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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #232 – Seeley Dave – Sven in Iowa – Black Ice – Santa Rampage Recaps
Dec 8, 2023
Full Spectrum Cycling #232 – Seeley Dave – Sven in Iowa – Black Ice – Santa Rampage Recaps
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Transcript
0:00
[instrumental music] Uploaded [laughs] [rock music]
0:19
Hey, everybody. It's that time again, time for the Full Spectrum Cycling show that you know and love. All of it. All of it. This is number 232 we're doing today. Yeah, two th- yeah. I like those... oh, I, I don't...
0:35
Wait, where's my thing? Where's my deal? There's my stuff. How's everybody doing? Oh, I'm, I'm doing pretty good. How are you doing, Scott? I'm doing well. I'm, I'm, I'm- You doing good? I'm doing fine...
0:47
doing pretty good. I was just getting a little, a little overheated there, but, you know. Yeah. All right. All right. It's the way of the world right now, that- Yeah...
0:51
you don't know how to, I don't know how to layer properly. It's, uh, it's kinda warm out there again. I hear it we're, we're gonna touch up on, like, 60 degrees on Friday. Eh- Is it 60 now? I heard 50-ish...
1:03
well, no, it's 52, but some other weather reporting app said- Higher... 60 maybe. 60 To roll on down the road. That'd be a good day to ride the motorbike. Yep. Roll over n- Your, your engine bike...
1:15
my engine, my engine cycle. [laughs] Your engine cycle. I'll be riding my motorbike. You can ride your motorbike to work. I'm just gonna roll on down with my
1:24
acoustic bicycle, and go over and Paul Seabar Tomorrow sound, hanging out at the Falcon Bowl. Mm. Paul Seabar, baby. That's how it is, baby. What time is that at? Yeah. You, you cats are really f- what cats, man? Yeah.
1:38
Yeah.
1:39
Uh- You know you, you know that your, if, even if he's not performing, if you're at an event and you see him in the crowd dancing, then you know you've made a right choice about where you were gonna go catch some music that day, so.
1:49
I agree. [laughs] That's a good, good way to look at that, for sure. Uh, we got, uh, JK over here to my right. Yes. Hi. Hello. I am. We, we have Tony- We are...
2:01
Tony the new 'lectric bike owner across the way over there- Yep... uh, three and a half feet away from me, I'd say, so. So, it's so fast they had to drop that E or something. Yeah. I don't know. For some reason.
2:13
That's some good branding right there. I- You want an electric bike? No, electric bike. Same th- didn't I just say that? Ele- electric bike or electric? Didn't I just say that?
2:21
Yeah, it's- No, it's, it's- It's electric... that's when you go back and forth and forth and back- I'm getting used to it. We'll-... and back and forth and forth and back...
2:26
give me, give me a couple of weeks on it before I give a full review. A full report. A full... But the initial, initial, uh- It's entertaining... thoughts on it are? It's entertaining. Decent?
2:36
Um, the first couple of rides were weird, and then it wasn't... Actually, the first ride to work yesterday, or Monday in internet time, um, it was strangely, like, uncomfortable.
2:49
And then when I went to ride it home, I, they had, it has quick adjustable handlebars, so I adjusted the handlebars, and the ride home was like night and day.
2:59
[laughs] I went through Shorewood and then got on the Oak Leaf and rode the Oak Leaf to Locust, and that was actually, that's gonna be my route now. B- I mean, oh boy, it's like two miles longer. Who cares?
3:11
I'm riding an electric bike. Yeah? Did you take the, uh, advisory bike lane? I have not yet. I will. Oh, I thought we- I have to go d- oh- 'Cause that would be your-... of course I have to do that. That- That's perfect.
3:20
I can go past where I normally get off and go through the park on the way- Yeah... to work, too. Yeah, the park go, kicks right in there. Oh, that's a good... Yes, I will do that. That's Edgewood, right? Yeah. Yeah.
3:30
Nice. But I keep it in pedal assist two, and you saw me huffing when I got here, because I was, I was pushing 18 and a half miles an hour with me doing a lot of the work and- Yeah, what does that thing weigh? Uh,
3:45
77 pounds without all the accessories I've added to it, so we're probably pushing 85. It's a beast. It, it, it's, it's...
3:53
We looked at it, 'cause Tony had to do a little, uh, a little more additioning or moving around of things and, I don't know, pretty all right if you ask me. Ooh. You have to take it for a ride.
4:04
You have to take it for a ride and tell me what you think. Did it chill up a little bit? Yeah, it did. [laughs] Strangely. Well, it wasn't, it wasn't epi- it wasn't, like, prohibitively warm or anything.
4:13
Well, I don't know. Because we have electric bikes in the place- [laughs] We have to get to the top of that hill. [bell rings] We might as well get to the top of the hill, right? Right away, man. Yeah.
4:21
Uh- This sober living has gotten my, uh, my legs all cranked up there so I- All right... can keep up with you. Yeah. So. [laughs] You actually were always ahead of me. Well, it's the s- Even pre-sober.
4:32
But it was, that's the single speed hence- Yeah, I know you-... mindset. Yeah, you- That's where it's like- Technology... I gotta get, I gotta get to the top of the damn hill.
4:38
Yeah, then you s- So I gotta speed up right away. Yep. Then you can slow down. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah. That's true. That's true. Today's beer is, uh, Founder's Day. Founder's Day. Founder's All Day IPA.
4:48
[laughs] It is Fa- Wow... it's Father's Day. No, that's- We've had three sips of them. Right? [laughs] Uh, JK has the, uh, the Guinness NA, and, and it was in the cooler from last week.
4:59
I'm like, "Well, let's put it in with the cold beers and maybe- And the Guinness can be kinda warm... get a little, get a little chill on it. Right? Yeah. Well, it's supposed to be cellar temperature.
5:07
It's, yeah, cellar temp. Yeah, that's what it all just is. Which would be, like, fif- 55. Sure.
5:09
So whenever I would go to the Great Dane in Madison to have a nice beer and a pretty decent meal- Yeah, they, yeah, yeah, yeah... I would always... Yeah, they, they had some good stuff.
5:20
I would always try to get the Texas Road Bump IPA, which is cask conditioned as a- Ah... right? As a, a growler to go. And it'd be always met with this argument, "Well, it's cask conditioned. It's not gonna last."
5:35
I'm like, "Yeah, you're right. I'm gonna take it home and I'm gonna drink it tonight." And they're like, "The whole thing?" I'm like, "I have friends." [laughs] And if I don't, yes, the whole thing tonight.
5:45
And, and it will last more than a day, too. It's... Right. Yeah. It's, that was a fantastic beer when they brewed it. They used to have cask conditioned Lakefront IPA at Hooligans. Oh, man.
5:56
That was, like, a pretty popular thing for a while. They don't have it anymore, though. Yeah. Hoolies, man. Love Hoolies. I have a free sandwich coming next time I go there- Nice...
6:05
if that's not a Monday, because it's Double Punch Monday on.... Mondays, so you don't wanna waste your free- I must have 10 of those cards at home. I gotta find them...
6:12
you don't wanna waste your free sandwich card on Monday. Right. 'Cause you're gonna get two punches. Then that's only three and a half sandwiches till you get another sandwich. There you go. Ooh.
6:20
Which by, at this point is- Oh... basically 10 bucks off. It's not a full on $15 burger, but still. It's good. It's good. Is, is it the same one? Can I see it? Does it- Oh, look at that.
6:32
Yeah, there's still- I need two more on this one... I think we- But I did get a free one a couple weeks ago... what can we buy that- Oh, yeah, I got a ton of these... what can we buy that Z punch for on, uh, Amazon?
6:39
Probably about six bucks or something, so we can just keep punching our cards. [laughs] Can I get, like, a whole box of those cards, please? Mm-hmm. Uh, I think- I had a new-... basically, I think they know-...
6:50
a newer sandwich there... who deserves a sandwich and who doesn't. Yeah, I mean- [laughs] Probably... they know the regulars pretty well. Yeah. That's for sure. Well, I haven't been there in a couple weeks.
6:58
This week I was out of town, so I couldn't go there on Monday. Yeah, you went to Iowa? I did. Iowa? And I was gonna- With-... come back on Sunday, so it's, I left Decorah. I went to Decorah. That's where I went. Decorah.
7:08
And except I stopped in La Crosse on the way there and stayed in La Crosse, 'cause I had to burn off some points f- before I lose them at the end of the year for a hotel, so. Oh, all right then.
7:16
I stayed there with really no reason except I went by Wyatt. Nice. And it was, like, 10 to 4:00 and it was closed. I'm like, "Damn it." Oh.
7:25
Well, it's a Friday, 'cause I think he normally closes at 4:00, but I guess if nothing's going on- Mm-hmm... and you're the guy that owns it, you can get the hell out of there. [laughs] I do wanna ask a question, though.
7:34
You didn't hit the Beer By Bike brigade, uh, Mario- Yeah, I was just-... Mario... I was just into basically relaxing more than- Mm-hmm... doing too much.
7:44
But, um, I think, uh, Uncle Sam McMahon has decided that he wants to electrify The Wyatt. So I was gonna stop by Wyatt, 'cause basically their Dropout is similar to a Paragon Slider- Oh, okay. Okay... if not
8:00
directly almost exactly the same, 'cause you can use a Paragon Slider in it. But p- the axle size on the hub motor he wants to use is, like, 14 millimeters, not a normal 10 millimeter QR. And I'm like, "I don't know.
8:15
If we hog that thing out, is it gonna be strong enough?" Yeah, is it gonna hold it? Is it gonna snap it in half?
8:19
So I'm thinking that maybe it wouldn't be that hard for them since they make their own inserts for a couple of the sizes to just sort of add some beef to the thing.
8:28
Yeah, 'cause you're putting a lot of beef on that thing. Right. Yes. And not only is the beef the motor, the beef's the cake that rides on the seat, too. That's, yeah. Yeah, exactly. The cake. He's- The cake [laughs]...
8:39
he, Cleone's riding him hard for a tattoo. He agreed, he teased Cleone and then agreed to get a tattoo with her, and she will not let him live it down. But I thought you kicked her out of the house. Not yet.
8:50
Well- I let her, I let her stay a little bit longer. [laughs] Like, is she living outside on the curb yet? [laughs] But, and I think, uh, I think she actually has kinda, Jules kinda convinced.
8:59
Like, I think Jules is gonna get one regardless. Get a tattoo? Yeah. Oh. I mean, I'm so excited- Well, there you go... 'cause then she'll be marked and I'll give him unrelenting shit about it. Is it gonna be a butterfly?
9:08
No, it's gonna be Hello Kitty. Of course. Oh, okay. Kitty. She's a huge Hello Kitty person. Yeah. Kitty kitty. I remember that. Do you still have the Hello Kitty bike? I gave it to her.
9:18
But you still have it in the family. Well, Julie. Oh, Jules you gave it to. I gave it to Julie. Not Cleone. Okay. No, I gave it to Julie. All right. So you know what that needs? A motor.
9:29
I suggested that to Sam- [laughs]... but there's no way to put a front brake on it. Oh, it's a coaster brake. [laughs] It makes for a really scary bike. No, we can figure something out.
9:37
I'll just weld some stuff on there. I'm pretty sure it'll hold up or whatever. I actually already suggested that to Sam, and he's like, "No front brake." I'm like, "Of course."
9:44
[laughs] Hey, we got a, we got a green light, baby. Hmm. We got a green light. Welcome to the radio program, caller. Who do we have on the line? Hey, guys. It's Sealy Dave. Hey, Sealy Dave. Heyyo.
9:58
F- formerly Milwaukee Dave a couple days ago- Oh... apparently, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I saw JK at Santa Rampage.
10:08
Yeah, that was [laughs] I, I looked over by Distillery, and I was like, "You know, that does kinda look like Dave. I'm not sure." And then he won. [laughs] I'm like, "Yeah, right. That makes sense now."
10:19
So, um, I- Well, you can usually, you can always tell me by my boots, my red- [laughs]... Santa wrestling boots. Oh, yeah. They have, like- They were, they were striking... a bunch of, uh, a, a bunch of...
10:29
You lace those things up, don't you? Does it take, like, an hour and a half to get into those? They actually have a side zipper that you can, kinda side bag zipper that you can't see, but, um- Nice... but, uh, yeah.
10:40
Um, so yeah, so Rampage was fun. I had a, I had a good time. Um, I debated going down because I, I think I've mentioned this to you before, like,
10:51
I, it's hard for me to think of a reason to li- to leave when I, you know, I can just walk out my door and I have access to so much, you know, fun and adventure between trails and gravel and stuff like that.
11:04
But, um, when Rampage was coming, we had had a brief, um, a brief moment of, of cold temperatures. We had a cold snap for about three days where the high was about 15 degrees. Ooh.
11:21
So, and we hadn't had any snow, so our lakes froze quickly. Um, and well, there was, like, a dusting of snow, but it was just a dusting.
11:30
And most, a, a number of the bigger lakes were, like, on their way to that, you know, ephemeral black ice, that magical time when giant, you know, 1,200 acre lakes are, you know, just sheer ice and perfectly smooth. And,
11:48
um, so I was like, "Eh, I don't wanna leave." Um, but then it was warming up.
11:53
It was gonna be, like, in the 30s, so I'm like, "Well, all right, it's, the lakes aren't ready yet, so they're probably not gonna be ready before I leave." And, uh, so I went down for Rampage, had a great time.
12:05
Uh, but, uh, and then on my way back, I saw a Facebook posting from, uh, uh, Lake Owen Resort- And Southern Lake Owen, the bay had frozen perfectly. And, um,
12:19
it, I shared a video of, of the video they made, a very cool drone video of the whole Lake Owen family, the family that owns the resort, ice skating out there. And, like, just this- Oh, that's cool... 1,200 acre lake.
12:34
Yeah. And, and they did a nice job with the drone video footage of it. And, and, uh, what, what was the music that they put it to that- That I had-... bubble beat one... that one I haven't seen yet.
12:44
I saw your slow mo one of you riding across some other not quite frozen but- Oh, yeah... right by the shore slow mo video.
12:52
Is that on- Yeah, that was- Is that on You- is that on YouTube or is that- That was Silver Thorn... do you have that on YouTube yet? That's, that's... No, that's just on my Facebook page. Um, I'll, I'll- Oh, okay.
13:00
That's pretty cool though... you know, I'll sh- I'll s- I'll send you a... Well, you can link to that in your show notes and- Somehow...
13:07
on my Facebook page, um, I'll send you a link to both just so you have 'em for the show notes, Greg. But this resort- Sent... right on Lake Owen, like, I, I don't know, uh, apparently everything's frozen.
13:21
Every- the ice was, like, three to four inches thick, and so the whole family was just out there. And it's just, it's just stunning. So- Um, that's what I missed... so what, what, what would be...
13:32
Like, three to four inches to me- That's not safe [laughs]... is not very much ice. I'm thinking six inches is where I start to think about getting out there. No, four inches is, four inches is ice fishing.
13:40
It's wh- Oh, okay... it's... So ice is four inches, it's, that's good for ice fishing as humans. Not for driving, you know, your truck out there or your big ATV or something like that.
13:51
But humans walking out onto the ice, four inches is generally the rule. Um, three inches, so most people find three inches really safe. Uh, but four inches is the rule.
14:05
So on a fat bike you can go, just like on skis, um, and to some degree ice skates, you can go on thinner ice. Yeah, we're watching the- We're, we're- We're watching the video right now. That is pretty sweet.
14:16
We're watching the video right now and this is- That's awesome... that's incredible. Yeah. You don't get that, uh, conditions too often where there's- It's just glass... no snow at all on the lake. Snow. It's just glass.
14:25
Yeah, it's beautiful. Very rarely. And, and then when it snows, w- so, so I'm like, "Oh, geez. Look at that. I'm gonna head to Lake Owen." But I didn't wanna go Sunday night 'cause I just drove home that night, so...
14:37
And then Monday I had a bunch of stuff to do, but there was no snow in the forecast, so it's a big deal, I'll just go later. So I went later, um, when I did my videos. And, um, uh, and I didn't...
14:51
I went to the north part of Lake Owen. You have to go on illegal... Lake Owen is all private on the south, so to get on the lake you kinda have to scoot across, you have to use people's p- a private, um, [coughs]
15:06
boat landing. Which I know lots of people that do it, but I'm like, "Well, I..." So I went up to the north end to just see what the north end was like, and figured I'd go back to the south end the next day.
15:18
And the north end was where I made my video off Two Lakes Campground. Um, I went onto the lake via Two Lakes Campground. And that was, that ice was about an inch thick, maybe an inch and a half. Ooh. [laughs] Yeah, no.
15:33
Um- I didn't hear it crickling and crackling and stuff, but was it making noise? Yeah. 'Cause that's- If you listen closely, if you turn up the volume on that and you listen closely, you can hear it.
15:43
Um, and, and it's, it was sketchy. Um, but I was... I have, as you can see in the video, I actually have, like, an inflatable PFD on, and I have those ice, emergency ice things, um, in case I were to fall in.
16:01
But I didn't ride anywhere. I could see perfectly through the ice. Sure. And I could tell I'm, I was in, like, two to three feet of water. Right, yeah. You know, I, I was not... I didn't ride out deep.
16:11
Oh, I've, I've fallen in- But so I, I said- I've, I've fallen in lakes so often in the winter, like, especially Lake Michigan, because you're riding on the edge on the ice shelf- Yeah, Lake Michigan...
16:20
and it's like, "Uh-oh." Eh, it's only a couple feet deep, but it's really cold. [laughs] And it's like, "Don't be an idiot- Right... and get sucked under the ice," but, uh. Right. Yeah. Yeah.
16:30
Well, so I wasn't too worried. I was gonna go back today and, and ride the southern part. I was gonna go in at, um, Mitros Landing is, is the road at, at Southern Lake Owen.
16:42
And it's marked, it's signed private, private landing, but I know lots of people that have lived up here for a long time, and they all, that's how they all get on Lake Owen if they live on the south end.
16:53
Um, so I was gonna go there, um, today. In fact, I went there right at the end of the night after I got done the vi- vi- video you guys were just watching.
17:05
I haven't published the other one 'cause it was so dark by the time I got there, the video quality was really poor. But, um, and that was like that, but it was dark out, so it didn't look that great.
17:15
So I'm like, "No worries. I'll go the next day." And right as I was leaving it started to snow. Oh. Not in the forecast. Oh, okay. So now the lake is covered with an inch of snow. That little dusting on there. Ugh. Yeah.
17:29
And I mean, you could still ride it, but it doesn't look, you know. And it's fun, but it doesn't look that- Right, right... spectacular. Yeah... like, like that, you know? Right. So- So- Yeah. I don't know.
17:41
I don't know what, what it is about myself that I find myself constantly chasing the ephemeral, you know? [laughs] Like- Yeah. It's-... I'm always looking for the things that only last. Sunrise, sunset.
17:54
You know, frozen sea caves, frozen lakes with black ice. Like, I don't know why I can't just be satisfied with- Well, because otherwise it's-... 80, rainy, freaking 80 the rest of the time... anybody else...
18:05
I mean, and you do images with it too, whether it's video or photos, and it's like those are the things that you have to capture in the moment, and you can't really, you know, plan for 'em.
18:14
But you just sorta be like, "Ooh, it's time- Right... to go do that." Northern Light. Oh, yeah. Yeah, Northern Light. Have you, have you seen him up there? All right. Gotta- 'Cause I know he-... I'm alert.
18:21
I gotta jump outta bed and- Yeah. Yeah. Have you, have you had them up there? Right... because it was supposed to be a big solar storm that, like in the last week or something. Have you seen anything lately? Yeah.
18:31
So, uh, that, the big one that we just had where the, um, there was a big CME and the KPH, KPH I think was up to six, um, which made for a pretty good show. That was Friday at
18:48
4:30 in the morning- [laughs]... the day I was supposed to drive to Milwaukee. [laughs] So, I got the warning, I got the warning at 4:30 in the morning. I'm like, "Eh, I'm gonna skip this one."
19:01
[laughs] Um, but a bunch of people went out and did it. But if you look at my cover photo on my Facebook page, I went out like two weeks before that and caught one, um, that wasn't as spectacular as the most recent one.
19:14
But it was nice. Um- Yeah. It's, it's so rare you can see 'em down here. Yes.
19:18
I just remember, it's been like maybe 10 or more years, but I was coming home later at night and pulling into my driveway and I, I looked north and I'm like, "What in the hell is that?" Right. It was like- Yeah...
19:30
very, very actively green and dancing in the sky, and I woke everybody up. I'm like, "You guys gotta come out and see this or you'll never see this again unless you go to somewhere." Oh, glory. And that was great.
19:41
It's awesome. Uncle Sven's gotten- Yeah... into his prog rock records again. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] And he's feeling like everything. [laughs] Come on, man, you gotta feel it. No.
19:50
[laughs] So, uh, I wanna go back to the rampage just for a second, Dave. Did, uh, did Idol- Yeah... ride the rampage this year, Mike Idol?
19:58
He rode, he went to, uh, Nomad and started all the fire pits at Nomad, watched some football, uh, there. And, uh, and then rode with a friend of his.
20:12
He dressed up and he rode with a friend of his over to his new bar on Jefferson, which is called, um, Experts Only. It's an apres-ski, um, style bar- Mm-hmm...
20:26
with all kinds of, uh, like late '70s era vintage, um, skis and boots, and then all kinds of like... I don't know if you remember that period in advertising- Yeah, kind of...
20:42
when everything cycling re- everything cycling related and everything ski, downhill ski related was sexy. So- [laughs] Yeah. Well- He's got all these- [laughs]... vintage ski posters of semi-naked women
20:57
with ski boots and skis and stuff like that up- [laughs]... on the walls and stuff. So. Those were, those were- Yeah, like-... the good times.
21:03
My dad was in advertising, uh- Somehow, like Meister Brau had- Yeah, like- Like-... this, like killer one.
21:08
[laughs] I think, I think somehow they got, you know, good-looking ladies on the Allis-Chalmers calendar and stuff like that. It's like, what? [laughs] You're selling a tractor with this- Yeah...
21:17
kind of a cute chicken there. Yeah. Yeah. So I don't- Pretty much... so I, I met Idol there. I hadn't seen him in a while. And you know, he was one of the early people on the ride.
21:27
I, I don't think he was on the first year, but I think he was on the second year. And the first year started from Trocadero. That's where we all met. It was the first year of Trocadero- Wow, Trocadero...
21:37
which was in 2001. Yeah, he call- He definitely- Um- He posted on Facebook. He's like, what does he call you? Shlobo? It's, like some sort of- Yeah... term of endearment or some such.
21:45
[laughs] But yeah, he's like- Yeah... uh, but I know he was there in the early days, and I don't know how many years he did early on, 'cause that was... It started in what, '06 or somewhere in there?
21:55
He did it for, he did a, he, he did a solid 10 or 12 years for sure. Yeah, maybe more. And what, the, the first year was- Um... '05 or '06 or somewhere in there? '01. '01.
22:07
Because- Oh, shoe, shoe, shoe shine, shoe shine, shoe shine. Which is exactly, which is exactly- Shoe shine. Shoe shine. [laughs] Going boot shine. [laughs] So- That's the year after the first one.
22:17
My friend started the one in Chicago, the Santa Cycle Rampage in Chicago, which is where I got the idea. But his, and they still have it in Chicago too- Yeah, 23rd annual on De-... it has now grown... December 16th.
22:29
23rd annual Santa Cycle Rampage in Chicago. Right. Right. They've, we started the year after. I really like... I did a lot of things with him, the guy that started it, John Greenfield.
22:40
We had a frozen snot ride where we rode back and forth from Chicago at the end of February, um, in a day. Um, and um, and we did that.
22:49
And, um, anyway, but their ride, they sing these anti-consumer Christmas carols that they write. [laughs] They, they're funny, but it's like they kinda just go hassle people, you know?
23:03
[laughs] And I wanted- That sounds like something for me. [laughs] I wanted to rampage, but I wanted to rampage with good cheer, not- Yeah. Right. Right...
23:12
not just, uh, hassle people that are shopping on Michigan Avenue, you know? [laughs] Well, so, you know, uh, the last several years I haven't been in Milwaukee.
23:20
I've been, I went up to Rochester for a couple years with Luns and a couple other people. This year Rochester had 50 people start their rampage and- Oh, nice... they do a Toys for Tots thing up there.
23:30
But instead of going to Rochester- Right... this year, I went to Decorah, where we had eight, I think eight people. But w- you'll see pictures in the show notes if you look at that, and we...
23:41
So, the, if, have you ever been to Decorah? It, it's- Yeah. Yeah. So it's like a main drag. So we went to- Right... the farthest north bar, Dixie's is where we went, and then we went to the farthest south one.
23:56
So we kept riding up and down Water Street- [laughs]... with just, like eight people. And just like every other rampage, there's people stopping and waving and kids yelling and wanna shake the- Right... Grinch's hand.
24:06
Yeah. And people are taking photos, and everybody's having a good time. Because Saturday when we did this at, like two in the afternoon, it was busy in downtown Decorah. There was no parking spots to get.
24:18
And I gotta say, if you go to Decorah and drive there and you have a bike, you park your car and you never use it for the entire weekend because- Right... it's not that big, but- Right. [laughs] But yeah, it was...
24:28
I, and I, I remember it, like-... in Milwaukee anymore. I don't really see that as much. I see people yelling and waving, but when it was a smaller group, it was such a, a unique thing. No, it does.
24:38
It, you know, where it happens more in Milwaukee, uh, because the, the huge... You know, when there's 1,500 people in a police-led parade-style ride, that's... People aren't, like, excited.
24:51
Where, where they get excited is when you're riding to somewhere. Mm-hmm. So, like, we didn't do the... Me and my friends on the west side didn't do the, um, the, the big parade-style ride.
25:03
We rode from Washington Heights down past, like, MillerCoors through the new protected bike lane, which is very, very, pretty cool, um, on, on Highland and- Hmm... Walnut. Yeah, I heard about that.
25:14
And then, and then we rode down to, uh, over on 12th Street down to, uh, Lakefront. That's where we, we went. So the whole way down we had all that. You know, cars pulling all over, honking.
25:27
People would race me to get ahead of us so they could jump out and take videos of us, and people yelling Merry Christmas. And- Yeah... one guy [laughs] one guy yelled, "Happy Halloween."
25:37
[laughs] [laughs] That was what I was saying all through Decorah, 'cause we had- [laughs] 'Cause Chewy had a, a skeleton on the back of his- [laughs]... uh, big fat dummy that was dressed in, you know, Santa garb- Hmm...
25:47
but it was a s- a skeleton. Right. And it was, you know, s- lashed to the back of the- He's- Yeah... he's getting a lot of use out of that skeleton. Oh, it's... There's a whole Facebook group- Yeah...
25:56
about that skeleton. Oh, man. I mean, all, all five foot tall skeletons are a big deal apparently. Yeah, I guess.
26:02
So, um, I, uh, if, if- But so anyway, so my recommendation is that w- is anybody that wants that, and that's really the fun of the Santa Cycle Rampage- Absolutely... is when people...
26:12
It's the only time of the year when people are honking at you on a bike in Milwaukee and they're actually happy to see you. Yeah, they're not pissed at you. Right. Um- Speaking of honking, I got a question for you.
26:21
Right. Well- 'Cause, 'cause, uh, uh, uh, Uncle Dave here was, uh, pedestrian and cycling coordinator for the City of Milwaukee for a while there. Remember that when you did that? I do. S- whatever your job was- Yeah...
26:31
it was something of that nature. I, I, I do. Uh, w- so this, uh, this Edgewood Avenue, uh, what do they call the things? They're advisory bike lanes. Yep.
26:40
And people can't figure it out, and certain people who we actually know are just being, like, super obstinate about it. It's like, "I can't figure out how to do this." I'm like, "It's a dashed line.
26:52
It's not a freaking wall." It, it's really easy. Right? So s- theoretically, if it's a solid white line, that's a wall. You don't cross that line.
26:59
If it's a dashed line, you use it like you can go wherever you need to go, just don't run over the guy in the bike lane. It, it just... I was... And it... How long is it? Six blocks? Uh, somewhere in the six, eight.
27:09
I don't know if that was... Uh, uh, my, my point here, Dave, is is that something that you- Uh-huh... uh, worked on way back then that they're finally implementing? Or was that, you know- Or advocated for. Advocated for.
27:19
No, I don't think so. That... Is that in the City of Milwaukee? Yeah, it's right on- Yeah... the border of Shorewood and, uh, Milwaukee, right on Edgewood between Lake Drive and Downer I think, right?
27:29
Uh, Lake Drive in Oakland. No. Oh, it goes that far. All the way to Oakland. Oh, it goes all the way to Oakland. Okay. Yeah. I didn't work on any advisory bike lanes. Um, I, I will say this, that, you know, it's a shame.
27:44
You know, I, I tried to get fully protected bike lanes installed when I was there working there, you know, that was, what, 15 years ago or whatever. Um, you know, these things are not new.
27:54
They've been around Europe for a long time and they've proven to work. Um, so don't reinvent the wheel, do that. Um, and, and I couldn't get it done. Um, but
28:07
what's allowed the city to get the political will to put this stuff in is how insane the traffic is in Milwaukee now. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So they're willing to do anything. Right.
28:19
The aldermen are now willing to do anything. And it's not just here either. It's other cities. We're not, we're not alone in this, Al. I know. I know. It's not just here in Milwaukee. No, all drivers are assholes lately.
28:26
Right. But they are trying, like, 30 different things and seeing which ones stick and which ones actually make a difference. Right. Yeah. Right? So I mean, this one may not last- I think that, you know-...
28:33
or it may last. I don't know. Yeah. That's the deal. But, um, in general, my rule of thumb was, like, uh, d- don't try to do something new if it... Look for,
28:45
look for an example of how to fix the problem by what they've been doing in Europe for, you know, for the last 25 years and do that. 'Cause it's, it's been proven. They've- Right...
28:56
they did all the experimenting already, you know? Um. Well, I, yeah. For that. Well, I don't know.
29:00
I mean, I, so okay, I, I, I know they did that a long time ago when bikes didn't have motors, but they're having big problems with motorized bikes in Europe now too.
29:10
And I th- w- we had this conversation on the show a while back, that if you have basically a fat bike, electric bike in, I don't know, it was Denmark or somewhere, you can't even insure it because 90-some percent of them are stolen.
29:25
[laughs] Not that that's a bi- not that that's a bike lane issue, but it is- No. You know? Right. [laughs] Just- That was on a few months back. Yeah. Yeah, it's crazy. That I can't... That we can't do anything about.
29:36
Hey, I just wanna, before I go, I wanna mention one other thing. So, um, I had ordered a, an Old Man Mountain rack to try to attach a front rack. I'd ordered... You know, they claim their racks fit like any bike, right?
29:50
Um, and so I ordered an Old Man Mountain, I think it was the Elkhorn. Um, and it says in there, "Fits fat bikes." Well, it doesn't. Um, at least it doesn't fit fat bikes when they have, uh, a Salsa Kingpin fork on them.
30:06
Um- Did so- So I was just numerous- Well, they, they, they did make one. At one point I had one on a... 'Cause it was a, it was kind of like a through quick release, so they had a special kit for it- Right...
30:19
that you had to order separately. But not for the Elkhorn. Oh, okay. The Elkhorn isn't wide enough. Oh, that... Right. That's the smaller, the new, the new smaller one. It's, it's their Fat Div- Yeah.
30:29
It's their Fat Divide rack. So anyway, so after numerous-... emails and I was frustrated 'cause there, you can't actually talk to a person. There's no chat, it's just email.
30:39
I finally got in contact with somebody in their, their, um, customer support who ended up being, uh, uh, very helpful in the end. So it took a little bit of break pushing to get through, but I did. In the end,
30:57
he confirmed that, yes, the Elkin rack would not fit on my bike with any of their fit kit adapter things. Um, and he recommended the, uh, the, the Fat Divide, their Great Divide Fat rack.
31:09
Um, which I'm like, "Cool, okay, I'll get one of those."
31:13
And then he's like, he happened to see my website in my signature of my email, so he looked and he saw my, my, um, my gear lending library, and he's like, "Well, how about if I just send you, like, four of these things?"
31:27
Mm. Oh, nice. And you can put them in your gear lending library. [laughs] Well, that's awesome. So- 'Cause, uh- Yeah, yeah... well, I- So I now have
31:35
two of the Great Divide Fat racks, and I have two of the Great Divide, like, 29er regular mountain bike racks- Yeah... in my gear lending library just down- I tell, those, those guys are doing a good job.
31:45
After they bought it out from Chris in, I think he was in Santa Barbara, the original- We saw him at the last- Yeah... show we were at before- It was awesome... COVID hit.
31:52
And, I mean, they do the Robert Axel project and they do Old Man Mountain, and I think- Right. Yeah... they're doing a great job. They, they, they took something that was a- Yeah...
31:58
good idea from one guy, they got a little better engineering, and they're really nice racks. Nice racks. And I'm not mad that they said the rack fit fat bikes, because it probably fits some fat bikes.
32:11
[laughs] It probably fits fat bikes with, like, you know, the narrower front forks or whatever, um, that sort of thing. And I get that they're making, like,
32:20
three or four products and trying to make adapter kits so they'll fit 2,000 different [laughs] bicycle models, you know? Um, and that there's always gonna be problems. So I, I, I'm not mad about it.
32:35
It, it would be nice if instead of email they had chat, you know what I mean? For, for customer support, just because sending-- When you get a product, you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna get this. I'm gonna...
32:49
It's supposed to arrive Wednesday. I'm gonna put it on my bike and I'm gonna go somewhere on my bike on Saturday."
32:56
And then the product arrives late, and then the product doesn't work, and then you gotta send an email and wait three days or two days for an email reply. You know, I mean, it's a pretty glacial customer service- Yeah...
33:09
um, thing. I think, but I- But the only thing I- I found that to be, like, almost everywhere I deal with anymore, that customer support is just- I don't know. I've been finding a lot more of the chat stuff. Um,
33:21
uh, and- Well, they-... sometimes they, the chat person has to push you over to somebody else later. But, um, anyway, in the end though, they were super awesome to deal with and donated four racks.
33:34
I haven't added them- Yeah... to the library yet, but I will. Right on. Um, uh- So that's pretty cool...
33:38
let everybody know what your website is again and, uh, and how to access- It's lifeabove8- The gear- Lifeabove8, E-I-G-H-T,.com. Not the numeral eight, lifeabove8.com.
33:50
And it, there's a gear lending library with all the kinda gear you would need to go bike packing, um, pretty much anything. And some, uh, and honestly I have a bunch more stuff of my own personal gear.
34:03
And so if somebody ever needed something that maybe I had anyway, I'd, I'd let them rent, you know, something else.
34:10
Like if they need a winter sleeping bag and I don't have those on, I've got winter sleeping bags, you know? Rah, copy that. So.
34:18
All right, Dave, uh, you're not going to Chicago for the rampage there next weekend, are you? Or two weekends from now? Nope, but next year in Chicago- Oh, Madison, Madison's, Madison is next week and then Chicago. Yep.
34:29
Right. Eau Claire was last weekend and they had 250 Santas. Um- Outstanding. Nice... I'm thinking I might go to Eau Claire next year. It's close, and 250- Yep... is pretty good. Yeah, keep me in the loop because- So-...
34:43
um, I, Decorah was great, but I, I don't see Decorah. Uh, it's just, it's 8,000 people with another maybe 3,000 Luther College students, but they're not going to- Right...
34:54
they're not gonna become- It'll get to be 50 people or something at the college, right? Well, that would be nice. But, uh, yeah, so, uh, I, we're, we're up for going. I wanna spread the love everywhere we can, so. Cool.
35:09
All right, man. Thank you very much- All right, boys... for calling in. Uh, hope you call in again someday down the road. Yep. Good to see you at the rampage, JK. [laughs] Good seeing you, buddy. All right. Later days.
35:21
Bye, you guys. Bye. Bye. Hey, everybody, that was, uh, Dave Sliwowski or Sealy Dave as he is- Sealy Dave... better known these days up in, uh, northern- And the picture shall be in the, uh, show notes...
35:32
way northern Wisconsin. Nice. Nice. You know, he was an AP photographer. Yeah. He takes really good photos. [laughs] Just- Videos too... yeah, obviously now, yeah, videos.
35:44
If you wanna look at some cool shit, you should go to his Life Above 8, E-I-G-H-T, uh, website and just, you know, follow Dave. He's, he's the man, man. Follow Dave.
35:55
He, he's who I aspire to be at some point, especially with my crappy website crap. Crap. [laughs] What... We talked about this, we talked about that. I didn't- What are those smashing boots?... not even sure.
36:09
Oh, yeah, they're- Look at those boots. Yeah. [laughs] The smashing boots. Yeah, they were made- He's got a fancy skinny tire bike there, doesn't he? They were made for walking, those boots. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
36:18
His explanation was that the, uh, well, it [clears throat] acknowledging that it was Global Flat Bike Day. Okay. He rode the skinny tire bike there. Where he's got [laughs]... Yeah.
36:28
Well, this one was red, so it was going with the- Oh... theme- Gotcha... of it's more around the Santa ride, you know? Gotcha. All right. Forgiven. A welcome fad. So, yeah. Forgiven. Yeah. Forgiven So, cool.
36:39
All right then. Yep. Uh, we did Decorah, we did Milwaukee. I said Rochester had, like, 50 people, right, for the Santa Rampage. I don't know. I think that's it.
36:48
But if you wanna go rampaging, you can go to Madison next weekend, which would be tomorrow. Tomorrow. Or the following weekend, or- And then you could also go to Chicag- Chicago- Chicago... on the 16th.
36:56
And unfortunately, here's a conflict of interest, because the Shell Track race up in Manitowoc is on the 16th also. Yeah. Which is probably more fun. Which is really one of the best- It's such a good time...
37:07
things in the world, especially if we get a little bit of dust and the snow between now and then. If you're, if you're going, I'd love to spectate, Spen. I was the- Oh, I'm gonna go up there and photo, if nothing else.
37:18
All right. I mean, I haven't- That'd be cool... I haven't raced in years. That's just- I know. For, for anybody... that's just for dumb people. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] I haven't raced there for a couple years.
37:23
Having a couple of Pabsts and watching people. Well, you could go up there. Okay. We can go up there. I mean, I mean- I'm pretty sure Lunz, I don't know about, uh, Chad, but, uh- No, Lunz got a team together, I heard.
37:32
Oh, yeah, yeah. And so does, uh- I know, I know he's going... so does, um- Mike and Berta? Bert- yeah, Mike and Berta got one. All right.
37:39
Hey, we got a bunch of other crap on the calendar, and I hate to say it, 'cause I don't like to not push people to our website, 'cause this is whatever. But, uh, the, the, what is it?
37:48
What's the site up there by Dave, his buddy Josh North with the X in it? Can't remember what it's called, but they have a big-ass fat bike calendar. Wow, is it good? Uh, yeah.
37:57
He's got every Midwest fat bike race on the dang old thing. Nice. Uh, I, I'll put it in the show notes, 'cause it's the Nerd- whatever. It's got an X in there. Okay.
38:07
I don't know how you pronounce that, but it's North with an X, I think, is what it is. Oh, is that like exclamation points, where you, if you verbalize it, it's like- Some such...
38:15
k- k- k- k- Yeah, it's just an X instead of an O. [laughs] I just said- I'll disagree with you guys. I have no idea what you're talking about. It's the Nerx. Nerx.
38:22
I- it's just the North, I think, but with an X instead of an O. Ooh. It'll be in the show notes. Is there a Numlow? Lot. I was the only, only, only Santa in Santa gear at the English Beach show. Unbelievable.
38:37
Which surprised the hell out of me. And you didn't even- Was there a mirror in the bathroom? You didn't even get rained on, did you? Not until, uh, after the show. Ah. Oh.
38:45
Then the, the little misties, the shitty misties started up. But w- that wasn't bad, 'cause that's actually how I, I was preparing for. So I got it at the end. Tent sealant, baby. Tent sealant, baby. And then, yeah,
38:58
and if you are, if you do it, if you put it on and don't let it cure long enough, you kinda do get a little huffing going on, so you get a little- [laughs] Oh. [laughs] Oh, nice, nice buzz going, ooh...
39:08
a little light-headed. Oh. Sober JK got all tweaked up on the old tent spray over there. [laughs] But was there a mirror in the bathroom? Oh, yes, yes, yes. Of course there was. A horizontal mirror? Please don't freak.
39:22
All right. Okay, everybody. We did it. I'm a ranking. We did it, and we did it longer than you deserve. Yeah. So we'll be here next week. Enjoy. No charge. And you probably will hear us then. Bye.
39:31
[upbeat music]
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