Latest / Full Spectrum Cycling / Weekly Dose of Fat Show #87 – Some of Our Best Interviews With Fat-bike Racing Men Done Over the Past Year

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Weekly Dose of Fat Show #87 – Some of Our Best Interviews With Fat-bike Racing Men Done Over the Past Year · Full Spectrum Cycling

• 0:00
  Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 87 for Friday, January 1st, 2016. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Happy New Year, yous bastards. Welcome to the best of the Weekly Dose.
• 0:15
  [laughs] We've- Well, not this, not this- Put quite a show together [laughs]... not this particular portion- [laughs]...
• 0:21
  but, you know, some other stuff that you're gonna be listening to [laughs] It features interviews that we've recorded over the last year. [laughs] I'm dying. Oh, my God.
• 0:33
  [laughs] Well, this would be the, like the New Year's Eve and the New Year's Day kind of blather- Oh, yeah, I've been up for, like, 36 hours. [laughs]... blather- blathering. Hey, I saw the sunrise. Oh, my God.
• 0:45
  [laughs] Hey, Fat Bike Radio and the Weekly Dose of Fat is sponsored by Surly Bikes. Learn more at surlybikes.com.
• 0:53
  Hey, our first encore interview comes from show number 46, and it features the Iditarod Trail Invitational winner, Mr. John Lackey. Can you hear me? Hey, John. How are you? Welcome to the show. Hey, thank you.
• 1:08
  So congratulations on the big win in the ITI 350 and setting the world record. [laughs] Thank you. Thank you. It was a, it was a good one. Yeah. It was a good year. So John- Nice Corvus...
• 1:23
  our, uh, our audience wants to know about your race bike, your, uh, special edition pink Corvus from Greg and the boys at Fat Bike. Back, Back, Back. Absolutely. It's, uh, it's a rocket ship, man.
• 1:39
  That's, uh, it's an amazing bike. It, it's the, like you said, the Corvus from Fatback, and they hooked me up with, uh, the Fat- Fatback wheels and the carbon rims and, um, all outfitted with Revelate, uh, bags.
• 1:54
  And it, it, it's, it's a beautiful machine, man, and it, it [audio crackles] that course. It was perfect. It sounds like you have the Beastie Boys going on in the background. [laughs] Yeah, it's, it's a bit loud in here.
• 2:09
  There's all the racers coming in and out, and, uh, we got [laughs] all sorts of stuff going on here. Cool, man. So what kind of tires did you run?
• 2:18
  Uh, I was running the Dillinger 5s, and that was pretty much the consensus. I think that 90% of the people in the race were running the studded Dillinger 5s.
• 2:25
  It was, it was icy out here, really quite icy, sketchy in spots, um, so studs were m- almost mandatory.
• 2:34
  Yeah, we were gonna kinda check in with you on the lack of snow, so how did that affect the course conditions from what you might have seen in years past? Uh, you know, it, it was fast, but it was really bumpy.
• 2:45
  Um, the rivers coming up the, at the start of the race here on the Yetna and the Susitna, and both of those were, uh, i- it was slushy the week before, and then it froze down, so it was a, just rutted, kinda chunky ice that it, it was fast but not super fun just 'cause you really had to pick your line the whole time.
• 3:04
  You had to be very attentive just otherwise it'd, it'd kick you off the bike.
• 3:07
  And it, uh, right at the start, Kevin Breidenbach got, got knocked off a bike by, he got stuck and just it, it bucked him and dislocated his middle finger on his left hand, and it was pointing sideways. [laughs] Oh. Ooh.
• 3:19
  Uh, he almost had to drop out of the race because of it. Yeah, it was disgusting. Almost? It was, um- Almost... it, it looked nasty. [laughs] Almost. Yeah, he, he came back and got second, so he did okay.
• 3:32
  [laughs] [laughs] Yeah. So what part of the race did you end up catching up with, uh, Andrew Komotowski? Um, so Andrew took off out of Rainy Pass Lodge and, uh, hit the pass before everybody else.
• 3:46
  He didn't take a, a long rest at Rainy Pass and just took off, and we, uh, there was, uh, let's see, six of us all together, and we kinda sat down, and I wanted a little rest, so I laid my head down for a half hour.
• 3:57
  Didn't get any sleep, but at least got to rest my legs.
• 3:59
  And then, and then Kevin and I both took off essentially at the same time from Rainy Pass and headed, uh, up and over, and we could see Andrew was, uh, we couldn't see him the way, but we were just watching his track as we were coming in.
• 4:11
  He was, his track was looking strong. He was riding up pretty steep hills, and it was, it was pretty impressive.
• 4:16
  We got into Roan, um, about 35 miles past Rainy Pass Lodge, which is, you know, up and over the pass, down into Roan, and Andrew had stopped there for 13 minutes.
• 4:27
  He took a bratwurst on the bike and took off is what we, uh, that was the report from the, uh, from the tech point. [laughs] So we [laughs] looked at each other- Eat a bratwurst?...
• 4:34
  and Kevin Breidenbach and I looked at each other and said, "Well, crap, this guy is flying. I, I think he's got a plan. I think he knows what he's doing," and, uh, we were pretty scared at that point. So, uh,
• 4:46
  so I said to Kevin, I, I, "I'm gonna ride as hard as I possibly can until I get to McGrath, and if I catch Andrew, I catch him, and if I don't, he can ride. He's, he'd earned it, you know?"
• 4:56
  So, uh, I took off out of Roan, and about halfway into Nikolai, so about another si- uh, 60 miles down the trail, uh, I finally caught up with him and, and he was starting to waver then.
• 5:06
  And, and at that point, after I passed him, I made sure to pass him pretty good. [laughs] Oh, no. Uh, he, he,
• 5:13
  he was pretty tired, though, and, uh, and, and he, he took a rest on the side of the trail at that point, um, and just recouped.
• 5:19
  And, I mean, kudos to him because I think that, I mean, he was going for quite a long way from Rainy Pass to there, and, and he took, like, two hours and, and he finished str- super strong.
• 5:30
  I mean, there was just that rest, and then he came back and came back right behind Kevin right into the finish, so. So you- It was a hell of a race...
• 5:39
  so you mentioned that, uh, Kevin had a, a little injury with the dislocated finger at, on this race. You had a herniated disc last year. How was coming back from that injury and then getting back- I did...
• 5:50
  into it, uh, uh, this year? How did that go? Uh, it was a long process. I was, um, planning on going to the, uh, Rovaniemi 150 race in Finland last year, and, and I went, uh, but I didn't get to race.
• 6:03
  My wife raced, and she won the women's category and- So from February last year, I was off the bike all the way through, um, uh, June, which is the longest time I've been off the bike for two decades.
• 6:18
  Um, a- a- yeah, so then I was recovering.
• 6:21
  And my, it wasn't until late in the summer, this last summer, that I could actually put good long rides in, um, get on the bike for, you know, my long weekend eight-hour counter rides.
• 6:30
  So it, it, it was, it was motivating, is what it was. I mean, I, I had a whole winter last winter where I couldn't race. I couldn't do anything. And, uh, it, it, it made me hungry for it, is what it did.
• 6:45
  And, uh, I, I'm, I'm happy that my back held up. My back's quite sore right now, but, you know, it, it, it made it, so [laughs] Yeah... that's all I can ask. Made it, made it in style and in world record time.
• 6:56
  Really amazing performance out there, John. [laughs] We really, uh, we really, we're kind of speechless. I, I just can't believe that, uh, that that's what people are saying about the, the, about the new record.
• 7:09
  350 miles in less than 48 hours- I mean, I, like-... is just incredible. It seems like that's the, that's the new norm these days, that every, every year something like [laughs] that happens. They keep breaking them.
• 7:20
  [laughs] We're gonna have to break one day next year. [laughs] You know, one of these winters is gonna come and there's gonna be six days of pushing the bike, and it's, it's gonna seem normal again.
• 7:31
  [laughs] Well, we really appreciate having you on the show, John. How we doing without them? [laughs] Man, it's, uh, just an incredible honor to, uh, to talk to someone so soon after they finish such an epic effort.
• 7:45
  It was like, Greg wanted me to call you right away, and I was like, "Man, the guy's been up for 48 hours straight." [laughs] "I would be ripe for the bed. I would...
• 7:56
  They, they wouldn't wake me for three days," but- Exactly... but, uh, he, he said that after that kind of effort- [laughs]... he's like, he won't be able to sleep. He'll be all still running at full steam.
• 8:07
  So we really appreciate you coming on the show. All right. Yep. Take care, guys. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Please welcome to the radio program 2015 Fat Bike Birkie champion, Will Ross.
• 8:24
  Welcome to the show, Will. Oh, thanks. Thanks for having me. Yeah, thanks for joining us in the studio, man. That's awesome. In the studio, right? Yeah.
• 8:31
  You're our first US champion that has come to the studio, so you're our favorite US national champion. Right on. [laughs] So congratulations on the win last weekend at Fat Bike Birkie.
• 8:42
  So now you own maybe like the Great Lakes National Championship Belt, and Ned owns the [laughs] USAC Belt.
• 8:49
  What do you say we settle this the old-fashioned way, do a little best two out of three falls Indian leg wrestling? I think I got bigger legs than Ned. I'll take him. [laughs] All right. [laughs] Very good.
• 9:01
  The, the gauntlet has been thrown down, Ned. Right? Uh, I get questions from, uh, from our gerbils that listen to the show. [laughs] And, uh, [laughs]
• 9:11
  you know, one of the, one of the questions that come up for a lot of the guys that are doing well in racing, and since you won I think it's very pertinent, people wanna know what's up with your bike? How's it set up?
• 9:20
  What makes it so fast? Is it, like, the bike or is it the guy? You know. My bike, it's fast. Um, yeah, carbon 907 Whiteout, uh, in green of course.
• 9:31
  It's got the HED rims with Dillinger 4s set up tubeless, so down to 22 and a half pounds. Nice. SRAM XX1, Ergon grips. So nothing somebody couldn't just buy off- Oh, you-... the showroom floor though, basically.
• 9:45
  So really the motor is what makes it go fast. You could totally buy it. [laughs] Looks, looks like some Race Face Next carbon rock in there, too, right? Yeah, lots of carbon, lots of Race Face. And it weighs?
• 9:56
  22 and a half pounds. Yeah, yeah. See, get down in that range and they start to feel like real bikes again, don't they? Oh, it's a rocket ship.
• 10:03
  [laughs] And it seems like Dillinger is the favorite tire of everyone in Anchorage. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Um, well, especially this year with the studability of them. Right. We haven't had any snow, so.
• 10:16
  So there you go, listeners. That'll make you faster, buy a, buy a 907. So what we really brought you here for is the story of the race, the tactics and how they worked out.
• 10:29
  I don't know how much tactics went down before the turnaround, but maybe pick us up somewhere there before the turnaround and take us all the way to the finish. So yeah, it was a pretty fast start.
• 10:42
  It was just one big string of riders until probably, what, four miles in at the power line. And then the hills on the power line, it broke into a group of about 15.
• 10:53
  And then a couple riders dropped off between there and the turnaround, so I think at the turnaround we were down to 10. Uh- And was, did you have anybody in that pack?
• 11:03
  Was Jamie in that pack or was it- Yeah, my boss and owner of 907 Cycles, uh, Jamie, he was in the pack. Uh, ano- another Alaskan, John Sundell, and then Jason Lambrou, also Alaskan.
• 11:15
  Uh, so at the turnaround- Jess- Jesse Lalonde was in there I think still... yeah, Jesse Lalonde was in there, Ned was in there. Yeah. Brennan Moore. The LeMaire rider. Brennan Moore. Uh, was that Jeff Hall? Jeff Hall.
• 11:27
  Yeah. Um- He's back from kind of being half retired a little bit. Fast guy, Jeff Hall. Yeah, he's fast. Yep. He's fast. Um, then a couple other guys I didn't know. Um, one could climb super fast.
• 11:38
  He was killing us on the climbs on the way back. But yeah, after the turnaround, Ned, Ned started attacking just as he did last year, but they weren't sticking and hurting quite like they, they were last year.
• 11:49
  And I think we also knew we didn't wanna let him get any gap like, like last year, 'cause his 10 seconds last year turned into two minutes pretty quick. Uh- Yeah, sure did.
• 11:59
  And, and you were the one right behind him last year. Yeah, and yeah, we, both him and I kind of rode alone entirely the wh- the whole way back, and that's, that's not my style. I need, I need a draft.
• 12:10
  [laughs] So now had you, had you- Your group of Alaskan guys, had you made any kind of tactical agreement to- Mm... work together to hang in there or- Mm. I, I'm sure you and Jamie did though, right?
• 12:22
  The goal was to hang in there, and Jamie's goal was top 10, and he, he wasn't feeling so good that day. He wasn't feeling good before the race, but he stayed in the top 10 as long as he could. Mm-hmm.
• 12:34
  Um, but yeah, the goal was to just not hurt each other, keep us all in that front pack, and it was, it was good. Four Alaskans made the, made the front pack, and yeah, four Alaskans top 10. Cool.
• 12:46
  So- So what finally busted it up and, uh, caused you to win? Oh, that, that soft snow at the, the 20K turnaround. So the last 10K of the race, it was really soft, lots of ruts all over the place.
• 13:01
  A lot of the 20 K-ers had walked up some of the steeper hills. Mm-hmm. And so it was pre- it was really torn up, and that's, those play into my conditions perfectly. Yeah, the sloppier, the better, and- So I-...
• 13:14
  and I kept it up, right Yeah, I did hear two, uh, potential changes to next year. One is that they're gonna run separate courses. So you're saying the soft stuff played into your strengths? That definitely- Yeah...
• 13:25
  played to my favor. Yeah, for sure. I think the other one is they're talking about 1,000 people next year as a cap. Whoo. [laughs] Man. That'll be fun. It'll remain the largest fat bike event in the universe.
• 13:36
  Yeah, and that they have the, they have the trail there to keep them separate and handle, I think, up to 1,000. We'll see. Depends on conditions, right?
• 13:47
  If it were just today, I mean, just three days after the race or four days after the race, it would be pretty dicey because the temperatures have been up above freezing overnight, so. Yeah.
• 13:59
  Yeah, we rode on Sunday on the Seeley Trail, and it was in pretty good shape still 'cause that night it had gotten down to, like, 20.
• 14:05
  So it was still, if you're riding early in the day, that's the nice thing about the way the Birkie's set up is that if you do it early in the day and it had been cold at night, it sets up pretty well still.
• 14:14
  Oh, yeah, thaw, refreeze, and grooming- And patching... makes for a fast course. But I like the idea that the conditions got non-groomed on this perfectly groomed course. [laughs] And that led to, you know, the finish.
• 14:30
  That led to Will winning. Oh, it was, yeah, it was nasty. It was- [laughs] So, so Ned took a tumble. How close was he before he went off? Him and I were together.
• 14:38
  He actually, he kind of started the surge that broke everything up when we hit the soft snow, uh, 'cause it was eight of us that hit the soft, soft snow together.
• 14:47
  And Ned surged, and I was maybe two or three seconds behind him for, yeah, probably 2 or 3K. Mm-hmm. And then I think that was, that was all he had.
• 14:59
  As soon as I got around, then I'd, I hadn't tried to get a gap, but it kind of happened, and then sounds like that's when he went down. Um- Yeah, I think it was within a mile of the finish he said- Right...
• 15:12
  that he had- 2K or- Yeah Okay... one of the two things that I had heard. Yeah. Yeah, and then in, yeah, in the last 2K the, the, the leads, okay, in Alaska we call them snow machines.
• 15:23
  I hear everywhere else they're snowmobiles. [laughs] So the lead, the lead snow machine, uh, he, uh,
• 15:29
  must not have been paying full attention or I don't know what was going on, but he was slowing down and Ned was catching up, so I yelled at him to go.
• 15:38
  And I caught him off guard, and he just full throttled it, and rooster spray up in the air, and so- So he took Ned out with rooster spray? [laughs] No, I, I couldn't see the trail, and it was going through a corner. Wow.
• 15:51
  And I, I ended up riding off the trail at one point, and Ned caught me again. So then luckily enough there was a, there was a steep hill right after that, and sprinted up the steep hill and got my gap back. All right.
• 16:02
  There you go. Well, that's the way she freaking goes, boys. I know. [laughs] So, uh, what else can we look forward to from you and your team in 2016?
• 16:12
  You think you'll, uh, head up this weekend to the Talkeetna Trio and go for the world championship belt? I was thinking of doing the trio, but yeah, we'll, we'll see.
• 16:23
  Uh, Homer Epic is in a week and a half now, so- Oh, cool... might, might head down, do the Homer Epic. They don't have any snow, so- That's a 50-mile race? It's 100K, so 60-ish- 100K... miles. Right on.
• 16:35
  Um, but yeah, they don't have any snow, so they're thinking of making it, uh, a beach race. Oh. Which would be pretty fun. 'Cause they- It's a-... have tons of climbing there I heard on their singletrack trails.
• 16:43
  Oh, it's, it's not singletrack. It's, it's, it's like the Birkie- Mm-hmm... just groomed ski trail. Yeah.
• 16:50
  But the h- the hills are so steep, and yeah, you can see them from like five miles away, and it just looks like a wall. Mm. Cool. Well, right on. We've reached the lightning round of our carnival ride. Are you ready?
• 17:05
  Sure. [laughs] Answer the following five questions in rapid succession, starting with tubes or tubeless? Tubeless. Salmon or halibut? Salmon. Flats or clipless? Clipless. Groomed or ungroomed? Yes.
• 17:23
  [laughs] And your favorite Mutant Ninja Turtle? Michelangelo. [laughs] All right. Well, muchísimas gracias for joining us on the show, Will. Yeah, thanks for having me. Very good. Yeah.
• 17:35
  Congratulations on the win, and thanks for coming into the studio. I know you just had some, uh, some family business in town here. Yeah, yeah. Got the girlfriend's parents live in, uh- Wauwatosa... Wauwatosa. See?
• 17:47
  He said it correctly, too. Wauwatosa. 'Cause, you know, you, we get newscasters here all the time from other areas of the country, and they try and say some of the names around here.
• 17:55
  I'm sure it's similar up in Alaska, where you get some- Oh, yeah... some interesting names. [laughs] Waukeesha. Yeah, or, yeah, yeah. Waukeesha. Aka makana kamana walk. [laughs] [laughs] I get that one pretty good. Yeah.
• 18:05
  Me and the girls are from Waukeesha, from Tosa. So how do you say... Akeesha, Waukeesha. So is it, is it Susitna? Is that how you say the river? Susitna. Okay, it's like the Susitania. What, what, where is that river?
• 18:14
  [laughs] Andrea named our, named our cat Susitna. Oh, very good. Yeah, Andrea's joining us in the studio in her silent mode.
• 18:22
  [laughs] W- Will's lady is joining us just to, uh, to take a look at how it works in the big radio studio. Yeah. [laughs] There you go. All right. Well, thanks again, Will. Appreciate you being on the show.
• 18:33
  Yeah, thank you. Good luck with the rest of your season, and hope to see you next year, uh, here at the, uh, Birkie. Yeah, absolutely. And we'll be back right after this. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 18:48
  This week's interview flashback is presented by the Winter Rush Fat Bike Series.
• 18:53
  Winter Rush is the home of the Michigan State Fat Bike Championships and will be your host of the 2017 USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships.
• 19:01
  For more information, click on the Winter Rush banner in the show notes or visit winterrush.com. Hey, we're back. Next up is an interview with Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Ned Overend from show number 56.
• 19:19
  Welcome back from the break. We have the great pleasure of having our special guest, world champion and Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Ned Overend on the line. Welcome to the show, Ned. Howdy, guys. How you doing?
• 19:35
  Doing good. How's things out Colorado way? It's nice. We've been getting some weather here lately. We've been getting some rain. There's snow in the mountains and rain down here, but it's good. It's all good. We need it.
• 19:47
  That's the right attitude about weather. [laughs] So Ned, last time we saw you, we were all out at Sea Otter, and Specialized had introduced their new, you're calling it 6Fatty, right?
• 20:01
  Yeah, 6Fatty is what we are calling... It's essentially the 650B+ or 27.5+ is a lot of people are, are calling it, but the, uh- Or even 27+... I- This is a funny thing. We were gonna [laughs]
• 20:16
  we gotta figure out what this is gonna be called. Mid-fat, semi-fat. [laughs] But, but Specialized is calling it 6Fatty. 6Fatty.
• 20:23
  And you guys introduced the Fuse and Ruse hardtails at Sea Otter, but today you guys are announcing a new plus bike. Tell us about that.
• 20:37
  Yeah, we've just, we've just launched it, uh, and actually the embar- embargo, I think it's off tomorrow actually, but what we've done is redesigned the Stumpjumper FSR platform. So we are launching it with 650B,
• 20:54
  6Fatty, and 29. So, uh, we will have several 6Fatty models, uh, both carbon and aluminum, and they'll have 150 mil travel on the front and 135 in the rear. Nice. Full suspension. Yeah.
• 21:11
  Are, are they all using, are you using basically the same frame for those three wheel sizes or are they separate frames designed around the different wheel- Or s- maybe a separate swing arm... w- width or something?
• 21:23
  The tr- the triangles are similar, but the, the, uh, chainstays and seatstays are different- Okay... for the, uh, 6Fatty. So, and, and in the other two, uh, models as well.
• 21:36
  So you're gonna, you're gonna tailor- And, and, and the forks are different. Okay. Very good.
• 21:42
  So- That sounds, that's, uh, you know, it's, it's interesting to me as, since we, you know, kinda started out on the fat bike thing several years ago, and then we saw 29+ sneak in there, but the momentum behind this 6Fatty size really seems to be carrying a lot more steam than 29+ did.
• 21:59
  And it really seems to make more sense in theory. Now, I know you did a lot of test riding on this 6Fatty, B+ format to get the Fuse and Ruse and I'm sure the Stumpy to market.
• 22:14
  Tell us how, uh, w- how you feel this tire size is an advantage for people. W- well, let, let me talk about how, uh, how we've kinda gone towards 6Fatty. Sure. How, how it developed.
• 22:28
  It, it started with, uh, with us making 26-inch fat bikes oh, well, we started probably four years ago actually, um, you know, with the development of it. Mm-hmm.
• 22:41
  And as we rode those 26-inch fat bikes, um, you know, obviously there's, there's no comparison for anything like that on the snow, but, uh, in dry summer trails and a lot of conditions, you know, we, we were riding those fat bikes and we realized there really is something to the tire volume thing, right?
• 23:01
  And, and we also started testing the, uh, Krampus. I bought a Krampus myself and got, got a lot of ride time on it. Oh, cool. And realized that, okay, that it, it's got, uh, good applications on summer trails.
• 23:14
  Uh, the bike was a little unwieldy because of the size of that wheel. You, uh- Mm-hmm...
• 23:22
  you know, you add a, a high volume tire onto a 29-inch wheel and, and you've got a big wheel, which really makes it tough, especially to design for smaller riders. Right, right. Yeah, right.
• 23:32
  So, um- I agree, I agree 100%. Raises the bottom bracket. If you're not 6'1", 29+ is kinda tall. Yeah.
• 23:40
  But there's some real challenges in, in trying to get the chainstays short enough and especially when you add full suspension. Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah. Then, you know, everything has to grow again. So,
• 23:51
  and we really believed in the, uh, the high volume tire, so we went the direction of 6Fatty and, uh, not only launched the, the Fuse and the Ruse hardtails, uh, this summer, but now we've also gone to the FSR.
• 24:08
  So we're, we're real believers in this tire size, and we think, uh, you know, kinda the way we're describing the three different sizes is that the
• 24:20
  6Fatty is good for all around control The 650B, we think, is the most nimble, you know, maybe the most playful if you're gonna throw the bike around.
• 24:31
  And for pure speed, 29 inch is probably the fastest, you know, if you're racing against the clock. But, uh, I think, you know, it's not that cut and dry.
• 24:41
  They all [laughs], you know, kind of blur those lines a little bit in different conditions. But that's kind of how we are, are explaining it to the consumer.
• 24:51
  Yeah, I can see different areas of the country where your local trails, uh, have maybe more, uh, sandy content than you might have or they have a different, more loamy something that, uh, there's gonna be a combination of tire size and, you know, tire that are just gonna really love that condition.
• 25:09
  Absolutely. But it's nice, it's nice to have a lot of choices. So I'm, I'm really looking forward to seeing this, this 6Fattie size, the tires that will become available.
• 25:19
  Uh, it just seems like it's happening quicker than 29 plus and- And when will the, uh, FSR Stumpjumper 6Fattie bike be in bike shops so people can, uh, throw their leg over one? Like us. Yeah, like us.
• 25:35
  [laughs] I, I, I would, I would love to ride that bike. We should ride that bike. Uh, I'm looking... Uh, my, my sheet here says it's available in late summer. Late summer. All right. All right.
• 25:44
  Well- So, so this summer, so, you know, potentially a couple months- Yeah, well, you know, so-... it'll be in the stores. Yeah, sweet.
• 25:51
  Speaking of late summer, this is a perfect segue to your Durango Gran Fondo ride, which- 25th... yeah, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1990 World Mountain Bike Championships in Durango, correct? Yeah.
• 26:06
  We're, we're excited about this.
• 26:08
  Todd Wells and I have decided, you know, he, he came to me and has been, actually for several years he's been talking to me about wanting to do kind of a, a ride, a, a dirt classic in Durango. And, uh,
• 26:24
  you know, I, we've never really wanted to take it on, 'cause we're all, we're both pretty busy- Mm-hmm... you know, doing a bunch of other things.
• 26:30
  But we talked to the guys who, who promote the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic, and together with them, we thought this would be the perfect year to kick it off because it's also the 25th anniversary of the 1990 World Championships, which happened in Durango on that same weekend in September.
• 26:48
  This event is gonna happen on September 12th. That is awesome. And, uh, so the 25th anniversary of the first UCI World.
• 26:55
  So we thought this Gran Fondo, bring some people into town, we'll celebrate that, that 25th anniversary, and, uh, and it should be a good time. We'll kind of celebrate mountain biking in Durango.
• 27:05
  That's kinda like right on the way out to Interbike almost, isn't it? [laughs] Yeah, that surely does sound like it. So now, since it is an anniver- 25th anniversary of the World Championships in Durango, what other, uh,
• 27:19
  what other celebrity, what other big names will be at that event? Well, we, I'm, I'm inviting, you know, kind of all, all the American players who, uh, who were here at the time.
• 27:34
  Um, plus we're inviting some other people, you know, s- some of the other people like Jeremy Powers may come, uh, Rebecca Rusch, if she's gonna try and make it. Sure. Sarah Valentine will be coming. Nice.
• 27:46
  Uh, I just finished talking with John Tomac, and he's gonna try and make it out here, depending on, uh, his son's motocross schedule. Right on.
• 27:54
  But obviously, you know, we're fortunate a lot of guys live close, like Tra- Travis Brown will be there. Excellent. How about Greg Herbold? H-Bomb. Greg, HB will definitely be here.
• 28:06
  [laughs] Matter of fact, he's, he's gonna have to work it because SRAM is one of our sponsors. [laughs] Kill it. They're making him work the event.
• 28:12
  [laughs] Oh, well, you know, that's an interesting point, uh, Ned, that a l- a lot of the people that were, uh, at that 1990 World Championship are still heavily involved in the bike industry- They are...
• 28:23
  not the least of which is the guy we're talking to right now. Right, exactly.
• 28:27
  Uh, but, you know, H-Bomb at SRAM and, and, uh, it just, it, I, it's, I'm constantly, 'cause I've been in this for almost, that's how long I've been in the bike industry as well, 25 years.
• 28:36
  Uh, actually more like 26, but whatever. And, uh, it's just interesting to see people that had such a passion for it lasting in the industry so long, which is, like, you know, sweet. Yeah. Uh, it is too cool. So
• 28:49
  give us the date again. September- It's, uh, September 12th. September 12th in Durango, and we'll- Yep...
• 28:56
  put a link in the show notes for people that- That's, that's a Saturday, so- Yeah, you've got a, have you got a Facebook page or something for it? [laughs] We'll put a link to it. We do, and, uh, it's at Todd...
• 29:08
  Hold on, I'll, uh- You don't have- I've got a hundred window- [laughs]... I've a hundred windows open, but- Yeah... it's toddandnedfondo.com. Oh, cool. Oh, okay. Toddandnedfondo.com.
• 29:18
  It'll be Todd and Ned's Excellent Adventure. [laughs] Oddly enough- Yeah, yeah... opened the show with that today... we're using that, that tagline in, in the promotion.
• 29:28
  But, but you're right, there are so many people that are still in the bicycle industry, it's amazing. You know, they may switch from one sponsor or a different manufacturer or, uh, be doing different things, you know?
• 29:40
  Like old racers like Daryl Price who, who will be here. Oh, cool. He's, uh, you know, he was a racer on the Stumpjumper team and now he's a, a rep for Santa Cruz Bikes and Bell Giro.
• 29:51
  But, uh, most of the racers are still involved in one way or another, you know, whether coaching or still racing or... Gabe Wiens is, is also talking about coming down, so it should be good.
• 30:01
  And, and we're also gonna invite, you know, the mountain bike pioneers like Gary Fisher and, uh, Tom Ritchie, Charlie Kelly, Joe Fries. Wow, that would be so cool. So we're really trying to make it a- So if you're-...
• 30:12
  kind of a festival that'll have some of the- If you're a fan, like we are- Yep... you know, this is an event that you should put on your calendar and go out and, uh, share some knobby time with- Knobby time
• 30:25
  Yeah, you know, that's, that brings up- Cool cats... a good point for me, is what's kind of the format of the event? How are you, uh, you know, what kind of rides should people expect and, you know?
• 30:35
  W- we have two distances. We've got a 50-miler and a 30-miler, and we're utilizing the, the trail systems that are all around Durango.
• 30:44
  So, uh, you know, if you've ridden here before, we're really fortunate to have different trail systems, like on the north side, south side, east and west of town.
• 30:53
  So almost like a clover leaf, and we'll go through all these different trail systems and we'll kind of come back through town, and, uh, it'll start and finish down by the river.
• 31:03
  We have a Discovery Museum down by the river. Down the river [laughs]. In a van down by the river. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah [laughs]. We'll have a, we'll have a beer garden down there. So- Appropriate...
• 31:12
  so, uh, one loop is longer than the other, but there's some great single track in there, and, uh, you know, it'll be a great place to showcase.
• 31:20
  And the, the final loop will be through Overend Mountain Park, which has got a great single track, which ends up, uh, winding you right back to the start/finish.
• 31:27
  Is that a coincidental name, or is that actually named after you? That's pretty cool, Ned. [laughs] 'Cause that's pretty sweet. No, th- that's, uh...
• 31:35
  They actually, it used to be the Westside Mountain Park, but it's got... Ed Zink and I, uh, did a lot of work trying to get the land set aside as a, as a recreational park. Mm-hmm.
• 31:46
  And, uh, so they ended up naming it after me. It wasn't my idea. It was, it was Zink's idea, but, uh- That just- Well, I'm, I'm 100% behind that... I think it's a-pro-... that's pretty cool... a, a apropos.
• 31:56
  Yeah, absolutely. Well, very cool. Yeah. It's always a pleasure- Yeah, very cool. Thanks... speaking with you- Thanks for inviting me... and having you on the show, Ned. It's an honor. You, you are badass. Yeah. Great.
• 32:07
  We'd, we'd bend your ear all night. Meet some guys... I just, we wanna [laughs] Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to talk about, but you g- you guys are, are really kind of on the cutting edge.
• 32:16
  If you look at, uh, you know, fat bikes, uh, you guys already know about it.
• 32:21
  Now the rest of the world is kind of figuring it out, and this, this Six Fatty is, uh, kind of a new direction and I think it, it's gonna take off like the fat bike. It's gonna be huge. I a- I agree.
• 32:31
  When, uh, when we were out at Sea Otter, Gomez and I finagled a couple of fat bikes from a not-to-be-named company [laughs]
• 32:39
  and took them to the beach there at Monterey and rode north on the beach, I don't know, seven or eight miles. Mm-hmm.
• 32:45
  And, uh, did it probably at 5:00 at night, so a nice sunset action, this and that, but I was amazed to see that there were absolutely no tire tracks from fat bikes on the beach there.
• 32:55
  And while we were at Sea Otter, it seemed like a lot of people got the Six Fatty concept, where they- Right... weren't quite wrapping their heads around the total fat bike thing. Fat bikes.
• 33:06
  But man, that was a nice beach ride there [laughs]. Yeah. So there's, there's room for it all, and Ned, we're gonna be launching a new website called plusbikes.com, where we'll be covering all of this new market segment.
• 33:18
  So, uh, not only on fat bikes- Yeah, great...
• 33:21
  'cause we're right on the, on the edge of the new plus bike movement, and we really appreciate, again, that you come on and you share, uh, your insights into the testing and the riding of these brand-new bikes. Yeah.
• 33:35
  Great. No, it's always, uh, always good to talk to you guys, and feel free to have me on anytime. Hey. E- every week. No. We got, we've got Ned Overend in every week. We can't have Ned Overend every week.
• 33:45
  We'll spoil people. [laughs] No, thanks again, Ned. I really appreciate it. It's, uh, it's great having you on the show, and we'll, uh, plan towards that Gran Fondo. Man, Gran Fondo. Maybe I'll d- Okay, great. Yeah.
• 33:57
  Thanks, guys... maybe Alberto or Contador will be there. [laughs] All right, Ned, thanks again. We'll talk to you later. Bye. Thanks, Ned. Okay. See you guys. Good night. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
• 34:11
  Man, every ti- every time I hear Ned, you know, I'm, like, reminded, when we meet him, he's such a down-to-earth guy. He's just awesome. Ned Overend, folks.
• 34:21
  Well, we're gonna close the show with an interview with mi amigo, Tim Berendson, from Team Fatback. That's from show number 49. Please welcome the Talkeetna Trio World Champion, our friend, Mr. Tim Berendson.
• 34:39
  Hey, Tim. Hey, Ben and Gomez. Welcome to the show. Well, glad to be here. You're actually the world champion of the entire universe, if I'm reading my teleprompter collect, correctly [laughs].
• 34:53
  [laughs] And I'm sure it's not wrong either, so. Yeah, no, apparently I am the world champion of the, uh, universe.
• 35:02
  I did the Talkeetna Trio last weekend, and, uh, apparently what I win for being the world champion is a cowbell and the opportunity to work at the halfway aid station next year. Right on. Very good.
• 35:18
  So Tim, now that the snow race season is behind us, tell us how you think the season went for you and the Fatback team in 2015.
• 35:25
  Well, I will have to say, there is still one more race left, the White Mountains up in, uh- Oh, that's right... Fairbanks. Oh, right on.
• 35:31
  Uh, actually it's this Sunday, so, uh, myself and, oh, there's a couple of the Fatback guys I don't think are doing it this year, but there is one more race.
• 35:41
  The, as far as how the season went, uh, it went pretty awesome. Um, you know, Jeff obviously just finished up his, uh, race to Nome, again an amazing time under some pretty crazy weather conditions. Yeah.
• 35:56
  Uh, Heather again set another record in the ITI and continues kind of her dominance. Um, you know, Kevin second in the ITI this year and had a really strong showing down at the Arrowhead.
• 36:11
  And then obviously John, uh, setting a record in the ITI this year, uh, pretty amazing as well. I had a good time. I felt like I had a couple pretty good races at the Arrowhead and, uh, Susitna and
• 36:24
  Talkeetna, and then hopefully I'll have another one in, uh, the White Mountains up in Fairbanks this weekend. Well, right on. Yeah, that White Mountains race, that, I forgot about that, that, that...
• 36:34
  Your, uh, some of your best conditions take place in, in March, right? Yeah. No, it can be pretty, uh, pretty amazing.
• 36:42
  We get, uh, some warmer temperatures, more sunlight, so you get the warmer days and then it cools off at night and sets up the, the trails pretty nice. Yeah, you finally do have some snow up that way it looks like. Yeah.
• 36:56
  There's, there's kinda, there's nothing in Anchorage here right now pretty much.
• 36:59
  Uh, all the, the winter riding is, is, is, uh, long gone, but, um, further north you definitely can find some and Fairbanks should be a lot of fun and the trails should be great.
• 37:09
  So Tim, what's your favorite all-time fat bike race, and what makes the, what makes that race make the top of your list? I would have to... I mean, I'd have to go with, uh, the Iditarod Trail Invitational.
• 37:22
  It's probably not everybody's fat bike type of race, um, just because it's so unique. Uh, and, you know, there's only so many people that are actually in it every year.
• 37:33
  Um, but as far as terrain, you just have so many different things to train for, weather, snow conditions, uh, and there's more to it than I guess just jumping on your bike and, and being physically ready to do it.
• 37:48
  That- That being said, the White Mountains this weekend's pretty awesome too, so. And that one's a hundred-miler, right? The White Mountains is a hundred-miler, yeah. Yeah, okay.
• 37:57
  So prep is still important, but not, uh, not the killer that some of the longer races are. The Whites, you know, is 100 miles.
• 38:04
  It's, there's probably close to 7,000 feet of climbing, so it's, uh, it's a pretty good, it's a pretty good push.
• 38:11
  But as I said, you generally tend to get a little bit better trail conditions than all the time and it's, it's a beautiful spot to actually ride.
• 38:20
  [coughs] Obviously, it's the White Mountains, so you're in the mountains a little bit and beautiful vistas. Uh, I highly recommend it to anybody that is looking for an ultra to do sometime. Very cool.
• 38:31
  So outside of racing, do you have any bike trips planned for this summer? Um, no specific, uh, plans outside of, uh, Alaska, but I hope to do some rides.
• 38:42
  If anybody's ever been up to the Denali Park, there's the park road and, uh, early season kind of before the tourists get here, so anytime basically before Memorial Day, uh, is a good time to go up there and actually ride that road.
• 38:54
  There's no real buses. There's a few buses on it probably the week or two before, um, Memorial Day, but other than that it's pretty wide open.
• 39:01
  And, you know, there's bears and moose and caribou and sheep and lynx and, you know, you name it, there's, there's a lot of wildlife up there and it's kinda nice to do that when there's not, uh, traffic on the road.
• 39:14
  So I'll probably do that, and then other than that it'll be mostly, you know, riding and racing around, uh, in and around Anchorage. Cool.
• 39:22
  [bell ringing] Well, that bell means that we've entered the lightning round of the interview. Are you ready, Tim? I am. Answer the following five questions in rapid succession, starting with beard or balaclava?
• 39:38
  Balaclava. What's your best bike mechanic and the shop that they work out of? I have to name three of them. Okay. Um, they don't all work there anymore. Speedway Cycles, Tim Reinbolt, who used to work there, was awesome.
• 39:51
  Jason Hill, who just left, uh, probably within the last three weeks, was awesome. And then currently, Ian Venable, who's, uh, uh, moved up I think it was last summer, and, uh, he's pretty awesome as well. Right on.
• 40:05
  Favorite fat bike tire? Uh, four-inch Dillinger. Tubes or tubeless? Tubeless. And our last question of the lightning round, who wins a fight between Samsquanch and Paul Bunyan?
• 40:20
  I grew up in Minnesota, and definitely Paul Bunyan would kick his ass. [laughs] Well, we really appreciate you being on the show, Tim. Yeah, thanks for being such a good guest, man. Thanks, I appreciate it.
• 40:34
  It was, uh, pretty good time to get here. Fantastic. Don't let us have to see you back up here next year. Yeah, man, I think we're coming up for ITI. Oh, are you? Cool. That'll be, uh, great timing.
• 40:45
  Checkpoint, Checkpoint Charlie. [laughs] Are you guys... How long are you gonna be up for the week before or the week after? Uh, haven't made any kind of plans yet.
• 40:54
  I'm working with, uh, Kathy Merchant to volunteer at, at one of the checkpoints. So you might actually- Oh, that'd be cool. You might actually- Do you have any idea which one? You might actually get... No, I don't.
• 41:05
  I don't. But let's talk about, uh, which one you think we should go to. Yeah, what's, what's... Where's the party at?
• 41:11
  [laughs] Well, any of the early ones, you're gonna have everybody sh- show up quickly, so you, you, you know, they're gonna be in and out of there quick and then you can take off if that's what you want.
• 41:22
  I would go to Skwentna. Mm-hmm. I love Skwentna. Actually, they got good food and you can sit and watch TV and it's kinda weird, but it's fun.
• 41:30
  As far as, like, being out there, I would probably pick, like, either Puntilla. Uh, it's, again, it's a beautiful spot. Um, it's right at the start of any path.
• 41:41
  You're gonna get people through there, you know, for a few days. Mm-hmm. So, um, between runners and, and bikers and whatnot. And otherwise, you know, Roan would be unique. Uh, Winterlake Lodge would be good.
• 41:55
  I probably wouldn't do Nikolai. I probably wouldn't do Yetna, but any of the other ones. I guess it depends on how much time you wanna spend and do you wanna see...
• 42:04
  Like, if you go to Skwentna, if you wanna see people come through in pretty rapid succession, then that would be the place to go.
• 42:11
  If you wanna get out a little bit further off the beaten path and in maybe some prettier country, 'cause Skwentna, you're still kind of on the, in the flatlands of the, the river and whatnot. Mm-hmm.
• 42:22
  But Winterlake Lodge or Puntilla are pretty cool, and Roan, Roan, the hard part would be is actually having a place to stay just 'cause all there is is a wall tent and a-
• 42:35
  Uh, a shel- there's a shelter cabin, but, uh, I know that I did a ride, the Sled Dog Race has kind of control of that, so whether or not we can actually use it is kind of a little bit dependent, I guess. Well, cool.
• 42:47
  Well, we'll figure it out and, uh- Yeah... and we'll give you a foot rub or something when you're out there. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] It's a super unique, super unique race.
• 42:55
  I'll be out there too next year, so my plan is to sign up here- Mm-hmm. Killer, man... in the next couple weeks. Very good. All right. Thanks again for being on the show. Thanks a lot, Tim. All right. Thanks, guys.
• 43:05
  We'll see you. Take care. All right, bye. That about wraps up this episode of the best of The Weekly Dose of Fat. But first, we should tell them about the weekly contest. Oh, yeah, the weekly contest.
• 43:21
  Yeah, the Becker Bag Sewing Design Contest for the 40 Below bag thing- Right... and the video deal. How did that work again? 'Cause that's coming up on January 6th. You gotta have that in. Right.
• 43:32
  By noon, January 6th, you have to send an email to gomez@fat-bike.com with Becker Bag Contest as the subject matter, and, uh, send us a hosted video, a fat bike video, and Lord Tupper
• 43:51
  will pick a winner on the show that we record on January 6th, that night, and the winner gets one of these badass 40 Below bags sewn by the most dangerous man in all of bag making. Yeah.
• 44:05
  Hey, thanks f- thanks, Surly, for sponsoring the show. Yeah. Check out Surly Bike sale and it's going on there at your bicycle retailer. If he's got anything going on upstairs, he carries Surly. You know?
• 44:19
  Even on the ice planet of Hoth. Indeed. Right on. Hey, next week we will be back in the studio, probably in the state we're in right now. State of confusion. [laughs] State of fun.
• 44:35
  We'll be taking calls and ramping up the bull shizzle. So till then... Adios, amigos. [outro music] You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat.
• 44:49
  Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
• 44:58
  [outro music]