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Full Spectrum Cycling
Chewey’s Salon Chair #7 – Chewey’s Revelation and State Klunkers with Brad
Aug 4, 2021
Chewey’s Salon Chair #7 – Chewey’s Revelation and State Klunkers with Brad
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34:04
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Transcript
0:01
[rock music] Hey, Chewie's Podcast,
0:22
Salon Chair Podcast, um, number, well we're gonna go number two with Brad Bergey here with me. Uh, we just got back from a slight cruise with our State Clunkers.
0:32
Um, we're gonna talk about how much fun we had on those things. We're gonna talk about other people's bicycles. We're gonna talk about my new discovery about hating e-bikes, and we're just gonna go from there.
0:44
Are you ready, Brad? Born ready. You don't look ready. You look a little sweaty. Yeah, it's a little warm in the salon chair, I'm not gonna lie. It's, uh, it's, it's, it's a- Do I look sweaty? You look sweaty.
0:56
You look, uh, uh, you're... What do they call it? Glowing. I'm glistening. Glistening. [laughs] Uh, we're drinking, tonight we're drinking, um, a Daybreak. Da- Stone Dayfall.
1:09
Um, it's kind of a nice, it's a Belgium White. It's actually a really good beer. And you actually have the, uh, Pulpit to Pulpit, right? Yep. Pulpit to Pulpit. Pulpit Rock down in Decorah, Iowa put on a
1:21
race that went from the brewery out to Pulpit Rock and back, uh, 5K run, walk, whatever. [clears throat] And they had a, they... So this is what I was gonna tell you about, they had a, they had two beers.
1:30
They had this one, and then they also had, what the hell was it called? Glam Shots? It was a, oh, it was kind of a sour, but it had freaking, um... It looked like pink. You ever seen, like, when the girls
1:44
stir up a, a, like a pink nail polish? Mm-hmm. And it's got that kind of a swirl, and there's glitter and that shit? The glitter? Yeah. [laughs] That's in the fucking beer.
1:53
It was so cool, and it was so good, and it looked so... And the guy's over there and goes, "Now watch when you put a light in it." And you shine a flashlight in there on your, off your phone, and it's like- [laughs]...
2:01
sparkling inside the beer you're drinking. And then when I, when I went back to buy it, it was all gone. I never did get any, and so I'm pissed. It reminds me of, uh, Goldschläger. Did you ever get into any of that? No.
2:09
Oh, [laughs] God. It's a, it's a liquor, and it's got gold flakes in it, and the gold flakes are like a cinnamon flavor. Oh.
2:20
But yeah, you shake it up and you shine a light in there, and all the gold, uh, stuff- Yeah, this is, this is what they call...
2:25
Uh, there's, there's an edi- [clears throat] I didn't realize this, but there's an edible glitter out there. Yeah, that's the same shit- Yeah, yeah... that's in Goldschläger. [laughs] That's pretty cool.
2:33
So we went for just a slight cruise. Um, we took our two Clunkers out, our State Clunkers out. Brad's getting ready to go camping with his. I'm getting ready to go to Maine to SingleSpeed USA with mine.
2:45
The COVID must have made me stupid or something, because [laughs] I signed up for the Clunker class, although I can't, I can't really blame it on that, because I signed up before COVID hit, so.
2:53
[laughs] I'm gonna race down a ski hill on a Clunker. I don't know, this should be interesting. What's your first impression? Um, well, at first I was intimidated by, you know, tire size, wheel size.
3:04
I thought, "Man, that thing's gonna be, you know..." For being an off-road setup bike, I was like kinda thinking, "Hey, this might be, you know, a little difficult to ride," but it, uh... What a smooth bike.
3:17
It is, isn't it? You know? Especially for a guy like me who doesn't ride very often. Even though you're in a, you're in a somewhat of a cruiser position, so you sit most of the time, it's very comfortable even- Yes...
3:26
riding uphill that way. Mm-hmm. Yeah, and it was... I mean, the gear ratio's set up nice. I guess, I didn't even look to see what it was. Is it, like, a 45-tooth front? Yeah, 44 I was thinking. Yeah. Okay.
3:36
And, and probably- A little bigger on the back... 20 in the back maybe. Yeah. I, I haven't looked at, I hate look- It's a good, it's a good setup. Yeah, it is. I hate looking at specs. I just ju- Yeah.
3:43
It's, if I'm gonna get a bike and it's gonna be stock, I'm just gonna jump on it and ride it. Sure. If somebody wants to look up the specs, go ahead.
3:48
I'm, I don't- Well, for me, it's important, because, you know, it's been a while since I've been on a bike anything other than BMX.
3:55
So if I get on it and I said, "Man, this, you know, rides good," if I'm looking at any other single speed bike, I'm looking to compare, because that, uh,
4:04
you know, you can, you can accelerate at a decent rate without, you know, having to really do the long, the long pump. And we d- we didn't go far. We just did... So we got a little taste of everything.
4:16
We did the neighborhood- [clears throat]... and then we went behind the house. There's, uh, five acres of walking trails back there, so we rode some nice flat grass. Shut up, I don't wanna hear about it.
4:25
[laughs] Chewie went in the river. [laughs] I missed the river. It was close. Barely. [laughs] He was off the trail in the rhubarb, for sure. I think- Kind of had a, I had a front, a front, front row view to that.
4:37
I was right, right on your- [laughs]... your rear tire when you- My neighbor's gotta get off his dead ass- [clears throat]... and get out there and mow that trail. I kinda lost track of where the trail was at.
4:44
It needs to be trimmed a little bit. Yeah. But it's still fun back there. Some good foliage. Yeah, it was a pretty cool little spot. I have to talk to Sue about that. She should be doing that. She's home all day.
4:51
She could go out there and- Oh, I'm sure that'll go over well... weed whack the shit out of that. Oh, yeah. I'm su- [laughs] Yeah. I don't know. Um, right now I know Greg's been trying to get them.
4:59
They're hard to come by. We were just looking at State's site. Um, we can't... They're, they... Looks like the Grateful Dead are all gone. The Free Wheezy are gone. I don't think you'll get your color. No, those are...
5:09
Well, unless they decide to come back with a new- Is that a limited run? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say that. Man, those, they sold quick. Yeah.
5:14
They went fa- [clears throat] They, they may have gone faster than the Grateful Dead version did- Yeah... but they're still, they're all cool. They're, and they're fun. They are cool bikes.
5:23
And I've taken mine now four times out down to Decorah and rode the trails in Decorah. Not... I don't know. I went down Fred's. You've never been there, but Fred's is, it's not hard, but it's not...
5:35
It looks, or intimidating, and, and that's what, that's the- Is that the one you got a little squirrely on? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
5:40
I, there's, there's a hairpin turn at, towards the bottom of it that takes you down into the valley, and I was going straight over the edge of it, so I didn't- [laughs] I apologize.
5:49
[laughs] I, I ran into Doug and Diane walking the trails, and they kinda maintain the trails for us down there, and I, I apologized for the skid marks I had all over the place, 'cause I about wiped out just before I ran into them on the river trail, and- [laughs]
6:00
It wa- they had, they had a couple inches of rain down there, so things were a little greasy, but it was fun. So I know they, they kinda, they have their own class as a Clunker.
6:08
I mean, what- They're like cruiser meets BMX meets- Um, I, so- That, that's my impression, you know? Kind of. But, but, but really the reality is, is they're what started mountain biking.
6:22
If you look at the guys from Marin County that were doing... What the hell was the, the name of the, um, the first...
6:28
There was a big downhill they did in that area, and it was Cunningham and those guys in Marin, Joe Marin and those guys that... And they were basically taking old twins and- Oh...
6:36
putting BMX bars on them and racing them down hills, and that was- Really? I don't know if you wanna call it the start of BM- or mountain biking, but I guess I would call it that. That was my first- And when was that?
6:45
Mm, mid-'80s. Oh, really? Yeah. So the, that clunker style's kinda been around a while, or did State kinda- Well-... revive it? No, I think State revived it.
6:54
I think there's, you know, there's, there's a couple Facebook pages of them now. It's the next, I mean, what, you could probably call it the next single speed craze. Um, it's, it's going back to taking a bike,
7:07
making it your own, doing with what you have available type of thing. Um- Kind of like the rat rod of bikes? Kind of, yeah. Yeah. Although, you know, State took it to the next level and- Oh...
7:17
painted them pretty and- Fucking beautiful... yeah, made nice parts on them. And- Yeah... you know, the 27.5 wheel is to me is, is a great a- addition to it. It seems to work really well, and it- Yeah...
7:26
you know, once you get up to speed, it rolls well on the roads. Yeah, it rolls really well, even with that knobby tire on there. I was pretty impressed.
7:32
I've rode mine on a couple Tuesday night rides where they were just kinda bombing around town.
7:36
Um, I was hoping for a little bit more alley-type riding and urban assault type shit, but we kinda just stayed on the bike trails, and I wasn't having any trouble keeping up with anybody. Sure.
7:46
That's my fear with any single speed, but you're, you're a seasoned veteran. It's just pedal faster. Oh, sure. I mean, it's not that...
7:54
I mean, most, most people ride, on rides like that, most people ride at the pace of- The group... the slowest person. Not, not, not really, 'cause sometimes they drop off the back. But nobody gets dropped. Yeah.
8:03
Everybody, everybody stays with everybody else.
8:06
We did, we rode out to Douglas the other night, and it was a nice night to ride outside, and I was on a s- I was the only one on a single speed bike, and I had no trouble keeping up with anybody. Well, I'm not surprised.
8:15
You don't have anything with a gear. I have a tandem and- That doesn't count. [laughs] And I, you know what? I lost one, 'cause my only other geared bike was my Moonlander, and that's gone. Oh, that was geared.
8:26
That was geared, yeah. That was probably what made it more attractive to that thief. Yeah. He looked, he looked right at the gears, because he didn't look at all the rust. [laughs] Dumb shit.
8:35
That was a cool bike, though. Yeah, it was. I feel bad. I feel bad for losing that one. But I, I thought I did everything I could to keep it safe, but not so much luck. Yeah.
8:43
Well, if he hasn't painted it by now, he's an idiot, because someone will recognize that bike if he's riding it. Oh, yeah.
8:50
Well, just the, just the, if he doesn't cover the sticker on the front of the headset where it's, instead of saying Surly, it's actually got one of their, one of the pra- They, they bought their own sticker machine, and they were practicing making goofy shit, and it was one of their...
9:03
You could flip it upside down, and it was somebody else, and it was, it was actually Sov with an afro. And, uh- [laughs]... that's the sticker that's on the front of it.
9:09
And so if he doesn't cover that up, he's a gigantic idiot. Right. Yeah, that'll, that'll pull it out from a mile away. Hey, I have to tell you, I've done some soul-searching. Uh-oh. Well, not really soul-searching.
9:22
We rode Saturday morning. Susan and I got up and rode the tandem down into Cora. And- I don't know that I'm ready for this... I made a revelation. I've, I've been wrong. I've been picking on e-bikes- Uh-oh... forever.
9:33
Uh-oh. It's not the e-bikes that I hate. It's the riders. It's the riders.
9:37
[laughs] I've, I, I've come to the realization that we, we were riding up a climb, and it, we're not great climbers, so it was taking us a while, and sure as shit, we get dinged by a bell. And it's fine, you know.
9:50
That was nice. Thanks for the ding coming by. And here comes some lady on an e-bike, riding no-fucking-handed, pedaling up this hill- [laughs]... hardly even working, and I'm just like, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
10:01
I'll- Please tell me she was on Facebook. Ah, I don't know. [laughs] I, I... And so I, I didn't lose my shit. I was very calm.
10:10
Um, we got to the top of this climb, and it, just before it goes up to a buddy's house, and this is what, where the revelation hit. She's standing on the fucking yellow line in the middle of the trail- [laughs]...
10:22
with glasses over her nose, or sunglasses on her nose, looking at her phone, and we had to go around her. So she was on Facebook. [laughs] Either way, it doesn't matter.
10:32
Alls I knew was, I had the revelation, it's not the bicycle I hate, it's the fucker on the bicycle that I hate.
10:38
[clears throat] Well- And then, and then of course, then it was like we go up, and then it's, we got s- a few more climbs before we get to the, it's six miles in that we're done climbing, and there was no fucking way she was going to catch us.
10:49
I, she, she, I can see her. We get up one of the- So you put the burners on. I kinda did. Well, not really put the burners on, but went up the hills much faster than we would normally ride them. 'Cause we were...
10:58
Once we got w- I knew once we got to the top of the hill, e-bikers usually, generally speaking, unless they're out racing, don't keep up with us on the tandem.
11:06
We get down on the flats and the downhills, we're pretty, we're pretty, we can cook along pretty good on that. But the best part was,
11:12
as we got down to the bottom, the guy who first started the whole hatred of e-bikes and the riders- [laughs]... as we're grinding by and he fucking waves at me.
11:20
[laughs] And I'm just like, "It is the fucking person on the bike that I hate." [laughs] Well, I mean, I will say, like, I rode one for the first time, I think it was last week. You know, it was down at the campground.
11:35
Um, you know, kinda, they have some cool trails back there, and, you know, now that I got the clunker, I'm definitely gonna go see if I can- Which campground? Pioneer, down in Kellogg. Oh, really? Okay.
11:44
So down on the- There's trails down there? Down on the river, yeah. Okay. You gotta be careful, 'cause, uh, some of the ATV assholes think that the bike trails are ATV trails too.
11:54
Uh, if you're wearing headphones or something, it's, can't hear them coming. It's a little scary. But anywho, now that I have a bike, it'll be cool to partake on some of the trails down there.
12:02
But, uh, I did ride an e-bike, uh, from the bar back to the campground. From Pioneer Club? Yes. E-bike owner had a few too many, uh, Long Island Iced Teas, and, uh, had to-
12:19
Had to, uh, load him up onto the golf cart, bring him back that way, so I rode his e-bike back. Well, so I, I took a detour. I think I put about six miles on it.
12:29
[coughs] Kinda cruising around, uh, you know, the area down there. But, uh, I didn't wanna admit it to you, but I think I want one.
12:36
And before you freak out on me, uh, the only reason I want one is to ride to work and back. That's it. Well, and for you, that's, that's legit because that's a big fucking hill to get to your house. Right.
12:47
I mean, I've rode out there, I've rode out there once... Well, I've rode to your place and my brother's place. You guys live pretty close to each other. Yeah.
12:52
And so I've rode that hill before and, yeah, that's not, um- Did you come up the big hill or did you go up 18th? Uh- The w- kind of the windy back way. We went the back way. We went 18th.
13:02
So and that's a better ride, a better climb- It's-... but it's a- It's the same uphill. You're still going to the same- Sure... top of the hill, right? But it, you know, 40th is- Well, 40th is stupid... straight up.
13:11
Yeah. But at least 40th you can get on the bike path and get out of the way of the idiots driving 80 miles an hour. The, the 40- 41st is called, uh, George Semel...
13:24
It's got a name for it 'cause George got to the top and puked one year. [laughs] So [laughs] it's got m- George Semel Memorial Highway or something like that. Oh, yeah. Yeah. [laughs] So 18th is...
13:34
I, I've ridden a BMX bike up and down that, which was a mistake, but it was more so scary because people haul ass on that road in their cars. And it, and it's not a very... It's a, it's a two-foot shoulder.
13:48
It's not a big shoulder. Yeah, and it's twisty. Yeah. So a couple of those are kinda, like, blind corners. But, uh, yeah, I got a friend that lives right down at the bottom, and I decided one night after several
14:01
beers that it wasn't a good idea to drive down there, so I rode my bike. Well, then what, what goes down has gotta come back up, so. But I will say I did not walk it going back up. I rode the whole way.
14:13
That's impressive. That's, there's, there's some, um... What do you call it? There's some undulation to it. There's some- Mm-hmm... there are some peaks in there where it probably gets up over 10%.
14:21
But that was a Saturday night, and Sunday Night Hockey didn't happen the next day because of that- [laughs]... short- I-... two-mile ride.
14:29
You must do that an awful lot, 'cause the amount of times you made Sunday Night Hockey lately, you must be riding that hill about every Saturday. Shit, whatever. [laughs] It's more just being glued to the couch.
14:38
[laughs] Which one, the one in the, the one in the garage or the one in the house? Well, either or. Depends on temperature outside.
14:45
It's tough not to g- it's tough to get up and do anything when you're in your garage and the TV's on- Oh, yeah... and there's a hockey game on, yeah. It's- Mm-hmm. He's, he's got the best setup in the world.
14:52
We went out there, uh, to work on a skate sharpener actually and- Which is dialed in now, by the way. Is it? Yep. From when I did it or somebody [laughs] else come in there and straighten it out?
15:01
No, I just kinda went off of what you did, watching you kinda dinker with it, and I... You know, just the same as the, the Easy Sharp at the rink, you know, you gotta... All those holders make it different. Right. Right.
15:13
All the holders, all the different skate blades, all the different- So if you can get the blades out of the holder- Oh, piece of cake then... you're dialed. Yeah. I did, uh,
15:20
I did a couple kids there getting ready for tryouts, and so they went out and bought brand-new blades and they brought them in to practice yesterday. God. Yeah.
15:26
Well, no, it was all right because they were brand-new blades and I put them on there. So they're gonna use them before they try out. They- they skated- Okay...
15:31
they skated their skate Tuesday and Thursday before they try out, so. Well, that's better than going in with new steel. Well, it is, but, but, but what m- To try out...
15:37
what made me really happy was I throw those suckers on, uh, on my, my- Straight... and perfectly straight. Yep. They were like immediately... I had, I adjusted nothing. [laughs] I'm like, "I am so good." Yep.
15:48
I did buy the 3D holder. Oh, you did? Just 'cause that other one you had to use the Allen keys and- Yeah, that's a, kind of a pain. Yep.
15:56
This is probably driving you crazy, like, "What are those two idiots talking about?" Yeah, right. [laughs] I was like, "We just totally got off." This is like, this is like...
16:02
So Clunkers is an, is an obscure group, and people that sharpen hockey skates is even, [laughs] even more obs- [laughs] There's, there's like...
16:09
If we did a podcast and everybody listened to it, there'd be, like, seven people. Yeah. They'd be like, "Fuck these guys." [laughs] So anyway, I'm done with e-bikes. I've, uh, um...
16:20
My next thing is, my next thing is to get you out to, I don't know, do you wanna go to Game Haven or do you wanna go to Eastwood? I'd go either or. I feel like, uh...
16:30
Well, I guess I've never been to Game Haven, but I've ridden Eastwood years ago. Well, Eastwood's about the same. Yeah. I mean, there's some... You can- if you went out to Eastwood right now, you would get hooked. Good.
16:42
Because the kids have built some nice features out there. There's some nice little jump- there's a, actually, a jump over a ravine that we've been riding through since the early '90s. Mm-hmm.
16:50
And the kids put a jump over it now. Oh, cool. And it's like, that's brilliant. We never even thought about that. We don't, we weren't allowed to build that stuff back then.
16:57
Now that they, the city's lightened up a little bit and let, let the club build stuff that's built correctly, you know, there's specs for everything now. Sure. So they can build it to spec and it's fine.
17:07
But I don't know. We should go to Game Haven, though. I'll go. Game Haven is more fun. Uh, it's a little bit longer trail.
17:13
It's not as punchy, so I think it's gonna be better on the, on the Clunkers than, than going to- Sure... Eastwood would be. So we'll do that. Well, it's gotta be a proper break-in by going over the handlebars.
17:23
That's just- Well, you're just getting back tire. You're not gonna go over the handlebars. No, that's how I do things. It's... You go over the handlebars. That's when you just really get to know your bike. [laughs] Okay.
17:34
[laughs] I'll, I'll gladly watch. See, coming from, you know, you know, the BMX background, it's, you know, you don't go a day without coming off the bike, so. Did you, did you... Well, yeah, but that was different.
17:47
That was how you landed after a jump. Sure. I mean, that's, that's... Well, it'd be the same thing. Yeah. You go over some of the ruts out at Eastwood, there's a chance you're going over the bars if you hit it wrong.
17:56
Yeah. So I'm okay with that. I've just come to terms with going over the bars is okay. That's just the way I feel. It's only taken you, what, 35 years to get to that point? That's brilliant.
18:07
[laughs] It's kind of a good aspect on life. [laughs] If you can handle going over the bars, you're good. I don't know. Last time I went over the bars was not good. Well, you were inebriated. No, I wasn't. No, I...
18:19
Wait, is this the one where you, the front tire went in the crack? Yeah. Okay, that's- That- I'm thinking of, uh, Santa Ride Was that not you? When you, didn't you break a rib? Yeah, but I didn't go over the handlebars.
18:29
Okay. I went off to the side of the bike into a telephone pole. Well, oh, Jesus. [laughs] You know those ones th- on Beltline or on, on- Someone said you went over the bars into the pole. Well, it's possible.
18:41
[laughs] It all happened so slowly, I can't really remember. See, all of you, like, on, on your bikes, it's, going over the bars is just like a- Oh, I didn't go over the bars.
18:52
Well, you know- It was, it was off to the side of the bars.
18:54
Like, it's just a, like a newbie move [laughs] And I'll walk into work, you know, and it'll be, there'll be, I'll have a new rash on an elbow or a knee, and they'll go- Sure... "Where did you crash this?"
19:01
You know, and, and so for my shoulder, they're, everybody's like, and I suppose it's because of my age too, that everybody goes into fucking panic mode when they see me with scratches and stuff.
19:10
[laughs] And I'm like, "Have you ever looked at my knees? They're just nothing but scratches." It, it's like there's never been a spot on my knee that doesn't have, like- You gotta stay off your knees. [laughs] God,
19:20
that was a great comment on my part, wasn't it? Holy shit. You teed that one up [laughs] I know. No shit, yeah. You're welcome for the setup. Yep. No, but it, it's, it's true. I mean, you're constantly going down. Yeah.
19:31
For sure. And now, and now with throwing the, uh, throwing... And, and I think that's why I'm much more comfortable on the clunker now because I've gotten used to that rear brake only. Yeah. I'm taking stuff faster.
19:41
Well, I think if you, you know, all joking aside, I think if, if you're going over the bars on that bike, you're going hard into something that you probably shouldn't... Like, it's probably a mistake.
19:52
Well, so did you notice that it's not that easy? You, that front end doesn't pull up. I saw you- Yeah... trying to wheelie a couple times. The front end doesn't- No... really go up on that bike. Not at all.
20:00
It's a, it's a, it's a jar. So when we- It would need a much, much lower gear ratio to get that front end off the ground, which- Yeah, I think- I like that... I think it's frame geometry. I think you just- Sure...
20:09
it just doesn't, it just doesn't l- it doesn't pull back easy. Right. And, you know, and, um, I'm not sure w- how we have your handlebars positioned, but mine are pretty much- Straight up and down. Yeah.
20:19
Eh, I guess they're a little forward. Yeah. But- So the little forward makes it even worse, I think. Sure. If it was pulled back a little bit, it's gonna be easier to do. Yeah.
20:25
But I- I've just found, like, when we, there's small stumps and like the, the four-foot stumping across the trail. Mm-hmm. And I just find it more work to get over it with a clunker than I did, like, on my one by one.
20:35
Oh, sure, 'cause you, 'cause it's harder to get the front end off the ground. Yeah. Yeah. Or it could be the fact that I'm [laughs] gaining weight too. I don't know. Yep.
20:42
But, but that, but that rowing motion you use to get over it just doesn't seem to be, doesn't seem to flow as well on the clunker- Yep... as it does on, on this particular clunker as it does on the other stuff.
20:51
I thought, uh, when I came from the street back into your yard before we went back to the back 40 there, I did bunny hop the curb. Oh, how'd you like that?
21:02
Well, and I think right after I bunny hopped is when the chain came off. The chain came off? So I don't know.
21:07
Like I said, if it, if it kicked up a stick in there or something, it was Well, the front yard's full of sticks 'cause the squirrels are having, like, jousting contests or something.
21:15
[laughs] I don't know what the hell's going on. There's a ton of small sticks out there. No, but it's a...
21:19
Even for a guy who doesn't ride, um, you know, anywhere near as much as you do, that's a, that's a good riding bike. You're gonna be a god down at the camp- you're going to the campgrounds this weekend? Yep.
21:28
You're gonna be a god down there. Well, I will say there are a couple of, uh, [clears throat] couple of bike nerds down there that, uh, they do a lot of riding, a lot of trail riding. Where...
21:39
Are the trails, are the trails in the pine trees by the campground? So there's a couple back there, but we go over to Kruger. Oh. So- Kruger has trails now? Well- Are they ATV trails?
21:49
Well, they have the horseback trails- Yeah... uh, which is, if you're gonna ride, that's where they prefer you to ride. Okay. Um, but then they have a ton of A- ATV trails. They have walking trails, hiking trails. Yeah.
22:00
So we did find a couple of, uh, like, when we were hiking, there was a couple of guys that were using some of those downhill trails, which was kinda gnarly for the hikers, but... 'Cause they were coming down pretty good.
22:12
So this is, this is, um, um, for the- those that know what we're talking about, this is kind of over toward Wabasha, Minnesota. Mm-hmm. Um, it's along the Mississippi. Right off of 61.
22:22
So it's, so it's the bluffs going down into the Mississippi- Yep... basically. Um, and, and there's, and s- Kruger is a state park down there.
22:29
Actually, my only time going to Kruger was, I was, we just got on there deer hunting. Sure. Yep. And we, and, and there wasn't, there, the only thing there was was ATV trails and walking trails back then.
22:37
It was- So there's a lot of, well, there's a lot of trails back there now. And, uh, I think just over time, the, uh, the cycling crowd has, you know, made their way there.
22:48
I mean, it's, it's great, you know, topography to ride, you know, especially if you're into the, the downhill. And even, you know, some of those walking trails are,
22:57
to gr- are, they're great to ride on 'cause they keep them well-groomed. Well- So... that, that's [laughs] that's really funny to hear 'cause I was just gonna say, uh, we've rode those trails back in the '90s. Sure.
23:06
I mean, probably not the same trails you're on because it, the ones that you're on probably didn't even exist. But we rode- Right... trails down in Kruger and the back way. We used to ride the Jeep trails back into, uh,
23:16
Elba to go to Johnny's. Yeah. Yep. And, and, and that was, and that was, like, literally we'd be riding on the side of the Jeep trails, and [laughs] we're riding on the edges because that was, it was too sandy otherwise.
23:27
Yep. But you ride on the edge, and then you, we would be passing Jeeps that are, like, belly-deep in, in- Right... mud holes and stuff, and they're stuck. And we're just like, "Hey, do you want us to tow you out?"
23:35
[laughs] And it was me and another guy. And you know, think about it. We're riding, like, Trek 990s, so back then that was, like, a steel frame with...
23:44
990s had the best components available then for off-road riding, but I mean, that thing is, that thing was like- Were they heavy? Oh, God, yes. Yeah. I bet. No. Then there was no suspension. Sure.
23:53
It was, it was 26-inch tires. Your suspension was the, how much air you could ride without- Sure... you know.
23:59
Well, and I think, you know, a lot of the ATV trails are still really sandy just 'cause of the natural- In that area it is, yeah... soil is sandy. Yeah.
24:08
But some of those areas, you know, they, they mow some walking paths, um, which are, you know, very similar to what we're riding back here, kinda just flat track, grassy- Yeah... areas.
24:20
But you can ride them, um, and there's, there's a lot of people that do ride them, but some of the hiking trails coming down the hills look really fun. I think flat track back here on clunkers would be a blast.
24:29
That would be fun. Set up a little course back there. Yeah. I, I, I don't know if my neighbor would let me do it, but- I think I got into some- Nettles... nettles back there. Yeah, there's nettles back there. Sorry.
24:39
I'm surprised you didn't get into them when you went into the river. I may have laid in for a little bit. [laughs] That was stupid. That was fun, though. Well, you should come ride down to the river and
24:49
we'll clunk around down there. Yeah, I'll come down sometime. That'd be fun. That- that's- Yeah... I mean, that was, that was, that area's... We used to go to Pioneer Campgrounds every weekend. Sure.
24:58
Back when we had boats. There was, or, or else we'd go camp out on one of the islands. Yep. But there was, there wa- the only reason, the only reason you had a bike then was to ride out on the dike to go fishing. Yep.
25:08
You know, not- We still do that. Oh, sure. And that was part of the reason why I want a bike down there, 'cause I'm tired of walking out there. That's, from the campgrounds, it's a bit walk out there.
25:17
Well, if you, depending on how far you go out on the dike, you know, 'cause that's damn near all the way across the river if you get all the way to the dam. Yeah. So. That's cool. It's fun out there. Yep.
25:28
That'll be another... And that's just it, you know? That's, back in our exploring days of, of mountain biking, that's what we went and looked for, was places like that, that, you know- Sure...
25:36
that were either, like, hiking trails or- Mm-hmm... or, um, slightly used, uh, and it wasn't really, there wasn't much for ATVs back then, so they'd either be motorcycle or Jeep trails. Sure.
25:47
So there were some double track, some single track, but that was, that's what we looked for to go ride. Yeah. Just to get an idea. And I think that's, some of those old motorcycle trails are a lot of the,
25:57
you know, have what become the hiking trails. That would make sense. Because the, you know, the, the ATVs nowadays are so much wider that they would be, you know, similar to like a Jeep trail. Right.
26:07
But yeah, there's a lot of different, uh, and they don't really say much, you know, about, you know, they just hope you're not a jackwagon out there running over hikers, you know?
26:18
Pay attention to where you're riding, I guess. Sure. But, uh, especially at Krueger. But, uh, in that area, there are, you know, some good places to get off and ride. It's, it's, it's gotten to be, um...
26:31
I mean, when we were down there in the '80s and early '90s, we went down there with Jeeps, and we, and you'd use your Jeep to go hunting. Oh, sure. So you just didn't go- Yeah.
26:40
Well, we did- Well, we did, we did some tooling around in Jeeps, but there was no moto- there was no mountain biking anything down there. Yeah. Well, it's- Um, Hay Creek had something. That was about it.
26:47
Yeah, Hay Creek's got a lot of fun stuff now, too. Yeah, right. Yeah, it's, I mean, it's, and it's definitely not foliage that you would want to go, you know, without something four-wheel drive in some of those areas.
27:01
But they've really, you know, DNR's really cleaned it up really nice, and, um, you know, they keep the, uh, you know, some of those walking paths really, really pushed back and groomed.
27:10
And then you get deeper in there, and you get, you know, more goat path-y, you know? That's just odd that, I mean, to me, 'cause when we hung out at Krueger Park, they didn't do anything. No.
27:19
They had a, they had a, they had a, they had a- They-... telephone pole gate, and that was it. Sure. Yeah, now they got, uh, I mean, shit, they got a,
27:26
you know, full campground and RV park back in there, and- That's amazing. Yep. That's good. Good people are getting out there and using that area, 'cause it's beautiful down there. Yep. Have you been into Elba,
27:37
down the, like, Lazy D area? Um- A lot of horse trails. Well, same with Krueger. A lot of horse- Kr- yeah. Well, that's always, that always has been kind of a big... I think it- Yeah...
27:47
Hay Creek used to, started out as a- Yep... as a horse area, and I think then it turned into a dirt bike area. Yeah.
27:53
And then they- And they, you know, and then, uh, quickly it becomes, like, an ATV park, and it drives the, the horse people nuts- Oh, I'm sure. Yeah...
28:02
because it, it spooks the animals, but they're a lot more friendly to the cyclists out there. So those are kind of fun, too.
28:09
Um, you know, there are a lot, you know, the, the downfall is, is there are a lot of areas where you're, where you're off and probably carrying your bike- Yeah... on some of those hiking trails, but especially going up.
28:21
[coughs] Have you, have you, uh, [clears throat] you probably haven't seen it, so it's kind of something, it's been kind of floating around on Facebook.
28:26
There's a post out there that said, there's a picture of, they said mountain biking in the, mountain biking in the '90s and the trail. And then the... And so it's a, it's basically the bike I was telling you about.
28:37
It's a, it's a, it's a 26-inch wheeled- Mm-hmm... rigid front, rigid rear end, uh, not much of a geometry to it, mostly almost a road geometry frame, 18-speed bike, and then we were riding down some gnarly, rocky shit.
28:52
And then- [laughs]... [laughs] and then they go, and it goes 2020 or 2021, whatever it was, and it shows a full suspension, you know, big travel- Oh, yeah...
29:00
big travel, and then it shows the trail is just this groomed through the woods deal. [laughs] And there's a lot, there's a lot of truth to that. I mean, there's a- And that's, that's what Krueger has kinda become.
29:08
Really? Yeah. A lot of those walking paths that, that you can ride on, that I, I'm planning on riding this clunker on, but, you know, it's walking path, and you, you have the dirt path, and then they mow.
29:22
On both sides of it? Yeah. You know, it's just they probably go through just a 60-inch deck width. Oh, sure.
29:28
And it's not all of it, but a lot of that, because I think there are some, some of those, if you're, if you're gonna be a, a park like that, I think there are some ADA requirements that you have to meet. Right. I'm sure.
29:41
I mean, I'm sure there is, and all that stuff- You know?... there is. Minnesota's pretty good about... I think, I think Wisconsin's better, to be honest with you. Sure.
29:47
But, but I think Minnesota's pretty good at it, too. But I don't know. I'm kind of, I'm definitely excited. You know, I wanna get down there and, you know- That's-... go over the handlebars, so.
29:57
[laughs] That's our, our new mantra. Did you go over the handlebars? Yep. [laughs] You ain't having fun till you're over the bars. All right. Um, we'll keep this one short for a change. Oh, shit.
30:07
Um, hopefully, with any luck, Dave and Lisa get back from- Yeah, that'll be fun... that's gonna be awesome, because I've been following them on Facebook.
30:15
They, they're, uh, uh, if people have listened to any of our podcasts lately, we, we were, I think it w- the, I actually called into Full Spectrum, and I was gonna get a couple friends of ours in town here that have retired and are, were doing 50, 50 miles in 50 states, and they were gonna stop in, and we were gonna do a podcast, and then all of a sudden- They took a detour...
30:34
giant detour. [laughs] They wound up in the French Riviera on their Bike Fridays, and they've been riding over there for about a week now. Which looks amazing. It does.
30:41
You know, I've been to a f- I've been to Nice and a couple of places. I've been on a couple of beaches they've been on- Yep... when we were over there for races, and- God, it looks fun...
30:48
oh, you know, the, but, and those two know how to do it right. Yep. And how those two don't weigh- 500 pounds each is beyond me Oh, with the food? I know it. It's constant like that.
30:57
Well, I guess if you're gonna ride that much every day, you know, you kinda gotta fuel the body. So especially when you're- That doesn't fucking work for me, believe me.
31:04
Well, you can't pour beer on everything and expect it to grow, Ron. In your case, it probably does. It does. It does. Yeah. Yeah. It go, it goes...
31:13
[laughs] But, but- Just because every time you stop doesn't mean you have to have six beers. [laughs] It's not always six. I, I, I do have to tell you this.
31:23
It was, it was a conversation that, that Sue and I had the other day. It was, it was actually rather hilarious. Great, we're running over time again.
31:30
Uh, she's like, we were talking about a friend of ours who has a routine every day. Um, and so when I go to Iowa, I, I fall into his routine sometimes. Uh-oh.
31:41
And she's like, "So you go there and have a beer, and you go there and you have a beer, and you go there and have a beer." [laughs] And I'm like, I'm just staring at her, right? And she goes, "What? You have two there?"
31:50
And I said, "Well, no, we don't have two there. We'll have maybe two there because it's a little more expensive and it's high test beer. It's a micro, it's a- Sure... it's a microbrewery place."
31:58
And so I said, "But then after that it's not, we don't do it." She goes, "Then you have one at each of the other places." I'm looking at her, I go, "Are you, are you insane?" [laughs] "A beer at each place?"
32:08
And she's, she's like, "Two?" And I'm going, "At least?" [laughs] I don't know what... I didn't know, I didn't know what else to answer it. [laughs] Well, you know, it's the old homage.
32:17
You know, if you're going out for a beer, I mean, it's- Yeah, it's, you know, it's- It's the same with after hockey.
32:22
We're gonna have a beer in the, in the parking lot or we're gonna go to the club for a beer, and it's- Yeah. I left last night at, like, 12:30. Yeah. It was... Well, I know it.
32:30
[laughs] We actually have gotten to the point where we leave the bar earlier than we do when we sit outside at night. I know, that's what I said, too, when I left.
32:36
I was like, "Oh, shit, parking lot beers are a bad idea." [laughs] It was too nice out to keep going into the bar. And there's no one to kick you out. Well, that's true.
32:43
But it, and you know, we've gotten used to the, the COVID regulations on it, so we weren't, we weren't- Yeah...
32:48
weren't kicking ourself out as fast, but- Well, I knew it was getting bad when our bartender at the club had closed up the bar and then joined us in the parking lot. [laughs] The, but don't forget, that's how we met her.
32:58
Sure. Because it would be, we would be, like, over at Chuck's place or something, and we'd be- Yep... or in the parking lot, and she would close up and say, "Where you guys at?"
33:05
And we'd tell her where we're at, and she'd stop by, and she'd bring a drink with her and have a drink with us on her way home, so that was par for the course it seemed like. So yeah, it was kinda like old days.
33:14
Yeah, it was the old days. All right. Let's get outta here. Yeah, thanks man. It was great having you come over. We'll, uh- Always... we'll do something else.
33:20
We'll get, when Dave and Lisa get back, we'll, we'll get another podcast going, get those two involved. Yeah. Thanks, man. Talk to you after the bet. Absolutely. Here we go.
33:26
[rock music]
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