Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat Show #101 – White Mountains 100 Winners Will Ross and Megan Chelf

Transcript

Weekly Dose of Fat Show #101 – White Mountains 100 Winners Will Ross and Megan Chelf · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:01
  It's the Imaginary Dose of Fat, show number 101 for Friday, April 15th, 2016.
• 0:07
  [upbeat music] From the city that brought you professional wrestler The Crusher, the original television superstar Liberace, and cannibal serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, it's the Imaginary Dose of Fat show, recorded here in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• 0:40
  [laughs] And now it's my pleasure to introduce to you the host for tonight's little circus, Fathead Comics. [laughs] And welcome, everybody. Hey, welcome to the show, everybody. Let me
• 0:57
  please introduce you to the colorful Mr. J.K. Livin. And may I pivot it and hear to the dulcet tones of our house band, Smooth Evil, led by our maestro amigo, Chris Daisy. Hey, guys.
• 1:15
  [siren blares] The Weekly Dose of Fat is brought to you by the Surly 24-pack rack. Surly racks are made from chromoly steel and just like their frames and forks. Learn more about bikes
• 1:30
  and freedom at surlybikes.com. All right, J.K., what do we have on the show this week? We start the show with the event of the week, which is one of the biggest Facebooking races every spring, the Paris-Roubaix.
• 1:45
  Oh, I remember this one time at Paris-Roubaix. That was, [laughs] that's this weekend? Yeah. Hey, but can we please let J.K. finish telling us what's on this week's Imaginary Dose of Fat? Yeah, you Miz.
• 1:55
  [squawks] We chat with a pair of special guests, the winners of the White Mountains 100 from Team 907, Head Cycling, 45 North, Megan Elf and Will Ross.
• 2:10
  We check in with the Fatty Farm Field Report, brought to you by Quiring Cycles. The Quiring Triple B is the fattest ride on two wheels, featuring the new generation of 5.05-inch tires.
• 2:22
  Visit quiringcycles.net to see the next level of bicycle exploration. We'll take calls from our listeners about who they would nominate for the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.
• 2:35
  Our fifth caller will receive a new Surly Rally Sports Package, plus every caller gets a sample tin of Uncle Dick's Beads, the plus Ellipses. We put our two, three cents in on the nominations ourselves,
• 2:53
  and we'll wear it, or I will wear it again. [laughs] We'll w- we'll weigh beard trimmings and award a fabulous prize package. You put those words together, I see "weigh" and "beard," and I go with "wear."
• 3:08
  You know what time it is? Make a bird noise. [laughs] [squawks] Ca-caw. I'm terrified of birds, so I don't like to summon them.
• 3:15
  It's time for the, uh, the event of the week, the Paris-Roubaix, and on the line we've got, uh, the race director, Mr. Rick Plite. Welcome to the show, Rick. How are you? Hey, Rick. We are already on fire tonight.
• 3:31
  En fuego. So Rick, you got the big shindig this weekend, my man. It's, uh- I do. It's a big one this year, biggest ever. So how, how many humans actually, uh, race in this gigantic free-for-all?
• 3:48
  Uh, well, we had just a touch over 3,000 last year. We've still got, um, about 15, 20 hours left for registration, and we're, um, just a touch over 3,000 right now, so- Wow...
• 4:03
  um, I don't think we'll hit our sellout of, uh, or our, you know, our max of 3,500. But, uh, we might be looking at 31 or 32 by tomorrow night. That's amazing. That's a lot of bikes. Yeah.
• 4:18
  Is, is there a fat bike division in this shindig? There is. There's a 36-mile, uh, and a 22-mile version, and we added the 22-mile this year. Um, we have 87
• 4:32
  people in the 36-miler, and we got so many requests last year to have a shorter distance, and we got 43 in that category, so 130 fat bikers. Wow.
• 4:43
  Yeah, I think they noticed up at the Fat Bike Birkie that the majority of the fat bikers went for the longer run. Mm-hmm. If you're gonna go and do it, you know, go and do it. Exactly. Yep.
• 4:55
  And it's hardly anything but snowy right now, so. Yeah, it's gonna be beautiful. So I read, uh, that- Yep...
• 5:01
  that they just installed signage on the course so people can come and ride the famous Paris-Roubaix cobbles any day. Did you, uh, did you have a hand in that, uh, getting set up that way? We did.
• 5:14
  We've been trying for a couple years and, uh, been working with the city and the county and finally got permission to do it this year, and approval from council. And, uh,
• 5:27
  we had to pay for it, of course, so, um, but the city was really helpful in trying to help us, um, get a grant to do a portion of it, so it cut our expenses a little bit.
• 5:40
  Um, Yeah, with getting all those people- [laughs]... over to France, it's gotta cost a ton of money. [laughs] Well, this is actually Hastings, Michigan. Right on.
• 5:49
  And I would think that, man, with the amount of, it's beds and heads. Cyclists, you know, they drink expensive beer, and drink good coffee, and eat lunch, and, you know, sleep in hotels. Exactly.
• 6:01
  So Hastings- There's people there riding the course all year round... right on. I know I'm gonna go there. Yeah, for sure. And I'm gonna, I'm gonna buy a sandwich And maybe some gas... by a sandwich.
• 6:11
  [laughs] Well, we'll have a, we'll have a, uh, link in the show notes, and, uh, good luck with the event. Yeah, man. Hey, hey, thank you. Thanks for calling in, Rick. Talk to you next time. Okay, bye.
• 6:26
  That's, uh, top of the hill, boys. That was Rick Clight. [bell ringing] And we're at the top of the hill. And, uh- From, from the Berry Roubaix over there. We, uh, we have, uh, we have quite the, uh, the leftovers of-
• 6:42
  Oh... Oscar Blue's beer. You want me to have a beer. [laughs] I'll have a PBR. Oh, Greg's going for the PBR. It's the last one, though. We have quite a- Drink... quite a pile of beer from the Show 100 shindig. I know.
• 6:56
  I can't believe that our friends couldn't drink 15 cases of beer. Some of them were- I tried... crawling out of there. [laughs] I tried my best. [laughs] We didn't really, like, talk about- So, so my-...
• 7:06
  all of the funny shit that went down that night. Holy crap. Well, the, uh... I don't know if it was directly linked to the beverage, but I know it had [laughs] something to do with the beverage.
• 7:20
  Trying to do the bucket ball. Oh, man. I, I- I got creamed so bad in bucket ball. I w- I, I, I, I, I was able to hang until one other person showed up. Yeah. And I was, like, in the first wave. Yeah.
• 7:33
  I'm like, "And I'm out." [laughs] Oh, yeah. Bust your arms out there. Well, you guys were all having fun over there. I did not have the, I did not have the dexterity to do that whatsoever. It was being Mr.
• 7:41
  Responsible, cleaning up the place. [laughs] It's fun. It's- It, it wasn't until I got over to, uh, Jaymo's. Jaymo's. Yeah. Oh, that was fun. Um- Yeah... by the way- Yeah?...
• 7:52
  we should probably take a break because, uh, special guests Will and Megan are calling in. All right. We'll be right back.
• 8:02
  [upbeat music] Chumba USA builds innovative, technically superior bicycles that are race-ready, ride-driven, and tested to withstand the harshest conditions and tackle the toughest and roughest terrain.
• 8:16
  Learn more about Chumba's American-made Ursa Major at chumbausa.com. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 8:31
  And now, please welcome to the radio program the 2016 White Mountains 100 champions from teams 907, Head Cycling, 45 NRTH tires, and whatnot, Megan Shelf and Will Ross.
• 8:49
  Hey, welcome to the radio- How's it going?... program, you guys. Hi, thank you. Thanks. Hey, let's start with congratulating you both on your glorious victory at the White Mountains 100. [laughs] Thank you.
• 9:03
  Yeah, thanks. It was a, it was a brutal race. [laughs] Yeah, this is the first time, uh, Megan's been on the show. I know we've had Will on the show a couple times before.
• 9:12
  We even, uh, coerced him into coming into the studio. So, uh, let's start- [laughs]... out talking to Megan. Yeah, so, so Megan- Awesome... do you ride one of those new 907 Team WhiteOuts that weigh, like, 18 pounds?
• 9:27
  Are you riding one of those- [laughs]... old, hand-me-down, heavy, 22-pound WhiteOuts? [laughs] Well, first of all, my bike is anything but heavy. I'm on a, a WhiteOut.
• 9:38
  I'm on a 907 Carbon WhiteOut with the head Big Deal wheels. Um, with my studded Dilling- studded Dillinger 4 tires in my frame bag, it comes out at about 22 pounds.
• 9:49
  But, like I said, it's super light, and, uh, it was, it was built for racing, so it was a perfect bike for me to have for the White Mountains. Cool. Well, why don't you share- Yeah...
• 10:00
  the story of how the White Mountains 100 played out from the front of the women's field? Awesome. So, um, in the beginning of the race, I just, uh, stayed with the competition for about the first 40 miles.
• 10:11
  I wanted to see, um, what, uh, the other girls' strengths and weaknesses were. I wanted to scope it out. Um,
• 10:18
  a lot of the women I had never ridden with before, so I just wanted to see how I was feeling, see what the course looked like. Um, and I knew my strength was gonna be on the hills, so around mile 40, I made my move.
• 10:28
  And at this time, it started dumping snow. We had snow on our heads, just on our gloves. It was building up, coming down really fast.
• 10:36
  Um, and, uh, I, uh, even had to walk a couple miles around the path, it was snowing so hard, and I saw the leaders walking, so that was nice to know I wasn't alone in that. Mm-hmm. Um, and it was kind of fun.
• 10:48
  Up at the path, you could see the leaders' tracks start to swirl around, searching for the hard trail somewhere under there, and you could tell they were having a hard time f- figuring out exactly where they should be riding, falling down, making snow angels all over the place.
• 11:01
  [laughs] Which made the ride seem totally epic, which was super fun, out in the middle of the mountains.
• 11:06
  Um, so I rode by myself for another 40 miles from there, and around mile 80, I, uh, um, caught up to Kevin Breitenbach- Mm-hmm... which was super motivating to see another racer, and it was...
• 11:17
  He's just a breath of fresh air. It was fun to ride with somebody when I was kind of getting into my darkest moments of the ride, starting to feel tired, starting to feel like I'm about ready to get back to the finish.
• 11:28
  Um, and then at mile 90, uh, I just felt another little wave of energy, and I was able to take off and finish the last, uh, 10 brutal, hilly miles on my own to the finish. It was, it was a ton of fun.
• 11:43
  I had a really good time. I learned a lot about riding, um, an epic ride in the middle of the mountains in Alaska. It was awesome. Man, it sounds like you were out there by yourself for a long time, too.
• 11:54
  Yeah, it was, and that's not usually how I, how I do any of my training rides. So it was, I think it was both good and bad. It was kind of nice for me to get out there on my own and really face the elements.
• 12:06
  Um, but it was also kind of lonely, so when I saw Kevin, it was really great to just remember that I'm in this huge, awesome race with some amazing, talented athletes, and, and it was, he was a breath of fresh air to just- Help me have fun and finish out with a great, fun race All right, cool.
• 12:22
  Kevin's a good egg. It was awesome. We like Kevin. A good egg. [laughs] Yeah. So, uh, let's, let's bring Will into the conversation.
• 12:30
  Uh, I know Will rides one of those new 18-pound, uh, Team 9Zero7 with the Hed wheels and the, uh, carbon Race Face Next, uh, curb feelers on there. So my question to you, Mr. Will Ross,
• 12:44
  uh, is where do you think that we can drop a little more weight from the fat bike? Man, I have no idea. They're, they're, they're all pretty light.
• 12:56
  But yeah, I actually, I, I do the short races on my, uh, team edition bike- Uh-huh... um, just 'cause it's so light and so stiff. Mm-hmm. But, uh, yeah, I race the longer races on the s- the standard WhiteOut. Wow.
• 13:07
  Um, it just, it's a little more forgiving, which is nice after about, you know, 80 miles. Wow. 90 miles.
• 13:15
  I'm- Uh, when, when, just when you hurt, when you start to hurt- I'm flabbergasted [laughs] But at this point, I think that it's time to go off the script and say Will Ross
• 13:25
  was the author of the best April Fools article [laughs]... that we've ever published. What are you talking about? [laughs] Your, uh, ascent of Denali, people actually bought into that hook, line, and sinker, dude.
• 13:41
  So well played. Oh, yeah, I've been... I get asked every day, h- how on earth am I planning on doing that? How's the training going, Will?
• 13:49
  [laughs] Well, winning, winning the White Mountains 100 is one way to get up, up there. Yeah, indeed. I, I don't know if that's something you can even train for.
• 13:58
  Well- But- That's- Yeah, it was, it was pretty entertaining to write, uh, and kind of collaborate with, uh, with Hed, and 9Zero7, and 45 NRTH, and get everyone on board with it. That was, it was a lot of fun to write.
• 14:09
  Did, did, uh, did, did- It actually made me almost want to do something like that. [laughs] Did Andy from Hed help you out a little bit with the writing? No, I, I just wrote it and asked [laughs] if it was okay.
• 14:19
  Oh, okay. Right on, 'cause he's a funny guy. I, yeah. Yeah, he's funny. [laughs] Oh, th- all those guys are, they're, they're all awesome. And good, nice Photoshop work, too.
• 14:27
  A lot of people complimented you- Oh, thank you... and your Photoshop work. Yeah, uh, some of that was our, our own media guy, John Lin, and, uh, some of it was, was me just hacking away at- Nice...
• 14:39
  my own- Yeah, those, those-... little-... those Dillinger 7s, man. Those, that, that set. No, the Willinger, the Willinger 7. The Willinger 7. [laughs] [laughs] Oh, my mistake. Someday. Someday.
• 14:49
  Tra- trademark, copyright, uh, 2016 Will Ross. [laughs] Oh, man, so enough talk- So-... about hardware, right? Yeah. H- how about your race story from the White Mountains 100 there, Will?
• 15:03
  Yeah, it was, yeah, that was a, that was a really brutal race. Um, you know, it kind of separated into that lead pack pretty quick just 'cause the race has so many climbs in it. Um, yeah, it's easy to separate.
• 15:16
  Uh, so yeah, we got into that lead pack of Tim Berntson, David Ortega, Tyson Flaherty, Carrie Groomlot, and then Megan's husband, Josh. Mm-hmm. Um, yeah, and we all rode together.
• 15:28
  Unfortunately, Josh was having some, some tire issues and just leaky tires. Hmm. So he, he kept having to chase back, which had he not had to do that, it, it might've been a different outcome in the end.
• 15:41
  But yeah, we all rode together for really the entire race. Um, we were all, like Megan said, she could see all of our, all of our footprints walking up the, the pass where it was just dumping snow. Mm-hmm.
• 15:54
  It, it must have snowed, like, eight inches just while we were hiking up the pass. Wow. And then, uh- Yeah... it was, it was kind of comical.
• 16:02
  We were all just looking around at each other and laughing, and then you'd walk along, and you couldn't even see the trail, and, like, Tim took a wrong step and fell into a tree well. Oh. I had to help him out of that.
• 16:13
  And then, uh, yeah, you'd be walking along and suddenly sink up to your hip in, in snow. Oh, man. And it, yeah, then it made the downhill off the backside of the pass really entertaining 'cause- [laughs]...
• 16:25
  yeah, you'd be riding along, and you, you couldn't see the trail. We were first tracks, no snow machine tracks or anything, and it was that really flat light. Mm-hmm.
• 16:34
  So you'd be riding along, and then you'd ride off the trail and not know it, and your front wheel would sink to the hub, and you'd go over the bars and- Yeah, it's too bad they didn't have the-...
• 16:44
  then everyone would laugh at you, and you'd get back on and go. Gotta get the prototype Willinger 7s out for that. [laughs] I know.
• 16:49
  [laughs] But it was, it was the first time where I've been on a downhill where, uh, the, the smaller, lighter riders had an advantage. Hmm.
• 16:58
  'Cause the, the three of us in the group that, that were all under 150 pounds rode away from everyone over 150 pounds- Hmm... just 'cause we weren't punching through the snow as much. Interesting.
• 17:10
  So now you had- But then, uh- You had said that- Oh... that Tim was just, uh, every, he would fight back. Every time you'd put time in, that Tim would just battle back. He, yeah. Yeah, so we, um,
• 17:22
  yeah, we got a gap on him after the pass and then, uh, yeah, rode into the checkpoint.
• 17:28
  Um, the, us three little guys rode into the checkpoint, and it was nice 'cause we had about a minute gap, so we could spend an extra minute resting at the checkpoint.
• 17:38
  And Tyson was the last one into that checkpoint and the first one out. [laughs] So we knew he didn't, he hadn't gotten any rest. Uh, but Tim stayed at that checkpoint for an extra couple minutes,
• 17:49
  and we thought he was gone. We didn't think we'd ever see him again. And sure enough, just before the 80-mile checkpoint, here comes Tim- Hmm... and suddenly he's, he's back in it.
• 18:00
  And not only that, suddenly he looked like he was the, the strongest one in the race. Oh, man. So yeah, then, yeah, like five miles to go, there's this hill called The Wall. Mm-hmm.
• 18:11
  And it's something like 800 vertical feet in less than, like, three-quarters of a mile. Mm-hmm. I don't know. It's, it's really steep. And I attacked going into that. We were still all together,
• 18:26
  and it kind of blew up the group, but then I kept spinning out, so I stopped to let air pressure out, and then they all caught me, and then got Tim, of course, came back.
• 18:36
  Um, then I attacked one more time and, uh, at the top of that hill, and he just kept... He, he never got out of sight. He wouldn't go away. [laughs] He just kept, kept closing in. And then?
• 18:48
  But yeah, Tim, Tim's been a good guy to, to learn from all year. He's- Oh, yeah... um, he's given me a lot of advice in the endurance races and,
• 18:56
  and then, yeah, just watching him in, in the endurance races, he's, he's so efficient. Doesn't make any mistakes. He's usually super fast through all the checkpoints. Um,
• 19:08
  I still have never even seen him eat, um, or drink during a race. Wow. [laughs] Yeah. Amazing. He's, he's the Terminator. [laughs] So then somehow you manage to get a gap somewhere. Where did that take place?
• 19:23
  Where did the... Or did you- It was- Or did you, or did you just-... yeah, at about four, four miles to go. Mm-hmm. And yeah, you know,
• 19:32
  you kind of, you think it's gonna be all downhill from, from there at four miles to go, 'cause you, you just climbed this huge hill. Mm-hmm. And it, it wasn't.
• 19:40
  There were like [laughs] three uphills, and it was devastating. Every time I'd look around the corner and see a, a big hill in front of me and Tim right behind me. And yeah.
• 19:49
  Well, and from my viewpoint, having nobody chasing me, that was still the hardest part of the race for me. After I climbed the wall, I was like, "Oh, I'm, I'm golden. I'm done with the climbing."
• 19:59
  But those last five miles were so hard, 'cause it was just hill after hill, and it was the part of the course that we had ridden in the beginning before we made our big lollipop loop. Mm-hmm.
• 20:09
  So I was like, oh, I know what I'm gonna be riding. There wasn't that much downhill, but it is really a lot of uphill in those last five miles, which was, I'm amazed.
• 20:17
  I can't imagine having somebody on my tail in that part. You gotta stay so mentally strong. [laughs] I, I think we were both...
• 20:22
  We, we talked about it after the race, and we were both, like, every corner where we'd come around and see a hill, just swear to ourselves. [laughs] Screaming in pain. But silent.
• 20:33
  And then you had glorious victory in the end. Well, congrats. Yes. Woo-hoo. [laughs] So let's close this interview down with one final three-part question for both Will and Megan, but let's give Megan the final word.
• 20:49
  So, Will Ross- Yep... during the Alaskan summer, what bike do you ride? What kind of racing or events are on your schedule? And what type of alternative recreational activities do you indulge? So first, what bike?
• 21:06
  So the bike, uh, I've got a couple. Um, my favorite's probably my, my 907 Slider that I've got set up with, uh, like, a Gates belt drive. Mm-hmm. Uh, and that's kind of my, my play bike.
• 21:18
  Go ride the beaches, get it all sandy and salt watery, and it's a bike that I feel like I can, I can do that with. Oh, yeah.
• 21:26
  Um, so that, that's a fun bike and, uh- And that's a, that's a single speed with the belt drive? Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Um- Very cool... yeah, so that's, that one's just a lot of fun.
• 21:36
  Uh, but then the, the business bike, the, the race bike, uh, I'm on a Scott Scale 900 RC, so like a, a 19-pound hardtail. Very cool. So it's a business bike.
• 21:48
  So then, right, what kind of, what kind of events or races do you ride that Scott bike at or in? Um, mostly just our local Arctic Bike Club mountain bike races. Mm.
• 21:58
  Those are, yeah, they're like your typical cross-country mountain bike races. Lots of single track. Um- Bicycle NASCAR, off-road NASCAR. Bicycle off-road NASCAR. Yeah, bicycle NASCAR. There you go.
• 22:10
  [laughs] We, we, we do, uh, turn both right and left, though. Oh, that's true. [laughs] And, uh, the- But yeah, and then I think I'm gonna try, uh, the Missoula to Montana Pro XCT this year, so try a- Oh, cool...
• 22:24
  mountain bike race with the, the big boys of mountain biking. Yeah. See how I do there. Very cool. I'd be, I, I'm looking forward to seeing how you do there. Right. Good luck with that. Yeah. And last- Yeah, thanks...
• 22:35
  do you have, uh, do you have any alternative recreational activities? And try and, try and remember this is somewhat of a family show. [laughs] But yeah, um, I do, I do a lot of mountain running. Do you whitewater raft?
• 22:48
  That's a- Oh, yeah... a big part of my training. Uh-huh. Um, so, and, I mean, Alaska's the perfect place for it, uh, especially Anchorage.
• 22:55
  We have probably 15, 20 mountains just in, in the backyard five minutes from home that we can go play on. So I do that, and then occasionally dabble in a, in an XTERRA Triathlon, the off-road style. Oh, cool. Groovy.
• 23:12
  Yeah. First of all, thanks, Will. Uh, we've basically got- Yeah, thank you... the same, same set of questions for Megan. Uh- Awesome... what do you, what do you ride in the off-fat bike season?
• 23:22
  [laughs] Well, in past years I've, uh, ridden a hardtail mountain bike, but this year I'm just working on, um, I'm in the process of building up a Norco Revolver fu- full suspension mountain bike. Mm-hmm.
• 23:33
  Which should be fun since I've never been on a full suspension mountain bike. It'll be cool to see if I can, can fine-tune some of my technical skills. I've always, I've always, uh, been kind of like a,
• 23:45
  like a suffer rider. I've been able to haul up the hills pretty hard, but I still have to work on getting over the roots and all the technical stuff. So I'm hoping that this new bike will kind of help me, um,
• 23:57
  find a new side of mountain biking to help me- Get in touch with your-... improve my skills... with your Anne-Caroline Chausson. She's a big down- Exactly. [laughs] Downhiller.
• 24:07
  So I plan to do the local mountain bike races as well.
• 24:10
  Um, we've got some good series with some good competition up here, and, um, Josh and I are planning on taking a trip back to Wisconsin this summer, and I'm gonna try to squeeze one of the Wisconsin off-road races in.
• 24:24
  Nice. Uh, I think there's one in Eau Claire when we're gonna be home, so- So we'll hopefully sneak that in. Very cool. That's a very big series. Yeah, I'm excited there- There's a lot of people at those events, for sure.
• 24:34
  Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. It'll, it'll be my biggest, like, it'll be the biggest race I've done as far as people, um, uh, people participating, so I'm excited to give that a try out of state. Um- Well, right on...
• 24:47
  yeah, it's- And, uh, do you have any, any alternative recreational activities? Do you, do you like to macrame or, um- [laughs] Easy.
• 24:56
  [laughs] Well, uh, since my husband Josh is a teacher and I stay at home with our three and our five-year-old, uh, he has the summer off, so we spend the summer salmon fishing, halibut fishing, camping, towing our three and five-year-old all through the mountains to Forest Service cabins.
• 25:15
  And, uh, I do a lot of mountain running. Same as Will. I've kind of been dabbling in triathlons a little bit, which has been super fun. Um, yeah, just being outside- I love that... all day in the midnight sun.
• 25:28
  [laughs] Dabbling? Didn't you get, like, second in your first off-road triathlon? Thanks, Will. [laughs] Yeah, it's, yeah, it's been fun to, to stick my toes in the water and see what that feels like.
• 25:39
  Just dabbling there- [laughs]... on the upper middle level of the podium, you know. Aw. Well, thank you. [laughs] Thanks. Well, uh, thanks a lot, you guys. It's been a pleasure having you two on the show. Yeah, guys.
• 25:51
  Thanks for joining us this evening. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yeah, it's been fun. Thank you. Well, all right. G- give us a howdy do when you're in Wisconsin here. Yeah. Let us know, we'll, uh- We sure will.
• 26:00
  We- awesome. Yeah, I absolutely will. We'll ride bikes and stuff. Cool. Yeah, let's do it. That'd be fun. Right on. Sweet. Thanks, guys. All right. We'll see you later. Thank you. Bye. Have a good one. Bye.
• 26:14
  What good guests. Hey. I love people from Alaska- Will and, Will and Megan is-... that are from Wisconsin originally. [laughs] So- You sh- why don't we take a quick break here? We should probably take a quick break.
• 26:24
  I think we should take a quick break. Maybe. I think we're probably on break, then. [upbeat music] So I heard you need a fat bike. Mm-hmm. Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois.
• 26:33
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• 26:49
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• 27:04
  You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. And we're back. The Fatty Farm Field Report is brought to you by Quiring Cycle.
• 27:16
  The Quiring Twiple B is the fattest ride on two wheels, featuring the new generation of 505 inch tires. That's 5.05. That's a big tire. Big. Visit QuiringCycles.net- We'll talk...
• 27:34
  to see the next level of bicycle exploration. So is, uh- Woo... you think Quiring will be the first to make a, a Willinger 7 frame? [laughs] The Willinger 7. Yeah.
• 27:49
  I got a photo a guy sent in about, uh, one of, one of Scott's bikes that he got up to Nome, Alaska. Oh, wow. Got it sent up there to him, and he's, uh, it's, like, apparently fairly soft now, no snow, soft conditions.
• 28:01
  He's, uh, you know, wet and stuff, and riding- Yeah... like a pound and a half on those big monsters. Wow. Just floating over the terrain. So, uh, we're about to open the phone lines to the masses here, and Sven has
• 28:19
  the word on how you can get your prize on. [singing] [laughs] Word is the word.
• 28:28
  Yeah, you know, uh, you, you call in guest folks who are winners on today's show, and that's pretty much anybody that calls in between now and 9:00 PM CST.
• 28:37
  Uh, just send an email to sven@fat-bike.com with the subject line, "Show 100 winner," and include in the body of your email your shipping address and the phone number you called in from, 'cause that's how we'll verify you're not a jackass just, uh, trying to get free stuff.
• 28:55
  Yeah. And you gotta do that before, before the show comes out on Friday, between now and 10:00 AM on Friday morning. Otherwise, you forfeit all that stuff. Indeed.
• 29:06
  So when else- So if you listen to this in the future, then you'll know about this in the past. [laughs] Exactly. It's that weird time rip again. Hey, before we, [laughs]
• 29:16
  before we rip your time pair of, your favorite pair of time jeans- Damn it, Marty... [laughs] we have a for real for this week's show.
• 29:27
  Bosch and HaiBike are sponsoring the very first e-bike fat bike race, no, e-MTB race at Sea Otter. And for an editorial comment- But MTB m- fat bikes are MTBs, so- I know...
• 29:40
  if they had an E- That's like dubstep, EDM, EMTF. [laughs] So they're having a e-mountain bike race at Sea Otter, and for an editorial comment, we go to the FatBike.com e-bike managing editor, Mr. Sven Hammer.
• 29:57
  [singing] Trail? Yeah. For real. It must be pretty important, because the PR guy for the event bumped the announcement to the top of my e, inbox this morning. That's because those e-bike guys- Boioioioioioi...
• 30:08
  are like, e-bike, e-bike guys are like- Boioioioioioi... Bible salesmen of every bike show. They're like, "Please, come look at our e-bike." And we say, "Uh, cool and stuff." Yeah. [laughs] Keep on.
• 30:27
  K- keep it on. That, that's, that's one hell of a e-bike you got there, cowboy. I stand by my 1:00 AM e-bike. You got that big green bike I got a black one now, too.
• 30:39
  [laughs] And that's why he's the managing editor on the eBike Managing Editor. But it's not gonna make its way out to Sea Otter this year, not with my butt on it anyway. Well, anyway. You know what?
• 30:52
  We've, we've wandered aimlessly into the fat bike links, and there's a lot of good stuff here. Chugach. Chugach. Chugach. [laughs] Made it- Yeah, they made, they made it the extreme Alaska Extreme!
• 31:07
  Uh, yeah, some people we know were on the TV news up there. In Chugach. Mike Kuriak- Chugach... my friend, Mike Kuriak, uh, he sends me links. He's fat and happy, and, oh, that dude just kills it with the camera.
• 31:22
  Man, he missed his calling. He was like the Ansel Adams of, of today. Well, that was, uh, Colorado. Or Mike "The Kid" Riemer. No, this is Mike Kuriak. Yeah, I know. Different Mike. But they're both- Oh, yeah...
• 31:37
  photographic- Yeah, yeah, yeah... geniuses. Kid is also- Yeah... has, has serious pro photo shooter skillsets. Pro chops. He should go...
• 31:47
  Kid, and me, and you, and JK should all get in a van and go to Winnemucca Dunes, and, uh, herd some pixels onto a camera, and ride bikes and shit.
• 31:58
  I took a look at those pictures, uh, from the, the bike Carson dude there, boy. Yeah. Those are some sweet, sweet dunes. Winnemucca. Winnemucca. I don't know if I'm taking my bike out on the salt flats, but, uh,
• 32:09
  that's right around there. Alaska's first couple of ultramarathon cycling, Heather Best and Jeff Oatley, had a nice article in the, uh, in the newspaper there. And hey- And-...
• 32:23
  Salsa RideCamp, speaking of hanging out with our buddy, Kid Riemer, we should have a telethon to raise the money so we can go camp with our close personal friends at Salsa Cycles.
• 32:36
  It's up there in Wisconsin's north woods. We could all- You can't really- We could all-... get a better place to ride in the summer... we could all get fricking Salsa tattoos, adventure by bike. Eat salsa?
• 32:45
  Eat salsa and chips. That'd be fricking awesome. What else you got there? Yeah, [laughs] I- [laughs] Sven, Sven's gone completely quiet. Did I hear docking in the background?
• 32:58
  [laughs] Oh, plus I've got just pure comedy gold here in the plus bike links. Gold, Jerry. Gold, I tell you. [laughs] Hey, you know, speaking of cool pictures- Yeah... that Grossmont fat bike adventure- Yeah...
• 33:11
  from the Slow biker, there's another, another collection of a bunch of really cool shots that they went on with white snow stuff in it. Oh, man.
• 33:19
  The industry, the bike industry loves the idea of fat bikes on snow, not so much on dirt apparently. Uh, in plus bike news, Wolverines are the future- Ch, ch, ch, ch, ch, ch, ch... of backcountry search and rescue.
• 33:32
  They're hardwired, friendo- [laughs]... hardwired to dig 10 feet down in the snow and eat the face off of any survivor, so they just gotta nab them right before they m- eat your face off, and then you're rescued.
• 33:45
  So when you're riding your plus bike in the snow, not your fat bike- [laughs]... and you sink through it- [laughs]... Wolverines to the rescue. Indeed.
• 33:52
  So when I ride my plus bike, I have to act like Wolverine from X-Men- [laughs]... and just yell at everyone? What- Snik, snik, snik. Yes. And do the berserker- Yes... attack when I jump off of it?
• 34:02
  Have you, uh, had a Milverine sighting yet this year? No, no, no. I have not seen the Milverine yet. No, it's still, it's not a shirt rip-off. Great. We have a Milverine that, that walks the streets of- Patrolling...
• 34:14
  the lakefront area, patrolling. Nice. Yes, Wolverine, but Milverine 'cause Milwaukee. [laughs] Oh. But he's always walking with purpose, and he looks like Wolverine. Hmm. But it's only been- Without the psh, psh.
• 34:28
  Snik, snik. So in this article, this Guardian article- [laughs]... they actually, they actually say cycling is the new golf. [laughs] Executives talk about their- Is that-...
• 34:36
  new carbon fiber crank in front of- Is that right? [laughs] Oh, my- Well, that's 'cause they need in, in, in England especially, they like these very prepared spots that look kind of like golf courses- Oh...
• 34:48
  to ride their bikes on. That's what fricking grooming, snow grooming for fat biking is. It's a trap. It's winter golf with orange tennis balls. Did you, did you just channel- Ackbar?... Admiral, Admiral Ackbar? Ackbar.
• 35:02
  [laughs] And the NASA supercomputers have nothing to do with bicycles, but I think they should. And then there's bicycle art. And that, my friends, is the Mother Facebookin' Link Section. Chicka-chipow.
• 35:17
  And now for something completely different. It's the special segment. Hey, we got any callers? Buddy, oh, it's such a good question, too. Right? So let's just start talking about this. Yeah, because, uh,
• 35:33
  I dunno, it's the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame. Dude, and fat bikers, fat bikes are mountain bikes. I think it's, it's high time that some fat bikers got recognized for their, uh- Recognized...
• 35:46
  recognized, uh, for their addition to the, uh, you know, fabulous mountain bike culture. Sven, what do you think?
• 35:52
  Well, first of all, I think if you're gonna call in, and maybe you're not, but if you were, [laughs] you should look at the list already 'cause if you say anybody's name that's on that list- Oh, yeah...
• 36:02
  that's curtains for you. Curtains. He goes like, pff. So after looking at that list, [laughs] I was like, "Holy mackerel, most of the people that I would've thought of from my- Yeah [laughs]...
• 36:10
  my old 1995 mountain biking days have, have already been inducted." [laughs] Like, uh, I dunno, Marty Weigel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, trail building, club building, mountain bike building, under tunnel riding.
• 36:28
  [laughs] Just for the, for 25 years he's been a, a fixture in the mountain biking in, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. When they open the Milwaukee Wing of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame- Yeah...
• 36:42
  might- it'll be maybe the, the Weigle, called the Weigle Wing Weigle Wing. Weigle [laughs] Weigle Wing. Well, I was thinking more, you know, like in the, in the realm of, uh, fat biking.
• 36:53
  There's this guy, Pete Bassinger, he won the IT- ITI six times. Um, so that- Say that six times. S- say that six times. [laughs] Um- I mean, I- Some of the pioneers of, of, of fat biking could certainly be thought of.
• 37:10
  Greg Mattes, fat bike pioneer and owner of Speedway Cycles. Or how about, uh, Eric Sovereign and, uh, or Dave Gray from Surly, the designer of the Pugs? Right. How about, how about them apples? I like that.
• 37:22
  I like, I like Sov for MC of MTB. Yeah. With the, with the megaphone and the, and the circus inside show, and, and the bucket ball, and- Yeah, inventor of bucket ball. Right?
• 37:35
  [laughs] How many, how many fingers have been broken in bucket ball? That is a... I got slammed to the ground. Freaking Spinner Ryerson- [laughs]... took me out so hard.
• 37:45
  But I think that that led us to victory, 'cause I went out of the game, little Kelsey Walsh came in the game, she freaking scored, I cried a little bit on the sidelines, and we won. Thank you very much.
• 37:58
  Uh, yeah, so JK, you have the, you have the ace high here. [laughs] Yeah, I, I agree 100%. Yeah. I w- I'm gonna go with Tom, Tom Teasdale. Could, could, I don't... Gomez says, "Why didn't you think of him?"
• 38:14
  [laughs] I'm like, uh, s- s- see, I had that in the secret script. I have a secr- secret script at my hand- So you did. It's the w- And it was like- It's called the let's make Sven look like an idiot script.
• 38:23
  [laughs] That's the script. That's the name of it. [laughs] Let's trick Sven. Trick Sven. [laughs] S- it's Sven. It's Sven now. Sven. It's not Sven anymore. Sven. [laughs] Oh, so- But- Well played, old sport.
• 38:38
  Well- Yeah, Sven's a good call. Yeah. A- and I mean, I'm riding- Yeah... one of his rigs, and, uh- Well, so is Sven, right? [laughs] Right. I know, there's two from 95 right over there.
• 38:51
  [laughs] And then, uh, I've, I've been- Yeah... you know, I worked with Tom for a long time, all the way right up till he passed away, so. There's a couple- That's it...
• 38:58
  of them over there just past the big pile of beers- Yeah. [laughs]... that I see. See, that's where my polar north eyes are looking. [laughs] It's all I can see, really. All I see is this pile of beers.
• 39:09
  [laughs] And I'm doing my part. Are, are those pinners cold in there? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Pinner coming your way. Bro hands. Winner, winner, pinner dinner. Oh, yeah. So, uh, guess what?
• 39:20
  So much for my not drinking any beer tonight plan. Uh- Well, it, it, it works. It's medicinal. Right. I hear you. Wait a second. [bottles clanging] Oh. Crap, I just sprayed that all over the computer.
• 39:34
  [laughs] Hope it doesn't go down in the little holes in the computer thingy. Oopsie. Your computer's probably thirsty. So, uh, hey, if you guys have been paying attention to our, uh,
• 39:46
  I don't know, their train of consciousness, uh, here, we have a beard shearing, spring shearing contest. But, uh, we've been taunting you with a very tiny prize package. And today, tonight,
• 40:02
  uh- This night of nights [laughs] I, uh, I, I have cut my beard off. And, uh, if you're really interested, I actually have it on video. Yeah, I went to a barber shop with a video camera and, and the baggie.
• 40:19
  And they're like, "What the hell? What the hell are you doing?" And the baggie. Yeah, so and it's 7.8 grams, so my weight loss program is really kicking ass this week. [laughs] It's 7.8 grams. Uh,
• 40:31
  and, uh, Sven actually has the winner. And the winner is [drum roll]
• 40:40
  John Ansel from the Welsh countryside with a guess of 3.772, precisioned to within one one-thousandth of a gram. Congratulations, John.
• 40:54
  You win like a couple of hats and some T-shirt action, and- A whole box of stuff- Yeah... that's coming over to, coming over to Wales there. Yeah, so.
• 41:03
  And, you know, we had guesses ranging from 2.5, I think, about to 55 grams. 55 grams. Which would be a lot of beard. Caramba. We could probably collect more than that at the, uh, uptowner beard competition this Saturday.
• 41:17
  [laughs] Oh, yeah. Which would explain why JK and I are not sure yet. [laughs] Exactly. [laughs] I have to, I have to sit there and get close to the podium for a fourth year.
• 41:28
  I'm gonna get a cl- I'm just gonna stand there, and I'm not... You know, it's just like I'm- This is, this is the y- your year, JK. No. I feel it. Well, I did win, I did win the what the fuck competition. [laughs] Yeah.
• 41:37
  I got first place in that, because they couldn't figure it out, so I got that. All right. I can always lean on that one, but I'd like to be reckoned on the podium. Yeah. Well, actually, it's a bar tab.
• 41:47
  I'd like to quote- [laughs] I'd like to quote my friend Adam Blake, as he often would tell his, uh, young squire, AJ Turner, "You're a champion." So yeah, I got that. Champion. Uh, so are we, uh, are we gonna hang out?
• 42:03
  Are we gonna close this thing out? I don't know. Well, somebody could call. Somebody could call. If they wanna win anything. I know. Well. We got, like, 15 minutes left.
• 42:15
  So we've been getting some interesting comments on the site. [sings] Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo. Uh, apparently we're, uh- [burps] Gross...
• 42:26
  we're not policing our words enough, and people feel like they, they, they wanna police, be the word police. There's just those people that when they get in front of a computer just don't follow the credo.
• 42:41
  Don't be a dick I know. I'm one of them. [laughs] But I try not to be a, you know, a huge, giant- Well, if you're gonna be a dick, don't act- [laughs] It's hard to... If you're- [laughs]
• 42:55
  I was gonna have something really damn profound, but then I realized it was absolutely ridiculous. But then? My daddy always said, "You can't please all the people all the time." I know.
• 43:07
  And if you just take it for the fun that it is and don't try to make this thing too credible or anything. I know. We lost all credibility- All credibility... because we let somebody say something.
• 43:19
  Because it is- You're close, you're close to destroying the bike industry. [laughs] The pillars. Already ruined the internet. Now it's all about the bikes. For, yeah, first the bike industry.
• 43:29
  [laughs] [laughs] Then the internet. Thank, thank God we're, we're- Then society. Thank God we're infiltrating the internet with yet another stupid cycling website. I know. I know. Pirate Cycling Network. Baby steps.
• 43:42
  I know. Pirate Cycling Network. Yeah. Now, does that tell you- Go ahead and try to find it... that maybe, yeah.
• 43:47
  [laughs] [laughs] That maybe, you know, it's an adult site that uses satirical humor and slang and adult subject matter. If you don't like that sort of thing, you know, there are a lot of other sites out there.
• 44:03
  Yep, probably more credible. Probably. But probably not anywhere near as fun. [laughs] We try. We try and be as- Now, come back to us, us, yeah... ridiculous as we can. Have a couple of beers and tune in.
• 44:16
  You need, like, a couple. You need a couple of them. [laughs] So our show this evening has been brought to you by the bikes, parts, and chaos of Surly Bikes. You can learn more at surlybikes.com.
• 44:33
  Hit us up there on that hooter. Drop that dime. Ask the operator to connect, and then grab your socks and hose and pull at 818-918-2453 anytime, day or night, and leave us a message, you know?
• 44:48
  Join us next show, where we'll further reveal that we're totally out of our Facebook and minds. Till then...
• 44:58
  [laughs] [fireworks exploding] You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat.
• 45:12
  [upbeat music] Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 45:21
  [upbeat music]