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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #133 – Chewey’s Sitting in for Tony as we Talk Coaster Brakes, Fatbikes and Tacos
Oct 8, 2021
Full Spectrum Cycling #133 – Chewey’s Sitting in for Tony as we Talk Coaster Brakes, Fatbikes and Tacos
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] Oh, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo,
0:18
doo. Hey, hey, hey. That's a catchy tune. Hey, everybody. Full Spectrum Cycling number 133, I think. One thir- 133. Are you, are you banging your head on the microphone? [laughs] I don't know what's happening here.
0:34
Got no idea what's going on over there. [laughs] Holy cacophony of sounds in the old building today. There's more, uh, there's more people in here than I think I've- I, that's what I'm over-...
0:42
ever seen in the building, uh- That's why I'm overcompensating with the noises on the microphones. [laughs] I, I... You know what? We've been using this road caster for over a year now probably, but it is... Probably.
0:56
Maybe two years. I don't know. A long time, as long as they've been out, and it is so good at blocking out stuff. I'm always amazed if anything even sneaks through. Sure, sure. I mean, yeah.
1:06
I mean, I can hear it, but whatever. Yeah. The, but the, uh- I'm not gonna let it impact the- But the technology can't hear it, so that's fine... I'm gonna play it like a professional.
1:14
I will not let this impact my performance. [laughs] I won't. Won't let this happen. [laughs] Please, please stop dropping all of the conduit outside. Bangy, bangy, bang. Just need a moment. Just need a moment. Holy moly.
1:27
Lemon tree. Mm. Lime. Mm. Bear. I didn't even know what's happened since last week. Lots been going on. Starting to get the shop together. That's nice. Insulating some walls.
1:39
Trying to make more soundproofing of the podcast room is- [laughs]... definitely high on the, high on the list of things to accomplish, but, uh- Yes, a gentle nudge today, right? I was...
1:47
Well, now 'cause it's getting dark so early in the daytime, not even the evening really, I'm like, "What are we gonna do for lighting in here? It's not really very well- Well-... set up for lighting yet."
1:58
You know, the- It's also been gloom and doom days- Yeah. True... the past couple. True. So it's been kind of just midnight-ish. [laughs] Yeah. There was some days when I was, uh, I was like, "Is it night already?
2:09
Did I wake up and it's 8:00 in the PM- [laughs]... or is it 8:00 in the AM?" 'Cause it's dark. I don't get it. But anyway. Fair enough. Right on. Monday. Yep, yep, yep. Monday was National Taco Day.
2:20
I didn't know that was actually a thing, but. Yeah, and I ended up having a buffalo chicken wrap. [laughs] Oh, yeah, they had Monterey chicken that day.
2:28
So I guess, I guess- Well, you know, double-punch Mondays over at Hooligans. You're y- I don't think they even have any taco action over there. No. But that would've been, you know- I don't even think they do...
2:37
a thing to do. Maybe, you know, I did go to Taco Bell today though, so that's good. [laughs] But I... So there is actually a website. It's nationaltacoday.com. I guess every made-up holiday has a website now. Yeah.
2:49
I did, I mean, I'm on the Taco Bell, uh, newsletter email, yada, yada, and they had a promo code ya- for f- free. That's the only way I would- Yeah. Free- Only re- Free tacos...
2:59
you know, yeah, only reason I knew it was- I-... existing. Yeah. So- [laughs] So okay, so according to the, uh, uh, nationaltacodaywebsite.com, Americans ate more than 4 and a half billion tacos last year. Sure.
3:13
There's only 300 million people in the whole freaking country. Yeah, but s- [laughs] Man, if you go, been to some places, and their tacos are tiny, and I can see- That's true that...
3:22
racking through a whole boatload of them.
3:24
Yeah, the, I gotta say, I still think the street tacos at the truck that comes to the LVCC out there in Las Vegas, whenever I might get back out there to work, has $5, three tacos. Wonderful. Wonderful.
3:37
Let me just say right down the road from here, the shoppie outside of the Wally World, the Buena Vista truck is normally there, and it's- Is that the one with like-... fucking bad... head and other things?
3:49
Le- La lingua or lejón for the- Cabeza... the tongue action? Lengua, tongue, cabeza, head. Yeah. There you go. Um- Yeah, you got... Yeah. When head's on the menu, you gotta order. [laughs] Come on. I mean, it is...
4:00
If anything, my juvenile mind, you gotta [laughs] allow it to. Yeah. Right? Jesus. [laughs] I think the last time that I knew you had head, we were out at, on Cesar Chavez Drive down there. Yeah.
4:11
It, that or- And that-... outside of, uh- Or outside of Holler House, kinda... uh, yeah, yeah, uh, Horse Homes area. Right, right. Yeah. Those are some good trucks.
4:18
If you come to the state of Milwaukee ever, uh, and you ride your bicycle around, you're gonna wanna kinda probably hit some of those taco trucks.
4:25
So the 4 and a half billion tacos, I don't know how they measure this, 'cause I've had tacos that are big and small, but 490,000 miles of tacos. Huh. That's like to the Moon and back- Yeah... of tacos.
4:39
[laughs] Can you imagine a taco bridge to the Moon? Alicia! But, but if somebody's eating all those tacos- Puerta-... on the way to the bridge... Solis! [laughs] Oh, for crying out loud. Taco Day is, was Monday.
4:50
That was well over five days ago or some such. Yeah. I'll have to celebrate it tonight then. [laughs] I'm a little late to the party, but- Hey, hey, welcome to the radio program, caller.
4:58
And, yeah, who do we have on the line? Seriously? I call in, and you guys are talking about tacos? Oh, Monday was- Hell... National Taco Day there on Monday over there, now they're on Taco Day Monday.
5:08
And when I took a spill on my bike- I'm done doing-... I, I taco'd my, my rim. Wait, what? I'm done doing- Taco... national, I'm done doing national days. Is there anything? There's like seven things in every day now.
5:17
It's ridiculous. I know. There were three other things on that day, and I didn't know what any of them were, so I was just like, "Eh." So whenever I feel like is awesome to me at the moment, I'll just say it's regional
5:27
burrito day or whatever- Oh, perfect... blah, blah, blah. Hey, j- Locally. Hey, everybody, if you don't recognize that dulcet tones of, uh, uh, Mr. Chewy, that's Chewy on the horn there.
5:36
Uh, by the way, I mean, you know, couple days ago on Wednesday when we didn't do this show, we did post your, we posted your latest podcast by Crackie. I found it highly entertaining.
5:48
[laughs] It was, it was, you know, I only had to make 91 edits to it to get it listenable, but, um, you know, other than that- Did, did you really?
5:56
Nah, I just take out, uh, little bits here and there and do some things and whatnot. No, I, it- You touched my baby.
6:01
[laughs] If you li- if you listen to it now from when you listen to it after the show, if you do indeed listen to your own show, 'cause for years I didn't listen to our own show at all- Guilty. [laughs]...
6:10
which was like, um, yeah. That's why it sucks so much I c- I can count on one hand Who, who's, what's going on? [beep] I, I do. I do try to listen to him, but I, I'm pretty bad at it. I try. I try nobly.
6:23
[laughs] The, the, that beeping was Ivan- It was, it was-... trying to call for some reason. I don't know why he was calling. But yeah.
6:28
It had, it was a show that had to be done, it was a show that had to be done just because of what went on Sunday night at the hockey rink, and then the fact that Spinner's bike showed up.
6:37
Yeah, that whole hockey rink story was just classically awesome. I, you guys, [laughs] it was like, unfortunately the tragic ending doesn't make it any, you know, great shakes, but it was, the, the, just it was...
6:48
I, I was mesmerized listening to that. [laughs] So, hey everybody- It was good... Chew- Chewie's on show 11.
6:55
That's where you're gonna wanna go ahead and hear, learn about hockey, uh, people in crisis, and perhaps something about bikes here and there. Yeah. Brad's, Brad's fun.
7:05
He's got a good voice and he's really fun to talk to, 'cause...
7:07
A- and unfortunately, sooner or later we're gonna have to start doing this with video because him telling a story, you have to see his facial expressions while he's telling the story.
7:15
[laughs] It is the funniest damn thing ever. Well, that's, that's something that we should probably look towards doing. I mean, so, uh, Tony obviously... Hey, hey everybody.
7:25
Hey, with, with me in the studio today is JK, but there is no Tony. Hi. There's no Tony today. That's why- No... uh, our, our pal Chewie is, is our third wheel today.
7:33
Um, but we had talked about using Zencastr, which is a, a fancy thing for podcasters who have already a decent setup and a computer, and it could sound like Chewie's right in the room with us instead of on a telephone.
7:46
The cool thing with that place now is they also do video, so this might be right up, uh, Brad's alley to do that. Know what I'm saying, Vern? Sorry, I had to walk away and get a beer.
7:58
[laughs] Sorry, I had to walk away and get a beer. Oh, it's the top of the hill already? Oh, cripes, no. I was just, uh, I was just talking- Well-...
8:03
about Zencastr and how it does video now, and that would be cool for Brad because even if y- even if you and I hook this up, which we will, we just have to get a little time to, to practice and do it because it really does ma- Right...
8:15
it really does make it sound like you're right in the room with us. It's, it's your, your quality recording, our quality recording, no phone bullshittery.
8:22
Um, but there is, I would actually be looking at your ugly mug right now on the video while we're recording, which I think even if you didn't use the video, if you're only doing a podcast, seeing someone else's face and how they react to stuff can really, uh, kinda help your, um, your interaction and your, you know, just kind of going where you wanna go with the story kinda thing.
8:44
I think it's gonna be a big- Oh, I agree... a, a big helpful tool. I, yeah. And, and I don't, I don't think we actually have an option. I think it's something we're gonna have to do eventually.
8:53
It's just gonna be, it's just gonna make it better, and actually makes it easier because seeing the person talk, like you said, you know, you see their facial expressions. You know when they're
9:02
just in mid-thought rather than done talking. It's- [laughs]... just it'll be better. Yeah, yeah. Or even paying attention.
9:07
[laughs] And hopefully, I don't know about latency but, you know, we're, we're using Call-in Studio still, which I still really like because it's easy.
9:13
You know, this thing is as easy as it gets, and I use it as our third backup just in case something really horrible goes wrong. They record, and it sounds like you're talking on a telephone, but at least you have a show.
9:25
Well, and, and I'm actually on my podcast system right now because it's actually easier for me to listen and talk to you guys than it is to use a phone. Right on. So are you going through your computer? Or how?
9:38
No, I'm just, I'm just, my ph- I'm going through my phone through the podcaster. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Through the podcaster. So just like we're talking to you through the phone to you. Okay, I gotcha. Whoa.
9:46
[laughs] Wow, that's- Yeah, yeah... that's, that's, we're, we're not even connected by no wires nowhere. [laughs] That's, that's freakishly weird. Um, yeah. Well, hey, uh, so yeah. Good show.
9:56
Uh, there was, y- so you talked about RAGBRAI on the show. I love RAGBRAI stories.
10:01
And, uh, I think, didn't you and I and Captain or some other folks, maybe even when Ralph was still around, do like a reverse RAGBRAI for a few days? Like- Um-... it, it's like-... you guys did.
10:13
I don't think I was along on that one. Okay. It was like when they were coming this way- Oh, oh... we went that way kinda thing. Yeah. Well, we did a, um, the, we did, the last time I was on, I did a real RAGBRAI.
10:25
They did a, we did a couple days when we came through Decorah, but before that we did, um, one of the evil guys had gotten divorced, and so, and, and I'm not kidding you, he got RAGBRAI on d- for the divorce.
10:35
The, I'm, that's, I'm not shitting you. He got, he got to go on RAGBRAI and if, if she wanted to go, he had to give her permission to go on RAGBRAI. [laughs] Wow. Oh, wow.
10:45
Even with the 10,000 people riding bikes- Yeah... that could still be an issue? Why not? Yeah, but Jill, think about it. You, you, you get up at a... There could be this... I don't know.
10:54
Okay, let's say, let's say there's 40,000 people on RAGBRAI, and that's probably not an exaggeration either.
10:59
Um, uh, but you get up at a certain time, you ride at a certain pace, you, you stop, you ride with basically the same 2,500 people all the time. Yeah. True that, for sure. I could see that.
11:11
But, um- That could be, that could be a- Yeah... that could be a conundrum. Uh, I, so- It is. It, it- How many times have you actually done it? Like, uh, had, had half a dozen, a dozen?
11:21
I know you've did it fixed and- Um-... geared bikes and all sorts of other stuff, but... four, three... We were, we were trying to figure it out one time. I think I was at, like, 14, 16, 17, somewhere in that number.
11:32
Okay. That I've done complete. I've done, I, since then I've done probably, um, you know, two or three days on, um, at three different times. We just did a couple. But like I said, we did one up there.
11:44
Um, when it came through, um, uh, Decorah, we did, we actually did a gravel version. We followed the route, but we just did gravel instead. It was a little more fun.
11:52
So we technically didn't ride the route, but we stopped at all the, all the main stopping towns anyway. Yeah.
11:57
We, I've done it in the past where we've kind of just rode, like, 10 to 20 miles north of the route and stopped at towns 10 to 20 miles away from the, the town, and it's just like, well, that's cool.
12:07
I mean, we're still doing the ride, but, uh, we're at a place where there's no, no people really, and other people do that too. You kinda run into them and you're like, "Hey, how's it going? Are you on RAGBRAI?"
12:15
"Well, yep." "Good. I, yep." Yeah. Stay away. [laughs] I'm riding, I'm riding across Iowa like all these other people. I'm just not doing it on the, the designated route today per se.
12:25
The, uh, there was, there w- when I first started doing it, you know, like in the early '90s, there was a team, and I don't remember their name, I think they were out of Dubuque, and they didn't ride the route.
12:34
They, like, same thing, they rode off route and crisscrossed through the towns, and they all had T-shirts that said, "Only dead fish follow the stream." [laughs] Awesome. Yeah, that, that's a good thing.
12:44
So yeah, so listen to, listen to Joe's sh- show, that you'll hear some good p- ragbrai stories too, amongst other things.
12:50
And I did learn a little about hockey that I didn't really ever consider or know, in that- [laughs]...
12:56
I didn't know that the different style of goalie-ing, uh, required different pad styles for however you're using your legs to, to get down on the ice. That was very interesting.
13:07
Well, yeah, and, and then actually it's more the, the equipment makes you play a certain way.
13:11
Like, my youngest son was a fan of Patrick Roy and had to have his pads, and he literally had to play the same style as Patrick Roy because those pads forced you into it. Oh, gotcha. It's very, it's very strange.
13:22
It's, it's- Okay. See, we talk hockey on our show too. Ha ha ha ha. [laughs] Look at that. Um, yeah, I don't know. I, there's, there's, we're... Wow, it's really kind of- Yeah...
13:34
there's a lot of activity- It's a party in here, man... in the old, [laughs] in the old building tonight. [laughs] Uh, I did learn that we can now- We, uh-...
13:40
actually apparently close off everything all the way up to the ceiling, 'cause we have sprinklers on both sides of the, uh, of the room here. So I can actually- All night... close it off- [laughs]...
13:49
so we don't get all this- Racket... noise. Which I don't even know if it's gonna actually come through.
13:53
I'm, I, like s- saying before you called in, I'm always amazed at how great the RodeCaster is at just kind of blocking out crap that's happening in the background, so.
14:04
Yeah, y- you, I, on my end, I, I can hear some background noise. I'm not sure what it is exactly. Yeah. It kind of sounds like- Same here. [laughs]...
14:11
well, there, so there's a, there's a, I w- it's not a fight club, it's, it's more of a training gym I think, more of a health club kind of a deal.
14:18
But it looks like your 1950s boxing gym that might have been in, in Rocky that, you know, is still in Philadelphia.
14:26
And they do, uh, kind of, they switch stations every couple minutes, and then they play loud music to just get you all amped up so you can, you know- Circuit training... get yourself really sweaty and whatnot.
14:38
And when they switch stations, they have- Oh... the bell that dings, which is what majorly comes through usually. So. [laughs] Sure. And they're, and they're a good, I don't know, 100... See? There it is. Ding.
14:48
Did you hear it? Um, they- Oh, yeah. Yeah. I heard it. Yeah. [laughs] They're a good third... They're a good 125 feet from us or something. They're really far away. They're at the other end of the building.
14:56
But it's, you know, it's an old factory, so it's, it, it echoes up in here. This is Carrie. [bell rings] Uh- It's a good thing we don't have an old boxer on this show.
15:06
That he hear that bell, he'd jump up and start punching somebody. [laughs] Start punching somebody. Yeah. "Oh, oh, where do I go? Where do I go? Oh, hey, hey."
15:13
So we only have, we only have two clunkers left over here at the old, uh, Everyday Cycles shop. Another one went down the road the other day. The guy, I don't think he spent three minutes.
15:21
He, I took it outside, he rode, he goes, "I've got... Uh, I'm buying it. I, I knew I was going to anyway, but definitely buying it." [laughs] And I d- y- I'm not sure. I, I think this happens to a lot of cyclists.
15:32
I get kind of infatuated with certain types of bikes for certain periods of time. And I've clunk, I got clunkers on the mind.
15:39
I bought, like, five coaster brake hubs last week, and now I've got three coaster brake bikes, and I'm refurbing an old Sears 20-inch coaster. But it's like, I just kinda got a little mental about coaster brakes.
15:50
[laughs] But, um, I know we're gonna have a, we're gonna have a clunker show- I've-... coming up pretty soon, so that'll, that'll be an opportunity to talk about some of that fun stuff. That's gonna be fun.
16:00
That, because, because the, as w- the closer we get to it and everybody, everybody but Captain has their bike now. And actually, Captain's gonna have his bike on Monday.
16:07
My other two are coming in on Monday, my two black ones. Oh, right on. So then everybody'll have a bike. Yeah.
16:13
And, and, um, uh, the, the cool thing is is I think actually the five of us are using them completely different. Yeah.
16:21
Spinner and I probably the closest, but, but you're a little bit different than I am, and Captain's gonna be completely different than both of us, and Bergie's completely different than all of us. Yeah.
16:30
Well- So it's gonna be, uh- It's all right... it's gonna be cool. [laughs] It's gonna be fun. I'm looking forward to it. Are we gonna meet in Rochester then to do the show? 'Cause I'm willing to drive over.
16:38
You've come down here plenty of times, and I've actually never ridden around Rochester, so I can come over there. Yeah, we can do it. Um, those guys, those guys kinda wanna come up. We've been...
16:46
You know, Spinner's been looking for an excuse to come up here and cause trouble in Rochester again, 'cause he hasn't done it for a long time, since, since he lost, he got lost in Santa Rampage.
16:56
That's the last time he was really up here and got hammered. So yeah, it, we can certainly do it here and find, we'll find a place for everybody to stay and it'll be fun. It'll be a good time.
17:03
Yeah, let's figure that out. I, you know, I'm pretty flexible, and that would be, midweek would be the best time to do it for me. So, uh, if- I'm, uh... Oh. I, I know that you're retired now. I'm actually...
17:14
[laughs] Well, but I'm also get this. This, here's the best part. I'm leaving next Wednesday for Texas.
17:21
Um, I'm going down to my oldest son's place to babysit his pig while he is, uh, at one of his motorcycle club's, uh, national rallies.
17:30
[laughs] So- What, is, is it a Viet- So I, so I- Is it like one of those little tiny pigs, like a Vietnamese pig? Oh, he was supposed, he's supposed to be little. He's about 100 pounds now.
17:39
I'll send you a picture of him. Yeah. We'll throw it- Um, and he and I don't get along... we'll throw it in the show notes. [laughs] I, I gotta see this pig. Him and I don't get... Him and I don't get along. We fight.
17:47
We, we, we- The, the pig or the son? Which one of these? [laughs] I, I will, I will have... [laughs] Well, both.
17:52
[laughs] But actually, the pig and I, we, he gets, he gets pissy with me because I don't feed him enough, and then he'll, he'll actually hook me with his tusk and I'll get, I'll, I'll have big scratches on my shins from him.
18:03
And, and it's, he's not being mean. He's just a pushy pig. That's all there is to it. [laughs] But the, he, so, so here's the worst part about it.
18:10
I'm all ready to go down there, and all of a sudden Kerry from, um, SingleSpeed USA calls up and says, "Guess what? We're going to Pat Mersh's from Drunk Cyclist. We're going to Flagstaff for his birthday."
18:22
So I'm flying to, I'm flying to Austin, Texas, dumping Sue, and then we're all flying to Fl- [laughs] Flagstaff instead. Oh, boy. And she's gonna take care of the pig then? Yeah. Nice. Yep.
18:31
Oh, Sue's, Sue's taken care of the pig before. The pig actually listens to her more than, than it does me, so it'll be fine. Yeah, I think, I think that's an awesome thing. Hey, guess what? Hey, where's that thing?
18:42
Oh my gosh. There you go. Oh, here it is. Here it is. Here it is. [bell ringing] Oh, cripes. I think I... I don't know if I get another, ah, rotator cuff injury or what- Oh, no...
18:50
but that's kinda hard to lift over the thing and do the deal. Uh, I don't know what you're drinking over there. We'll talk about that in a second, but
18:57
we got a, a beer here today called Friendly Debate, which I think we could throw a stone and hit the brewery from here- Yep... if you had a really good arm. Uh- Yeah... maybe even with a football, maybe not even a rock.
19:09
It's not very far away. It's called, um, Gathering Place, and Friendly Debate is a, it is an, a, an, it, it's an an IPA. [laughs] Um, and it's actually really pretty darn decent.
19:24
I, it's only a 5.5, so it's not one of your big Tim beers from over there at Black Tusky. [laughs] But, uh, it, it's good stuff. Uh, uh, yeah, so if you're in Milwaukee, it's a very small-ish brewery.
19:36
I don't think, I think they're- Yeah... maybe 2,000 gallon brewing vessels or some such, but, uh, good stuff and, and, and really good dudes that run it and, and ladies that are there, you know, that kinda thing.
19:48
What do you got? What do you got? What are you drinking? Are you still drinking dad beer or...? I'm, I'm still, yeah, I'm still drinking, I'm still Wisconsin's Best. I got an Old Style. Oh, yeah. Dad beer is good beer.
20:01
Um- Yeah. I, well, I'm, I'm actually-... anytime I have a balloons 'cause it's one... That's my Old Style choice... I'm actually, I'm actually playing hockey at 8:45 tonight, so I don't wanna get too heavy a beer.
20:11
And, and, and besides that, one of the guys that plays with us always brings me, um, he goes to the, the local ipsey pipsey bottle shop and buys whatever new, um, microbrewery beer that they were able to get their hands on.
20:25
So he brings in something that's usually, like, 6.9 or 7.2, and then I have to drink one of those before I go play hockey. It's not ever a good thing.
20:32
[laughs] Well, before, so my pre-show beer, which went into the middle of the show, was a, a pseudo sue from Toppling Goliath there in Decorah, which is one of my very favorite beers.
20:43
So having just had that, and you know what that tastes like 'cause you've had plenty of those I'm sure. The Friendly- Oh, yeah... Debate to me is a little more floral perhaps. It's got a little more... I don't know.
20:54
I'm not a, a big beer taste. There's probably a bunch of words you're supposed to use to- [laughs]... describe this, but it does taste a little bit more, I, I, I guess flowery or some such. Floral. Flowery.
21:08
That, that's my, that's my impression. Is it, is it, is it a hazy then? It is just a, it j- I, it's, it's in a can. It's in a can, so I can't even see it. Um, it's not a hazy. It does... Oh, you know what?
21:17
It says right on the thing. It's got, it's got mango, tangerine, and raspberry a- and pine notes that burst in this IPA, so well, there you go. Uh, the color of liquid sunshine, light-bodied with a moderate- [laughs]...
21:31
bitterness that lingers, blah, blah, blah, blah. I mean, I'm still a way more pseudo sue fan, but this is not bad for a local place that is, you know, small and, and it's a pretty... It's...
21:41
I've had it before, and it's the one that I usually get over there, so. Dank hops. It's got- Dank, dank hops. Oh, hell yeah. Man. Right on. So I knew I liked it for some reason. Dank, baby. [laughs] Bursting.
21:53
Bursting with dank hops. We, what we should do sometime too is we should do a road trip from Rochester to Decorah because there's, um, one, two, three,
22:06
three or four microbreweries before we get to Decorah and one distillery we can hit. Like, on, on bicycles? Is that, what is it, 80 miles, 70 miles from Rochester to, to Decorah? Yeah.
22:16
It's, it, yeah, it's about 72 from my place to downtown Decorah. Right on. That would be a fun thing. Yeah. Um, Fiona and I did it, uh, it's, we, well, we did it when Sal was still doing Dirt Burger.
22:29
We rode down for Dirt Burger one year. She actually rode from Minneapolis down to my place and stayed overnight, and then her and I rode to Decorah the next day. Uh, those Dirt Burgers were fun under the bridge there.
22:40
And I did [laughs] there was one year when I got so g- got so, uh, kinda hammered the, the first night that I stayed in the tent most of the next day and was ready for action the following night, but nobody else was ready 'cause they had been partying all day.
22:55
[laughs] My, my timing was off. I do remember that.
22:59
Well, that was, that, that was the Dirt Burger I think that you got the, the, one of the first belt drive bikes and, and it, and it slipped while you were climbing a hill and almost castrated you, [laughs]
23:10
if I remember correctly. Oh, yeah. That, that was, uh, that was before they put the slit down the middle to keep the belt on. That was, uh, that- Yeah... sucked. Well, and it was also a steel frame- Which-...
23:20
which had some flex to it, and it just, like, the... I mean, it's a great- Right... it's a great system now.
23:25
I love belt drive bikes, but those first ones when we were experimenting with them, maybe I'm just not as, as strong and massive-legged as you 'cause I never made it pop off, but I also didn't ride it on the kinda hills that you ride in Decorah either, so, um, I, I, I- Well, and-...
23:42
I, I'll apologize for that until the day I die. The, the ones, the, actually, the only ones that really worked really well, um,
23:51
uh, with that, with that initial, that, uh, initial gate setup where, where there was just the belt and there wasn't the little slot down the middle to try to keep it in line was Black Sheep had, uh, a rear, re- a removable rear triangle, and you could, you would, you would get your, your tension on your, on your belt just exactly right, and they would, they would s- etch a notch in there so you knew where it was at, and you never had trouble with it.
24:14
If you got your, everything tightened down to that notch, that bike was spot on perfect for the rest of the time. Yeah, that- Or the spots themselves would, would flex on you. Yeah, right. I mean, do you remember?
24:25
I don't... I think they still have the app. You were supposed to be able to tune your tension by plucking it like a guitar string, and it would read the frequency- Yeah... at which it was vibrating.
24:34
And you're like, "That's proper tension," 'cause it's going dum, dum, dum, not meow, meow or bah, you know? And I just like, that's really an interesting way to tension a belt.
24:43
But yeah, th- th- those initial ones where they had the, like, the outer on the, on the front cog and the inner on the rear cog to keep it from going off, it's like, yeah, it didn't really, didn't work that well.
24:54
[laughs] Right. When, it was a little bit better when they put, um, when they put that weird, yeah, that weird collar on the rear. That helped a little bit, but still, it'd still pop off the front then.
25:05
Well, leave it to James to make a bike that actually works. That's, that's weird, 'cause he's only been doing it for how long now? [laughs] Black Sheep. Yeah, yeah. What a, what a, what a, what a resource.
25:16
Um, he's, he's been just great at helping people get started, and I think he's one of the most, uh, thoughtful frame builders out there.
25:26
What, do you remember, 'cause you could help me get set up, we were gonna put belt drive on the fat tandem that we had, uh, Teesdale make. Yeah, I didn't think they had...
25:37
Didn't they not have, like, the timing belt that was the right length or something goofy? I can't remember what the- Y- yeah... reason why we couldn't do it- They only had-... or couldn't do it.
25:46
They only had one length, and then, and, and we used, uh, uh, it was really funny. So, um, the frames, the, the, the frame geometry we used was our Commotion.
25:58
And, um, everybody, Gates, uh, Commotion, every company that we needed to work with, um, when they found out that Teesdale was making the frame, they sent him anything he wanted.
26:10
They gave him, they gave him the dimensions for the frame. They gave him, um, the setup for belt drive. They gave him the hubs that he was looking for to build a frame, so you build a frame around the hubs.
26:20
I mean, it was, it was like, "Holy shit, Teesdale's gonna make a bike for ourself?" And he, they all, everybody dove in and helped him. It was awesome.
26:26
That it, it, what a re- I'm so sad that he's not working with us anymore, and I, I just wish that he was still around because
26:34
that guy knew more in his little finger than most people know in their whole, you know, bodies about building bike frames. And you know the sad, the worst news?
26:44
We've, we've probably only rode that tandem a couple times since he's passed because we're kinda like going, "Well, this is kinda like a museum piece now." It was the only one ever made. Yeah.
26:53
It was the only one he ever made, and it's, and it's, and it's an awesome bike, and Casey did an awesome job of painting it, so it's a really pretty bike on top of everything else.
27:01
Other than it's got a lot of lime green on it. Hey, don't give it to Lunz. Tell him no. [laughs] No. No, no bike for Lunz.
27:08
Uh, well, we, so- He, he like- What, you know, when, w- when we were working with Tom, uh, it was, right, we were still working with him when he passed on RAGBRAI, and we still have some Teesdale frames that are very interesting things that somebody, if you, if you want a Teesdale frame, we still have a couple we could build up into some really cool stuff.
27:28
But no tandems and no long tails, unless I decide to get rid of the one that I have. [laughs] What, uh, what, what, what, what frames of his do you have?
27:39
Well, the, so we were right in the process of releasing a 29 plus frame when he passed, so the fact that we couldn't make any more made it a little bit interesting.
27:51
But instead of doing what everybody else did with, uh, you know, more standard hub widths, we went with a fat bike, basically a fat bike, but a 29 plus with geometry that matched. So it's a 170 rear and a 135 front.
28:06
'Cause all the 29 pluses I rode back then, I hated how flexy the wheels were, and I just, I could, you- Yeah... yeah, you'd ride the Kettles here, and I'd be like, "Golly, these things really do wallow and flex a lot."
28:19
So we made, you know, 170 rear, 135 front to get a little bit stronger wheel out of the deal. So that's what we have a few of those left. I think I have one Ape left that Aristotle Peters helped us build. It's a large.
28:31
I think it's purple. Um, Tony bought the last medium Ape, so no joy on that side of things. Right. Um, and then we have, we have a bunch of, uh- Well, it's probably electric already, too...
28:42
yeah, we're not, yeah, not, Tony will not electrify that thing. He's not that bad. And he's also not here today, so we can talk shit about him. [laughs] And then, you know, and then we- He probably wasted it...
28:52
so, a, well, the little more, uh, industry news, um, Len Cavallaro, who's FSA's OE guy, sells to everybody pretty much all over, you know, our, our half of the planet.
29:05
Um, I met him last week 'cause he had a bunch of fat bike stuff.
29:08
So now I actually have, like, 15 fat bike cranks in stock, and so we can build some fat bikes this year, which are, I don't know if they're gonna be hard to find, but I sure can't find any except for the ones that we have.
29:18
But, uh, so Len- I have a b- I have a br- I have a brand-new ice cream truck frame I gotta build. Aha. [laughs] Aha. The orig- the original one. The original one. Well, we have- Got to be when you pass and die...
29:31
so I think we have, we, so we have both- Oh, my God... Comet and Afterburner cranks. Comets, I think, are the 170. Afterburners are, they're hollow forged. They're really nice cranks. Uh, but those are the 190 crank.
29:41
That said, I'm not sure exactly yet if they work on, like, we do, uh, quite a few of the, uh, Wyatts from, from Wyatt over in La Crosse, and the only- Sure...
29:52
crank that I found that works on those is a Race Face because of how the frames are made, and you need the, the bend on the crank like Race Face has. Otherwise, you run into arm clearance problems.
30:02
Oh- But I, so I haven't actually built- Does he have- Go ahead. Does he have, does he have square tubing on the chainstays on that?
30:10
Yeah, yeah, because they have a, they have a CNC'd yoke down by the bottom bracket and a CNC yoke by the seat stay, and then it's almost plug and play. So it, they kind of have, like, a way to...
30:23
The frame almost self jigs. It's really cool and, uh, very well thought out. And they're sorta, I would call them aggressive fat bikes.
30:31
They're probably, uh, more aggressive than a Wednesday, but maybe more on the lines of an ice cream truck maybe. I, you know, I don't know. I, I, honestly, I'm not a 190 guy for my, whatever the reason.
30:43
My body likes 170 bikes better. And I, even though I have the, uh- The titanium, the, the last titanium Chumba that we have is a 190 bike. I, I might let that go just because it, it sort of, it messes with my hips,
30:59
and the 170s don't. So- True... I don't know. Yeah. Yep. And, and- No, that's, there, there's, there's a lot of merit to that, yeah... and you know, I don't know ultimately if I really need... So I've got on my,
31:12
on my Ape, which is a 170 bike, I've got, you know, four-inch tires on 85 millimeter rims, and it's fine for almost everything.
31:18
I d- gotta be honest though, it's probably a geometry thing more than a tire width thing, but I way like the Chumba better in soft conditions on beach or snow. So much, much m- much better.
31:31
[laughs] Well, I, I thought I... If I didn't have this ice c- if I didn't have this ice cream truck sitting here, I would probably buy a Wyatt, 'cause I'm, there's, they're, I...
31:38
You had a couple in the shop when I was down there, and I really like the looks of them.
31:42
I don't think I, I don't think I've ridden one yet, but, um, I just kind of liked everything about them, and you can't get squat from Surly right now, so. Yeah, for sure.
31:51
In fact, I, I called the Surly rep a couple times now, and I'm like, "Am I gonna be able to even pre-order anything?" I don't think that that's in the cards.
31:59
That said, I, I kinda dissed them for a couple months 'cause of the pandemic for paying them, so maybe they're mad at me. But I'm all caught up now, bitches. No, I don't think you- [laughs]
32:10
Well, I hate to do this to you guys, but I'm gonna have to run because I have to go play hockey again. Yeah, yeah.
32:15
We gotta get out of here too 'cause w- we're already two minutes over our allotted time to, to talk bike stuff.
32:20
[laughs] But, uh, hey, thanks for, thanks for being the third Tony wheel, and, uh, w- uh, keep us posted on when we can do this Rochester thing, and do some- Okay... do some clunker.
32:31
And you know, I've got, I, I've got a really good story about the, the Handsome I got from Ziegel.
32:38
Uh, because I'm gonna completely redo that one because now I have the State, which they're kinda sorta set up the same, so I got some new ideas for that one.
32:45
And by the time we actually get together in whatever it is, a week and a half, couple weeks, I think I'll have, I'll bring two of them up there, and we'll, we'll do a little comparison riding.
32:55
And I think I'm gonna, I'm gonna, after Spooner rides his for a bit, I'm gonna have him run down to my house and grab my Handsome and ride that too, so we can get his opinion on the difference between the two.
33:03
Well, and it's your damn fault I even have coaster brake bikes because I rode that Handsome last time I was in Decorah all over the town, and I just loved that thing. It was- It wa- It, that, that is a fun bike.
33:16
I can't believe they don't make those anymore, but I bet we could get a frame made if we needed to. Probably. All right, buddy. Well, um, have a good time. Hey. Make sure you warm up. Maybe he'll... Thanks, guys.
33:24
Make sure your hips don't dislocate when you're, uh, you're doing your goalie stuff, and, uh, we'll talk to you soon. [laughs] All right. Thanks, guys. See ya. Bye. Copy that. Later. All right, everybody.
33:35
That was, that was Chowie. Hey, Chowie. I think we talked a lot about stuff. [laughs] I don't know what we talked about. Probably bike stuff maybe a little bit. Oh, yes. It was. Uh, one thing I did wanna mention.
33:44
W- uh, last weekend was a, a NICA race in Wausau, Wisconsin. Wausor. And, and I went up there.
33:50
The, Wendy, my wife, my lovely bride, she went up there with, uh, the boy, uh, the night before, and they camp overnight and do the pre-ride on Saturday.
33:59
My daughter had to work on Saturday, so I said, "Well, I'll drag her up there on Sunday morning."
34:03
So we left early on Sunday and went up there, and it, it's gonna be his last NICA race of the year even though there's a couple left 'cause he wants to work on his Eagle Scout project more than mountain bike race, which props to him because once that shit's done, he's got more time for mountain biking.
34:17
[laughs] So, um, but he did, uh... So he always does the best starts. I don't know how he does it, but there's a couple hundred kids, and he's always at the front of the start.
34:28
And he certainly doesn't finish at the front of the pack. But I've got such an awesome picture of him leading the pack out up the first climb, and I'm like, "I'm proud of you, boy."
34:37
[laughs] Even, you know- I think it was a-... even if you quit right now, I'm proud 'cause you've already gone this far, and you're in front of the pack, [laughs] and it's just great. Was that floating on your Flickr?
34:46
Uh, possibly. I was definitely on my Flickr. Okay. Oh, yeah. Yeah, 'cause I, I- I was on my Flickr... have a feeling. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're painting the word picture of something I think is, uh- Yeah.
34:55
He, he and his buddy JJ was right up there too. I was like, "Wow, those guys are..." They were actually seriously- [laughs]... leading all these kids up the f- I know. I was like-... the first climb.
35:01
I'm like, "Well, that's awesome." Um, and I don't really care if he wins or loses, as long as he's having fun.
35:09
I al- when I mountain bike raced, I, I was just out there riding mostly with friends and having fun, and if I beat a couple of my buddies, that was better than beating the fastest guy in the 800 person field or whatever it was.
35:22
Right, right, right. So his, [laughs] so JJ, his, his friend that he races with, was like, "This is your last chance to beat me. You can do it."
35:31
[laughs] And, and he finished, like, 15 seconds behind him, and I was like, "Oh, he's, like, giving you the, he's giving you the, the, the opportunity to beat him finally." And he's like, "Yeah, I just didn't have it.
35:40
I, and I didn't feel it. I wasn't really motivated." You know, it's, he's more of a rider than a racer, which is great because I think racing actually sucks a lot, unless it's the right kinda race, which- [laughs]...
35:51
we'll talk about down, [laughs] down the road. But, uh, I know. Here's one more final thing before we- Final thoughts... before we... Yeah, final tho- What is that? Deep Thoughts. No, not with Jack Handy. Nope.
36:04
Uh, this is, um- [laughs]... a thing.
36:06
I l- I, I read this on bikepacking.com this morning on their newsfeed, 'cause I get that every morning, that United Airlines now does not charge extra for shipping bikes while you fly.
36:16
I think there's a couple other airlines. A, y- Really? I used to pay, like, $100 to $200 to fly my bike somewhere, and it was just easier to ship it by FedEx or something.
36:25
And like, shipbikes.com or bikeflights.com, send it where you're going instead of going through all the hassle of dragging that thing through the airport and all that crap.
36:34
I'd still go that route personally if it was me, but at least United doesn't charge you anymore. And that's up to a 50 pound box and a big ass bike box. Oh, a b- Oh, okay. I, I, uh- Box your bike up and ship that thing.
36:46
I was gonna say, I mean, like, dude, if you just like, you know, strap it on, like, the fucking frame- No, yeah. Like, put it on the tail of the plane or just drag it- Yeah, yeah... drag it in the airplane.
36:53
Dude, I, I'll, I'll bring my own bungees, man. [laughs] No, it has to be in a box. Okay. The pedals have to be off. Okay. The handlebar has to be, you know- I was gonna-... it has to fit in a bike box.
37:01
But still, they used to charge, I don't know, more than golf clubs and less than, you know- Wild tigers in a, in a cage. [laughs] Nice. But anyway, hey, heckin' A, like I said always before, we did it again.
37:14
But this weekend, make sure, down in South Milwaukee, the Crusher Fest. Oh, God, the Crusher Fest. That'll be awesome.
37:23
Hey, maybe next year we can finally get the Crusher ride going because, uh, the Crusher's birthday, I'm pretty sure it's June 26th. Something like that, yeah.
37:31
But we always wanted to do a Crusher ride to kinda bookend the summer with the, the, what's the, what's, uh, the, uh, what's Four Eyes Ride? Faux Eyes, the, uh- Uh, Tour de Farce? Yeah, the one that's- BikeTober?-...
37:44
always around Halloween. BikeToberfest... BikeToberfest. So it would bookend with the Crusher ride on one end, BikeToberfest on the other, 'cause it's in the same locale.
37:52
And in fact, the Crusher is buried in the same cemetery as John Matuszak. Yep. The reason for The Goonies ride. Exactly. From- There we go. The Goonies ride- Yeah... that's what I'm talking about.
38:02
Yeah, yeah, that would've been, uh, last month-ish, 'cause I remember getting remind- or like memories on the Faceplace. Yeah, with- And it'd be like, "Oh."
38:11
With baby Ruth bars that looked like turds and- Yeah, it was just like, damn. It's like, and I'm gonna... And I was like, man, I did wanna like poke the bears and go like...
38:21
'Cause they may be doing it just underground just to not... I, because the last one I went on there were... It was kinda advertised. Dude was on the morning local news- Oh... for a second.
38:33
And- But that's not a Faux Eyes ride. That's a different dude, right? Yeah, that's Matt. That's Matt, the, Matt, the Malort rep for- Yes. [laughs] Yeah, yes... Wis- the Malort Ambassador of [laughs] Wisconsin. Exactly.
38:42
Oh, yeah, the, uh, Illinois handshake, uh, old style- Oh, yeah, that would-... a little Malort... yeah, that, that last ride that started down there at Boone was, uh, that was a little bit of an effort, I guess.
38:52
Well, the, uh, the la- I'm just trying to remember the last Goonies ride. Well, it, it got some pub off of- Right... it was like Fox 6 or- Definitely started at Boone and Crockett...
38:59
'cause I remember, I've been on a couple of those rides and there were a lotta new ones, a lotta randoms, and that- Yeah... and- That's the whole idea... I mean, it, it, it worked out.
39:09
I mean, but at, at first I was a little, [sighs] oh, man. [laughs] 'Cause I've done that where it's like, how did I become the damn chaperone on this one? Uh-huh. It's like, come on, you gotta- Do you not...
39:19
That's a new, that's a new rule... you gotta know how to have like, uh, more than a couple beers and ride your bike. Yep. New rule, don't follow Michael. [laughs] Well, shit, man, I was w- wiping...
39:29
I was like the toilet paper. I was wiping up the rear, man. Yeah, there you go. Well, the one dude that kept rabbiting into the damn curb.
39:37
[laughs] Although he did dismount very, very, very, very elegantly for being as wasted as he was. Over the bars, just hopped. Boop, boop, boop. That's sort of one of those fixie things that people do.
39:48
Shit, it was impressive as hell. But I think that's muscle memory. It must've been, 'cause man, it was not... [coughs] Well, yeah, a little PTSD from that [laughs] episode. No.
39:59
[laughs] I'm just like, oh, that was, uh, like my, one of my introductions to group riding, chaperoning, and I'm like, God, that sucked. Yep. [laughs] All right.
40:07
Well, I th- I think we, uh, I think we covered everything and, uh- That's right, you turkey necks... if we, [laughs] if we didn't cover everything, well... Hey, I, here's one final thing.
40:17
I never knew Verne Gagne actually body slammed a guy in the nursing home they were in, and the guy actually died. I did- If you're into wrestling in the old days, Verne Gagne, blah, blah, blah.
40:29
We'll have to research that a little bit more, but, uh, I learned about that today too. Hey, everybody. Do the hammerlock. [growls] [laughs] Do the turkey neck.
40:39
[laughs] All right, everybody, thank you very much for putting up with us for another episode of Full Spectrum Cycling. He- here's something we don't mention often enough.
40:46
[trilling] Uh, the, you can always call us at 717-727-2453. That spells bike. And leave a message or ask us a question, or call during the show, which is 7:00 PM CST on Wednesdays,
41:00
at least until we decide, uh, we're not doing this anymore. But we still are, so. [laughs] All right, next week, bye. Join us. I think Tony will be back. One of us. That'll be good. One of us.
41:09
Happy anniversary, guys, then. Oh, yeah, Tony's anniversary, and, uh, lovely Molly and Tony, happy anniversary.
41:16
[upbeat music]
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