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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #212 – Seeley Dave – Hungry Bear 100 – Waterford Closing – Richard Schwinn Retiring
May 12, 2023
Full Spectrum Cycling #212 – Seeley Dave – Hungry Bear 100 – Waterford Closing – Richard Schwinn Retiring
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] Good day, everybody.
0:21
You got your Full Spectrum Cycling here a full hour early even though- You don't know that... [laughs] we're not gonna post it a full, full hour early. Maybe we should, just for fun.
0:31
[laughs] I guess if we do it earlier in the studio, we should post it earlier on the interwebs. Maybe not. Anyway, uh, it's show number 212. 212. To- Tony's, Tony's back this week. Hi, Tony. Hi.
0:46
Uh, this is Sven in, uh, currently in the place of JK is, uh... I don't know, it's not an American Girl doll, but it is a doll. Like- Some kind of creep... I am doll parts.
1:00
Uh, s- somewhat of the, uh, the weekend comes back from Iowa with, with Sven here. It's some sort of a porcelain doll on a stand [laughs] that... So we did an event in Osage, Iowa. May Day Mayhem.
1:18
Its name is Anne. It's Anne? Okay. Well, she's got a porcelain puss and a green dress.
1:24
I, I- Only the finest quality of craftsmanship and materials have been used in creating, cr- in the creation of this beautiful porcelain doll- Yeah... Anne.
1:34
I picked her out because she was wearing that nice green outfit, the shiny. Looking- Oh, we'll have a picture of Anne on the, uh... just in case... looking for the Made in China label on Anne.
1:42
Yeah, well, I d- I don't know. I mean, it's sort of an American Girl idea. There was a...
1:46
So we were at Limestone Brewery in Osage for the headquarters for the event, and outside the back door across the alley was a garage sale.
1:55
And there was a trunk full of these things that some grandmother probably paid an exorbitant amount of money for, and Spinner went over there and, and brought one back. He said,
2:06
"She thinks they're so creepy, she's not even charging for [laughs] them." [laughs] So I'm like, "Oh, I'll go over and look at them." They... The, the little girl whose they were was there.
2:15
I'm like, "You gotta get something for these, honey. I mean, these are, you know, these were- How old was she?... probably 8 or 10 or something. Aw. And I was like, "Here's a couple bucks for your trouble."
2:26
Uh, yeah, I don't even... Maybe they weren't even hers. Maybe they're their mom's, I have no idea. But- Right... uh, most of them ended up in the woods along the trail, uh, near the Cedar River where we did the event.
2:37
But, uh, A- Anne got stuck in the van and didn't [laughs] w- didn't make it to the trails. Get in the van. So she's here in the studio right now. Uh, not the only thing that came back from Iowa, by the way.
2:51
Guess what else I managed to fit in the van on the way back from Iowa? You have a salon chair. I have two salon chairs. Is one of them mine? No. Yours is still in the basement at Shannon's house. Oh, damn it.
3:02
[laughs] But, but you know what? Actually, if you're, if you need one before it gets here- I know... you can have one of these. Good. We'll, we'll end up with three in Milwaukee. Nice. I, uh, I...
3:12
Okay, so I, I don't know why I think they're so cool. Chewie thinks, everybody thinks they're cool, except I've kinda been showing people. I'm like, "Look what I brought back from Iowa."
3:20
And they're like, "Well, why the hell would you do that?" Eh, those people, uh, don't have any class. Well, here's how it kinda, here's how it kinda worked out and why I still think it's not a [laughs] bad deal.
3:30
Uh, we were on our way to Iowa, and, uh, Dave needed to make a, a stop for a, a product that goes in a Penheaty thing, whatever they call those things. Yeah.
3:40
I'm like, "Well, I've got one of those things because I don't really use those things, and I've got a new one of those things, so I'll just, I'll sell you that thing." And, uh, "Oh, okay.
3:49
Well, I'll get that thing from you," and he gives me the money. Happened to be exactly the amount of money that it requires to get those two salon chairs. Bingo.
3:55
So the way I figure it is I, I, I traded a vape cart for two salon chairs- That's a pretty good deal... which to me seems like a really good deal. Are they beastly heavy? Uh, no, they're not super heavy. Mm.
4:06
And I will show you the video later because they work. You pull the, you pull the, the face mask down and the fan starts a-spinning. Nice.
4:16
I'm gonna guess that anybody that put their head under there probably had curlers in their hair because- Like-... you should see what happens to the hair. Oh, I can't wait. It's great. Yeah, it's super funny.
4:24
I don't know if I can get... I could probably get a video somehow. Maybe I'll host it on YouTube. Do, do you know why we're starting early this week, though? Uh, 'cause s- you said, "Should we start early this week?"
4:34
Uh... No. It's because when we finish, we're starting a practice lap of the River West 24. Yeah, which starts at our normal start time- Right... of 7:00 PM on Wednesday. Right, right.
4:46
So it seemed like a good idea to start early and do the practice lap. Absolutely. I'm not sure what's gonna be ready to ride in July. The-- They're making major progress on the Hummels. They really are.
4:57
[laughs] I can't believe how fast they ripped out that pavement. And how fast they're laying the new concrete. I'm, I'm actually- Yeah, concrete. Yeah... they're, they're doing well.
5:05
Well, I heard that they have a $3,000 a day fine if they don't get it done by the end of May for the paving part. But in the grand scheme of things, what's three grand a day on this project? Right, right.
5:15
You know, it's like a, 100 grand a day might make them move a little quicker. Right. I don't think they're going slowly. People are complaining about it, but I'm like- I think it's gonna look cool...
5:21
you see how much they laid out, like, virtually over the weekend. It was, you know- Yeah... a good j- a good chunk of what still needs to get done, so. Uh, while I was gone, they were working. Did it... What?
5:34
Did it rain here? I don't know what happened here. I was in, I was in Osage, where it did not rain. Uh. It was a great weekend, by the way.
5:39
Uh, we had rain on Saturday, and then it rained a little bit Saturday night going into Sunday. My seat was just a little damp 'cause I took my cargo bike to register for the River West 24.
5:54
Got there, met my friend Sarah there at 6:00, 5:00, 10 minutes to 6:00 AM. She was number one this year. She was. Yeah. She was.
6:01
I would've been number one, but, see, I left my cargo bike locked to a pole in the yard, and Daniel found it. So when I went to ride said cargo bike, the chain was no longer on the sprocket.
6:11
The boy is putting his fingers upon your chain already? [sighs] Oh. Get him a job at the shop here. We need- Right... we need cheap labor
6:17
You don't, you don't need fingers for long to work on bikes I was gonna say, if you only need someone to break stuff, he's there. [laughs] He can be the chain breaker. Right. The breaker of chains. Yeah.
6:27
I think that's kind of a Game of Thrones thing or something. Probably. Uh- Yes, registration was entertaining. It was a beautiful day. I got wickedly sunburned. Beer was flowing.
6:38
Ronald is now working at Black Husky on the weekends. Um, big Ronald, the power lifter. Oh, okay. Um, so that was fun. Um, lots and lots of people.
6:49
Number third to show up, I don't know if he even registered, but he showed up and sat with us for an exceedingly long time, and he's never gonna listen to this, so it was the rabbi.
6:56
I saw the rabbi in the picture, the picture of the rabbi. Yeah. So. Yeah. Um, I, and I was gonna... Well, we can probably talk to JK about this.
7:05
I, all of us did a bonus checkpoint last year, so we all had an entrance that was guaranteed, so you'd get in the volunteer line and you'd get your entry. But JK went through the pageantry of getting the lottery and-
7:20
Wow... doing the dance until he got in at some point, which- He was there, it was near the end I, I do think that he likes the pageantry. Yeah. I believe. I, he may have known that he could get in- I know-...
7:29
as a, as a backup plan... Jeremy was staring him down, I remember that. [laughs] It's, it, this has been going on for several years now. It's, uh, it's not a new thing.
7:38
We should put in the show notes too that Jeremy's turning 50 and having a hell of a party at Falcon Bowl on June 3rd. Falcon Bowl. The Falcon Bowl. Uh, that's not on our schedule. We should put that on there. Yeah.
7:50
I, he's in town. Last time I saw something, he was in, like, Brazil or something- Yeah, yeah... doing, doing some deal for the, uh, something with the flat... Is it still Flat Out Friday?
7:59
Is he still doing- I think it's still called Flat Out Friday or Mama Tried. It's Mama Tried. Oh, yeah, Mama Tried. Okay. Well, he's kind of working directly for Harley now, I think. Yeah, yeah.
8:06
Uh- He did, that did well for him... we got one more thing before we push the button and, uh, we got a guest hanging out in the back room there.
8:13
Um, I just wanna let everybody know that we did, like, 70 minutes worth of talking in [laughs] in Osage after the Mayday Mayhem, and I listened to a good chunk of it before the show today.
8:26
There's some good stuff in there. It's actually a Chewy's Salon chair. I assume it's gonna be two parts because who wants to listen for 70 minutes? I don't wanna listen to Chewy for seven seconds. Oh, God, it was great.
8:36
I'm just kidding. There's some, there's some good- I love listening to Chewy. He's hilarious... [laughs] There's, there's some good stuff on there so far, so.
8:40
Did he have his road caster, so is there a lot of goofy- Yeah... r- r- I, I, well, I didn't, I wasn't on the show. I didn't, I had, I'm listening to it for the first time now. Oh, I thought you were part of it.
8:49
No, I was- Oh... well, I w- I was on it at the end, but I, I was out there wrangling people to be, have them on the show.
8:53
So I was in the crowd gathering people up and saying, "Come on over here and get on the microphone and tell us what you thought of the event." So- Nice... so, uh, I was, yeah, the wrangler.
9:02
All right, I'm pushing the button. Dang it. Push the button. It's, it's a green thing now. Thank you very much. Uh, welcome to Ready Program Color. Who do we have on the line? Hey, boys. It's Sealy Dave. Sealy Dave.
9:13
Sealy Dave, taking time out of his busy day, calling us on the telly ringer. How's it going up there? Good. Good.
9:22
Yeah, I do have the Hungry Bear coming up this Saturday, but I'm pretty dialed on it now, so, um, so I've relaxed. I'm not stressing really, but, um- [laughs] When did I call you? I called you on- Yeah...
9:33
on, on Monday I think or something, and you were like, sounded like, sounded like you were like, "I got stuff to do." [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] You know I go back and forth on this stuff.
9:42
Um, this is only the second year that I've taken it over and run it entirely by myself. Um, Tim Kruger, the guy that runs Esker Cycles, um, started it. He's from this area, doesn't live here anymore.
9:55
And, uh, so I took it over 'cause he's not around very much anymore. So, um, and by the second year, I, you know, I've run a lot of events, um, and so this is not my first rodeo, but, uh,
10:07
I'm sort of supposed to be retired, and I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with the nonsense that inevitably happens with any event, whether it's local permitting issues or, you know, um, handholding riders who [laughs]
10:21
have all kinds of questions and want changes constantly and stuff. But you know what?
10:26
I'm, I'm sorta coming into it now, and I feel like I'm gonna give it one more year and keep it going 'cause I've, uh, I bought a big bike packing gear library full of stuff with the profits from it.
10:37
I might wanna expand that next year. Um, the, you know, I got, like, five tents and five nice sleeping bags, and I even bought a pack raft that I'll be able to loan out to people when they wanna try, you know, that.
10:49
So I don't know. If that stuff works out, maybe I might wanna find a, got some holes in the gear library I need to fill. So I think I'm gonna try running the event one more year, but I gotta get through this year first.
10:59
[laughs] Righty-ho, right on. Let's see how it goes Saturday. Let's see how it goes Saturday. Remind me next- No, I mean, the conditions are gonna be good. Good.
11:05
Re- remind me n- next time you're down, I, I've got those snowshoes for your, your gear library that I haven't been, I didn't give to you yet. Oh, cool. Some youth snowshoes. Yeah.
11:13
They're very nice little, uh, Red Feather snowshoes. Yeah. Perfect. A little donation to the- Perfect, yeah... to the cause. Thanks. Um- Thanks. Yeah. Thanks.
11:21
So I know, I mean, the event's tomorrow, being that this is Friday when we get this thing up on the air. Right.
11:26
[laughs] So probably, well, I mean, I, people are either there or they're not, but what are you expecting for conditions? It, we, they're, you know, it's g- we've had really nice... It's 75 degrees.
11:39
It was close to 80 today. You know, it doesn't, and it, the, and sunny. It doesn't take much of that to dry things out.
11:44
Our soil conditions up here are, are so sandy, um, that the, the gravel roads are all gonna be in, in really good condition, very firm. Even if it rains that day, it won't be too bad.
11:58
So, so, and I, I hate to say what, you know, even look at what the forecast is for Saturday. Um, today, actual recording time, is Wednesday, right? So, um, 'cause it changes from hour to hour, so. [laughs] Yeah.
12:14
Um, but I'm not worried about it. It's gonna be good for everybody that shows up. Yeah. Well w- Um, even if we get a little bit of rain, it won't be bad. Yeah.
12:22
D- I mean, having, having instant weather on your phone can be a, a blessing and a curse. It's like we, we w- [laughs] Right...
12:28
so we had been planning to go to this thing in Osage, Iowa for a couple of months now, and I'm looking at it. I'm like, "Oh, if it's gonna be crappy, I'm not going." And then I'm like, "You know what?
12:37
If, if it, it- If I don't go, it's gonna be good. If I go- Mm-hmm... and it's crappy, I'll still have fun. Right. So, [laughs] you know, it's like I'm going. I don't really care what the weather's [laughs] like.
12:45
It's, we'll, we'll deal with it when we get there. Perfect. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Right. And it turn- In our line of duty-... and it turned out to be a-... the same... yeah.
12:52
Well, it turned out to be a fantastic event, um, so I, I think. Yeah, I'm looking for- P- I, I was listening in as I waited in the green room.
13:00
Uh, uh, and, uh, I'm looking forward to hearing Chewie's, um, version when he gets it up. Yeah.
13:06
Well, we did it, we did the show inside the brewery by all the ax stores, but I, I'm sup- we actually got it to sound pretty decent, which was, you know, it's kind of a challenge- Right...
13:14
when you're in a, in a live venue like that. It's echoey and lots of stuff's going on and- Sure... I, I think I figured out how to do that.
13:21
Um, basically, uh, instead of doing it at, like, studio volume levels on everything, you just pull everything way back so th- and then you're close enough to the mic that it actually comes through pretty good, so I'm, I'm kinda happy with how it turned out for the lack of qual- Are you able to do most of that just in the, in the RODECaster or is there a bunch, still a bunch of adjustment, like- Uh, no.
13:43
I-... perfection on- I, I did a-... post effects in audi- Audacity... r- no. I'm, I'm still not into doing any kind of post-production. Um, I did run the, uh, the noise processor.
13:55
I take y- I take a quiet spot, as quiet as there is in the signal, and if there's a little noise in there, get a noise print, take that out of the whole thing, and then say, "That's as good as it's gonna [laughs] get."
14:06
But, uh, yeah, surprisingly good. Yeah. That, he has the new, um, he has the new RODECaster too.
14:11
I don't think it's really any better or worse than the original for doing that stuff, but it's got way more capabilities, and I think you can get yourself lost in the thing if you make it more complicated than you need to.
14:23
Sure. So yeah. [laughs] But yeah, so it turned out great for that, but yeah. Um- Yeah, we could go down a whole rabbit hole about RODECasters and audio and stuff, but, uh, you know- Yeah...
14:34
we can stick to bike stuff a little bit more. Right. Well, maybe we should- Yeah, you know, so, uh-... maybe we should do a whole podcast just on that stuff. [laughs] Nothing to do with bikes.
14:41
[laughs] We're talking, because, you know, everybody's been learning as they go, and it'd be like, "Well, here's what we've learned so far." Um- Yeah... yeah, so no, bikes are good. Um- Let's talk bikes.
14:51
But no, I, I, yeah, I, I'm, I called, you know, not, it's Friday when this podcast is, people are listening, uh, if they're, uh, when it, when you publish it, so, you know, I mean, it's probably already too late for people.
15:04
Maybe they're listening on their way to Seeley to ride the Hungry Bear.
15:07
But I mostly called because I, I saw today that, um, Richard Schwinn announced, uh, that they were no longer taking orders for Gunners and Waterford bikes, and Waterford Precision Cycles is going to close or be sold- Wow...
15:28
as he is, as he is retiring. That's a, that's- Um... that's quite a, that's quite an announcement there. Holy mackerel. Yeah. Yeah. That's big, right?
15:38
Um, and for your listeners who don't, aren't regular listeners, um, I, I worked at, I built for Waterford for a while.
15:44
Um, so, uh, uh, yeah, it's, it's, uh, and it's the old, and your listeners that don't know Waterford, it's owned by Richard Schwinn of the Schwinn family, and it's in the old Schwinn Paramount factory where the Schwinn Paramounts, the famous US-made racing frames were made, um, which is, it located in Waterford, Wisconsin, hence the name Waterford for their lugged, fancy lugged steel bikes.
16:10
And then they also make Gunners, named after Richard's dog, Gunner. Um, G-U-N-N- E- Is it E-R or A-R? A-R. Maybe A-R. Yeah, A-R I believe. Yeah, I think so. A-R.
16:23
Um, named after his dog Gunner, and those are their very nice TIG welded steel frames. Um- Have you ever, have you ever told Mike-... so- Have I ever told you my Gunner story? No.
16:37
So I, my dentist retired, and his daughter and I are good friends, and she sent me an email saying or text saying, "Do you know someone that needs a little bike?" I'm like, "I can always find a home for a little bike.
16:49
I have little people." So I said, "T-" Sure. She said, "All I know is that, that his sister has ridden this across Italy a number of times." So I'm thinking, "Oh, cool. It's gonna be a neat Italian road bike."
17:01
And she sends me pictures- Right... of it, and I'm like, "This is a Gunner." And she's like- [laughs]... "I don't have any idea what that is." I'm like, "This is a Wisconsin, this is a handmade Wisconsin bike."
17:10
So I'm like, "What do you gotta get for it?" She's like, "You can have it." It's a 3 by 10- [laughs]... full campy, and I'm looking at it and I'm like, "Wow, this is a really small frame." What size frame is it?
17:22
Well, that's the funny part is I'm looking at it and I'm like, "This is tiny. This is weird." And I, like, look at the front wheel and it's only 24 inches, and I'm like, "This is- Mm-hmm... really bizarre." Yeah.
17:33
So I decide I'm gonna email Gunner with the serial number and just say, "Hey, this person is, is dying. That's why they're giving this bike away.
17:42
I don't want you to give me, I don't want you to share any information that you can't, but here's the serial number. What can you tell me?"
17:48
Like, three days later, I get an email from Richard Schwinn saying, "Really sorry to hear about so-and-so. Uh, this is a very special bike. You'll notice it's got a 650B rear and a 24 front." And I'm like, "Wait, what?"
18:04
And I look at it, and sure enough, the bike wheels are a different size. It is-- I, I don't know what the frame size is. It's absolutely tiny. But he sent me the invoice. She had it sent to Madison to get built.
18:17
Um, it is-- I rode it very briefly since it's so small, but whoa, is it a nice piece of steel. And now it's residing in my basement. Yeah.
18:25
Yeah, the Gunners, the-- I mean, I, you know, uh, I'm an old school guy, so I, I do have a-- I still really like lugs and all the cool things you can do with lugs, but the Gunners are, are very, very nice, nice bikes.
18:40
And, and, and, um, going to any custom bike made by Waterford, [laughs] you're getting all those-...
18:47
years of history and knowledge of, of, um, frame building built in, so I'm sure that that bike was hand sized by somebody, hence the weird front wheel for a- Yeah...
19:00
a small- Yeah, it was custom, you know- Person who- Definitely custom measured- Yeah... the whole ball. Right. Yeah, yeah. So you- Yeah. Cool... so you're saying that- But yeah, it's pretty sad, huh? I don't know.
19:10
Yeah, for sure. Kind of sad to me. I hope somebody buys it. So A- Um, but- So Anna's not gonna step up and get into the family biz? Well, you know, it's more like, um, uh, Tucker, right? 'Cause Tucker's there.
19:23
His son Tucker is there, and he's like... He had a pol- a, a polo bike company. They were making custom polo bikes for a while. Hmm. Oh, nice. Tucker's into bike polos. Um- Oh... so he works there, but maybe he'd...
19:38
I, I haven't been in touch for a while, so I'm just like Facebook friends with him. I'm barely on. Maybe, uh- So I, I'm not really- Maybe that's the new headquarters- Maybe he moves on and he doesn't wanna take over...
19:48
of Ellis, huh? Yeah, maybe Dave Wages will move in there. [laughs] While he's taking, he's taking Waterford a step further. Yeah, I worked there- He knows how to get there... Dave and I worked there at the same time.
19:56
[laughs] Yeah, Dave and I worked there at the same time. I start... He had already been there for a while, so he was already, uh, you know, full on. He, and he had come from, um, uh, uh...
20:09
Why am I blanking on, on the name? You know, out east, uh, uh, Sarata.
20:13
He had already come from Sarata to work for Waterford, and, uh, so he was already a very well-established, highly skilled frame builder when I started working there.
20:24
And I started TIG welding, you know, caps on the ends of, of standard BMX chain stays. [laughs] That's where they started me. Um- You gotta start somewhere... I did end up moving into the brazing department. But,
20:37
but yeah, Dave was, uh, was there at the same time as me, so that's kinda... Yeah, that's where he and I met. All right, so we have Schwinn sto- But, yeah, it's too bad... we have, we, we have Schwinn stories here.
20:47
I got an Anna Schwinn story for you. Um, I, this is, I mean- [laughs] Yeah. So I- Okay, listeners. Yeah. Well, it's a good story though. I mean, it, it, it, it, it- Okay, good... it's from a long time ago, so it's good.
20:59
Um, [laughs] She's a fire brand, so- Yes. Oh, absolutely... it could go either way. For sure. [laughs] Oh, yeah, she's been coming to Milwaukee for years to do stuff.
21:05
But, and I kinda knew Richard before, but, um, I was selling a- And she's next-door neighbor with Tim, she's next-door neighbor to Tim Cruder, um- And-... the guy from Escr- in, in Minneapolis Nice...
21:17
the guy who runs Escr Cycles. Awesome. Yeah. Well, at, at some point in the distant past, I don't remember when it was, probably very early 2000s maybe.
21:26
Um, I could go back and figure it out exactly, 'cause when you hear the story you'll know why. Um, so I'm selling my '95 VW, uh, Jetta. It, you know, I'd had it for a while. It's a great car. Mm.
21:38
I used it to run around the country and sell bike parts out of and stuff, and so it had some miles on it. And, uh, a, a lady calls me on the phone and says, "Uh, is that still for sale?" I'm like, "Yeah."
21:47
And, um, "Oh, I come and look at it," this and that. So, so she comes and I'm like... And so do her parents, and I'm like, "This looks like Richard to me." [laughs] I'm like, "What's going on here?"
21:57
And he's like, "Oh, this is my daughter, Anna." [laughs] "And she needs a car for college." So she was, you know, 18 probably.
22:05
And, uh, they ended up buying my Jetta, and it was her college car wherever she [laughs] went to college. Oh, cool. It's like- That's funny... you know, kinda small world stuff. Small world.
22:13
But I, I didn't, I hadn't really known her then. I didn't really know her much until after college. So just kinda weird- Yeah... you know, weird, uh, vortexy stuff. Milwaukee. Yeah. Milwaukee stuff. For, for sure.
22:24
So yeah. Actually, along, along the lines with that too is that she was...
22:28
So we, when we had the bike shop on Locust, um, older Hispanic guy would come in once in a while with a really badass vintage Schwinn, and he apparently took his, ah, it might have been a black Phantom,
22:42
to the Dair- Tour de Dairyland. And this woman came up and started talking to him, and he's explaining everything to him. And he's like, one of the, another person was kinda laughing.
22:52
He's like, "You don't have any idea who this is, do you?" [laughs] So she signed it for him. Oh, nice. [laughs] She's a celebrity. Right on. Oh, very cool. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah, for sure.
23:00
Well, I h- I hope somebody keeps it going. Well, you know, I'm sad to see- I mean, that would be nice... it go because
23:05
that, that factory is full of history and everything from, you know, the specialized machines that they have for cutting tubing and, and the, the same fixture that, that modern Waterfords are built are, is the same fixture that, that, um,
23:23
you know, vintage Paramounts were built on. And so there's just so much, so much bicycle history there. Um,
23:32
if, if it, if it goes away, I, God, I just pray that that stuff doesn't just get like scrapped somewhere or something. Oh, it's...
23:40
I mean, it happened at- I mean- When Teasdale passed, I, all his stuff went away, and he had some really wacky stuff.
23:46
It was, you know, Rube Goldbergy compared to what's actually in a production place like, uh, like, like Waterford. But, uh, yeah, you don't wanna see it go away.
23:54
Yeah, I mean, Waterford's got some, Waterford's got some machines because there was a time when building bicycles was actually a big manufacturing thing in the United States, and Waterford has some machines that were specifically designed to miter tubing.
24:08
You know, things like that. Um, uh, so the... Plus the custom fixtures that they had made over the years for building Paramounts and things. So I certainly hope
24:20
somebody, if, if somebody doesn't buy the company Waterford, which seems unlikely, right?
24:28
Um, I hope somebody that builds bikes in the US buys fixtures and machines and, and they sort of live on and continue to make gorgeous frames for people. 'Cause the machines aren't worn out.
24:44
I mean, you know, those big heavy-duty machines will last forever. Yeah, for sure. Uh, I'm gonna go ahead and, uh, [bell rings]
24:54
Ring the bell mostly because we're at the top of the hill and, and we're almost at the end of the show. And, uh, uh, l- Dave, are you, uh, are you at the top of the hill? Yeah. I am. I am at the top of the hill.
25:07
What, what have you got going in the, uh- Yeah... in that area? I've, nothing, nothing too fancy. I might want sort of like the go-to, uh, IPA up here. I've got an Earth Rider, um, Earth Rider IPA.
25:20
It's their Caribou Lake IPA. It's like 7.4% or something. Very, very drinkable though. Um,
25:28
and, uh, th- it's either this or like a Big Brook or something from, from the Hayward Brewery that, um, from Angry Minnow that it's one of these two that I reach for most often. So what do you guys got in the shop?
25:42
Well, I think we just kinda grabbed what was in the fridge today- Yeah... 'cause we started early and, and, uh, I've got the, uh, a Three Floyds Barbarian Haze India Pale Ale, which is super tasty. Oh. 6., 6.5.
25:54
Not too, not too hoppy. It, it's, the IBUs- Yeah... are 42, so it's not like, you know, rip your face off bitter or anything weird. Got it. I'm having a Surly Furious, which yeah, 6.7. Oh. Furious is a good beer.
26:07
I was gonna have a Fresh Cut. Uh, I'm not sure. They don't generally put their IBUs, do they? Uh, I don't know. It does not have one. Um, here's one more question, Dave, before we, uh, wrap the show up.
26:16
I, we, I th- I don't know if we talked last time we were on the phone or a time before, but you had mentioned that there was some change up there at the sawmill.
26:23
I'm just kinda wondering if there's any news on what's happening. Haven't nothing, no more news yet. Okay.
26:29
Um, so I'll, I'll let you know, but, um, you know, fingers crossed it still happens and, and I'll, I'll certainly let everybody know. Oh, okay. Uh, one more thing just because, uh, we still got a couple minutes to kill.
26:44
Um, I think I related to you that my son, due to, uh, being a senior in high school and work and being in Eagle Scout and doing all that crap is he's n- he decided that he didn't wanna do NICA this year.
26:56
Um, he didn't wanna r- Right... more, more importantly really though, he didn't wanna w- he didn't wanna compete. He doesn't really wanna race. He's like, "Uh, I still like mountain biking.
27:04
I just don't wanna race anymore. I don't want the, I don't want the, you know, the pressure of that. I don't want the having to be at practice every couple, three times a week."
27:13
And he's like, "I wanna ride my bike, but I just don't wanna do that." I'm like, "That's cool. I'm not gonna..."
27:17
I mean, I, I came to that realization at 35 years old, so if he's doing it at 17, I think he's pretty smart. [laughs] But, um, one, one thing- Right... one thing it brought up to- It's called evolution... yeah, right.
27:27
[laughs] He's smarter than his dad. That's a good thing.
27:30
Um, one thing that it brought up to me though was, uh, you know, coming up there and doing some bike packing trips with him and, uh, just that getting, getting folks his age or a, a, a little younger or a little older kind of into doing a couple day trips up that way.
27:46
And, uh, I think that would be a real valuable, uh, addition to, uh, just, you know, showing the area and getting people involved and being outside. And, you know- Yeah... a- as a, as a Boy Scout, he's camped a ton.
27:59
Um, I, we were, he, we have to go over his career of being a Boy Scout because there's a National Outdoor Achievement award for Boy Scouts, and he's already earned it for cycling 'cause he rides 600 miles a year or something, and it's way more than- Right...
28:13
you need to do this. But the camping side is also pretty rigorous and, uh, just, you know, I think, I don't know, maybe as like a, as like a, a, a youth- Well, you know, the whole NICA-... a youth weekend...
28:22
the whole, yeah, the whole NICA, um, thing has grown a segment of camping in the, you know, cycling world that didn't used to exist before NICA.
28:35
If, uh, yeah, I mean, uh, and you don't all ha- they don't all, although lots of them do, [laughs] have like, you know, the sprinter vans and the Solo Stoves and all that sort of stuff, but, uh, the, my point is, is that, um, the idea of, of stepping from mountain bike racing into bike packing I think is now a real natural step for a larger segment of the cycling population than existed forever probably before NICA.
29:11
I think NICA, in addition to getting so many more kids interested in bikes in general, has also gotten more kids interested in being outdoors and camping and stuff. Yeah, it's certainly true.
29:22
'Cause they all go to these races and camp, you know?
29:25
[laughs] Um, I- Um, yeah, so I camp, I, I mean, last year when we were up there for the f- the, I think it was the first NICA event i- in Cable, and it will be the season opener again this year.
29:36
There were a ton of people camping and, you know, we decide- Right...
29:40
we decided to do [laughs] an Airbnb thing up there, which by the way, that thing wasn't, that thing wasn't up for five minutes before one of our other, uh, team moms snapped up the, uh- Hm... start line inn.
29:51
So it's been- [laughs] Good. Yeah. Good. She was like, "I procrastinated." Good. "It's four months before. I can't believe I, I didn't..." I'm like, "It's four months before." Yeah.
29:58
And, and you're already behind the ball- Right... on an Airbnb. But anyway, so- Right... yeah, so it, it, it, it, it's already, like minutes later it's already re- Well-... redone... it, it, it,
30:10
yeah, so if any of, uh, your listeners or even if you wanna share this with any of your, um, your NICA family, you know, y- the club folks that, um, that your son rides with, um, I have this gear library.
30:27
You know, I have five $600 bike packing tents and five, you know, $200, you know, lightweight, you know, um, quilts and five air mattresses and bags to put it all on pretty much any bike.
30:44
And anybody that wants to come up here and give it a try, all they gotta do is reach out to me and I'll just let 'em borrow it.
30:51
So you gotta start a, you gotta start a little non-profit up there, Da- Dave's, Dave's Camping or, you know- Something. [laughs] Well, I got the Life Above 8 LLC just 'cause I own that race now. Yeah, yeah.
31:02
Um- Well, there you go. Yeah, perfect. Yeah, I, I'm not even for... You know? People ask me, "Well, oh, do I have to put a deposit down?" I'm like, "Yeah. I don't know. Yeah." [laughs] Like- Well-...
31:14
I don't think, I don't wanna... How's that, how... I'm not sure how I do that. I'm like, "How about I just meet ya, and we shake hands, and I hope you bring it back?"
31:24
[laughs] So would, would you be, or are there people up there besides yourself that would be, uh, available to guide somewhat on these kinda things too? You know, that doesn't exist a lot.
31:37
Um, and, uh, I mean, there are people up here that know all this stuff, but, um, there, there isn't like, like, uh, any sort of formal guided thing. And I, I've been...
31:51
You know, I do that, run that Tour de Shawano, which is an, uh, sort of a glamping introduction to bike packing that Wheel & Sprocket now owns, and I still manage that. And we're talking about doing like
32:04
a dumbed down version of that. Not necessarily dumbed down, but like cheaper, um, uh, less hands-on, so maybe people are expected to bring more of their own foods, camping stuff, and things like that.
32:20
We aren't gonna cook, get meals catered for you and things. Um, so it'd be cheaper, and we're even thinking about doing it where you set up camp once, and then we just do two day ride loops, uh, uh, that day.
32:34
So we're talking about doing something less expensive, um, as an intro, but also a little less support, um, so people just would have to do their own thing a little bit more. But, um- Yeah, sounds good...
32:46
maybe we provide the routes and emergency mechanical support. But you bring your own bike packing meals and everything else and, you know, maybe we have beer at the end. We do that too. [laughs] How about that?
32:58
We'll bring beer. Yeah. We'll bring beer, and we'll fix your bike if you break down, and we've got the routes dialed in. And the...
33:05
So it's instead of, like, 500 bucks where we've got a catered, catered meals and everything else, um, and five ride guides and everything, we just bring a couple of ride guides and pick a place, give everybody the routes, and have a party at the end, and it's only 150 bucks or something.
33:25
Yeah, sounds good. So, or 100 bucks. We gotta talk about that. I think there's definitely a, a niche in the... Not that this is- I agree... not that this is about making money either.
33:33
It's more about getting people out there. But, um, yeah. No, it's about, no, it's about promoting, you know, getting people into it and showing them how fun it is. Yeah, for sure. Sweet.
33:42
So making it a little bit more accessible. You know, there's the Midwest Bikepacking Summit that's coming up in Wausau, and that's like n- costs next to nothing to enter, um, to go to. Uh, that's in September.
33:55
I think September 7th, I wanna say. Um, and they have three different rides. Um, so we should talk about that more on a future podcast when I can like- Yeah, for sure. I'm, I'm put-...
34:06
have a couple of notes in front of me, but- I'm, I'm putting some notes down just to remember to talk about it. All right, Dave. Well, thanks. [laughs] Tha- thanks for calling in and, uh- Okay, guys.
34:15
We gonna do some practice laps?... hope the Hungry Bear goes well, and yeah, we're gonna go do some practice laps. All right. All right. Um, give my love to Riverwest. [laughs] Yeah, talk to you soon. Thank you.
34:25
Thanks, Dave. Talk to you later. Okay. Bye. Adios, boys. Dave Slabosky, everybody. You know, I... This Waterford thing's got me like, "What's up with that?" I'm just wondering- That's nuts, man. Well, what's, what...
34:40
Something else- Well-... came up recently about something going away that had a long history, and I'm like, oh, fucking Kitsbow. Yeah. Right. You know, it's like, really?
34:49
It would've cost a million bucks to keep that going.
34:52
There's not some billionaire out there that is into biking a little and loves really well-made clothing that's made in the United States that couldn't say, "I'll, I've got that." Yeah. I mean, I- Let me help you out...
35:04
I, I need a hobby business. Let me help you out, and I'll probably make money in the end anyway. Yeah. Right? You guys do what you do. We'll make it the best we can make it. It'll be the best in the world. Yeah.
35:11
Here's s- some money. Make that happen. Right. Right? Come on.
35:15
I, it just, it's ridiculous to me that after all the time those guys spent, um, building a business, and specifically in the end keeping it in the United States, building a community in North Carolina to make this stuff, and you can't figure out how to make- Keep it going...
35:32
keep it going. That's just, it's insane. It's sad. Uh, if I had a million dollars, I would've done that. If I had a million dollars, I'd buy Waterford. If I had a million dollars, I'd do a lot of stuff to lose money.
35:39
But, uh- Isn't there a song that says, "If I had a million dollars, some son of a bitch would die." It's, uh, it's like a, it's, it's not a Pat McCurdy song, is it? If I had a million dollars. I don't know.
35:47
I know this- I don't know... I know the song, and it's some local guy, and I just, I can't think of what it is. But wow, we gotta go ride. We gotta go- It's like a rocket launch... we gotta go ride some laps. We do.
35:55
We're gonna do that. All right, everybody. We're going to ride a lap or two of the, uh, Riverwest 24 course. We'll let you know how it is. It's, it's, we know where we're going. But come by Wednesdays at 7:00.
36:06
I think we may make this a regular- Yeah... ear- early start thing for a few weeks anyway, so. Yeah. Yeah. I think so. Uh, 7:00 p... Where are we, where does it start? Start finish line. Oh, right on. Okay.
36:17
Pearson Booth. That makes sense. Or excuse me, Pearson Center. Pearson Center Street. They're in Riverwest Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 53212. Yeah. 10-4. 19. Over. Meow.
36:32
[upbeat music]
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