicker. It honestly, it feels like a kicker.
• 32:53
  Even at my- You're like, "Wee"... at my size, it soaked it up. I didn't bottom out the suspension, nothing. Nice. And I was riding them on the beach. It was great. Good stuff, electric bikes.
• 33:04
  That's not that bad a price point for that thing either, sir. It's like 1,799 or something-ish. Yeah, up to the, the, the fast ones- 1,799-ish... are, are way more, but yeah.
• 33:13
  Yeah, no, no, that's- They're still within the- Yeah... $3,500 ballpark- No, yeah... for a 45 mile an hour e-bike Well, the one that he had I don't think was that high-end. No. That's like the- It's good, though... yeah.
• 33:23
  Yeah. They're doing a good job, 'cause they got high volume and they're able to- It's not a bike... able to make some good stuff... it's a scooter. But the, but the- Why, you gotta, why do you gotta be so negative?
• 33:29
  It's got- What? I'm not being negative... it's got pedals. You said it's not an electric bike. It's got pedals. You said scooter. It's got pedals on it. It's a moped. The pedals are way in front of the, your hips. Yeah.
• 33:38
  [laughs] So you're kinda like sitting back, lounging, pedaling forward, so it was not... You wouldn't be able to stand and pedal. Right on. That's why it has a motor. Oh. [laughs] But I like both.
• 33:51
  My, my, did, did you wheelie it? Oh, yeah. My seat post went a little kablooey. You wheelied it? [laughs] Of course I wheelied it. Last week. [laughs] And- What seat post kablooey? Well, on the Trek, the Frankenbike.
• 34:04
  Finally? No. I got it resurrected. But there was a day I had to ride all the way down, and just, oh man. How many times have we ridden with that seat post going, "Er, er, er"?
• 34:17
  Well, the nice thing about that is- No, I mean all the way down... on that bike is it's a steel frame. Right. So it's obviously not seized. Right. [laughs] So you got that going for you. Exactly.
• 34:25
  Throw some carbon, uh, throw some carbon, uh, what do they call that stuff on your carbon- You don't throw a spruce... carbon spooge, throw that in there.
• 34:31
  It'll, it'll- Speaking of which, I have to throw a lot of money at you. I have, I have problems with, like, three of my damn bikes that I need to buy- Today... components from.
• 34:41
  But what about just, like, we have that Wu-Tang single speed coming. Yes, I know. I, I- What about that? Yes. Well- That'll solve all your problems for the mere- I can, I can throw it in there...
• 34:50
  not even, not even five hundo, I think. Yes. Probably cheaper than fixing your bike. [laughs] Yeah, probably. That's part of the suggestive sell at the end of the fucking transaction. Yes, of course.
• 34:58
  Well, this would just be so much easier than throwing parts at your existing bike. [laughs] No, I, no, no, no, no. No, I'm just looking for a nard. Nard. Yeah, I don't know that they make those anymore. I know.
• 35:10
  That's the fucking problem. I may have one, though. I might have one in the other building. That's what I'm asking. I'll have to go see. For, for the Schlick? Yes. I may have one in the other building. I don't know.
• 35:19
  We'll have to look. That's nice. We'll have to look. 29 by three. Oh, that one. I got a set of 26 by four at home.
• 35:26
  Well, those could go on there, too, just as easily though, 'cause he does have a wheel set with said 26 by whatever rims that would work with that. Yeah, that came, is that what that came with? Indeed, indeed.
• 35:36
  Eh, you know what, so I just wanna mention one more thing before we go- [laughs] That's not the worst I came in with... 'cause we, we've kept these people up past their bedtime. But thank you, Sam- Oh, shit...
• 35:42
  for, uh- Yeah... for really- Doing, sure... sharing your trip. Sure. And, um,
• 35:46
  while up in Hayward, I do wanna mention that we did do two shows up there, so if you need your ears filled with a bunch more stupid shit from us, those'll be up in the next week or so. It, was it, uh, Puck
• 35:59
  and- Uh, Pu- Psh, no Puck. No Puck? It was, so the first show was a full spectrum show. It was me, Chewie, Spinner, and Kayla.
• 36:06
  And then Chewie, Spinner, and Kayla, and I for- if there was somebody else on that show, it was at like 12:30 after I don't know how many beers. I really didn't... I got 'em going, I'm like- Right on...
• 36:16
  "This is you guys. This is your show. I'm not gonna talk." So I don't know- Just hear it... who was on the second show there. I'll listen to it and I'll be like, "Oh, yeah, that was pretty good." Hey, it'll be Dave.
• 36:26
  I don't think it was Dave. [laughs] I'm pretty sure. Anyway, thanks very much, everybody. I hope you have a good week, and, uh, we'll see you for show number 157 next time. Yeah, Heinz 57.
• 36:37
  [whistles] Do, do, do, do, do, do, do. Gotta push the button. [upbeat music]