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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #237 – JK in Cabo – Ogden’s Mark Peterson – Shiverwest24 Updates – Baby It’s Cold Outside!
Jan 19, 2024
Full Spectrum Cycling #237 – JK in Cabo – Ogden’s Mark Peterson – Shiverwest24 Updates – Baby It’s Cold Outside!
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat music] Good week.
0:18
This is Full Spectrum Cycling, show number 237. It's cold outside. 237. It is wicked cold. My car said minus 17. It's cold. I picked up Tony Burger. You did?
0:32
I think this is the f- first time that he didn't ride his bike to the- Bike to the podcast, or walk... or, or walk to the podcast. It's very cold outside. Uh, JK's not in the studio. We may hear from him a little later.
0:44
He's apparently 75 degrees plus warmer. He's not even in the country. Yeah, he's warmer, down there in Cabo. California South. Yeah.
0:53
Did you not, did you see who's just up the, just around the curve of the coast up there? In, in, it's Cabo's... It's another Cabo where something like 32 kilometers away. No. Uh, that would be, uh, Mr. Eitan.
1:10
[laughs] Really? Eitan's there right now too? That's hilarious. Yeah, yeah. I said, I j- I said, "You know Eitan from Truly Spoken, don't you?" And he's like, "Uh, kinda, sorta."
1:18
I'm like, "Well, he's gonna be like less than half an hour from you- That's hilarious... just around the turn on the, uh, on the bottom of the foot of the Mexican/California coast."
1:27
He, him and the wife are getting away for winter? I guess, yeah. Apparently they have some way to not have to be at the bike shop when it's [laughs] really cold outside. Yeah. Works for me. Right.
1:37
Wish I could do that here this year. Not happening this year, folks. Mm-mm. Uh, I don't know. What's going on, besides being cold? It's cold. Uh, we had sloppy though, before we had cold.
1:48
I, uh, decided to ride acoustic on Friday. This is actually kind of funny. I was, decided I was going to take the long way home because it was rainy but w- and snowy, but nice out. Yeah Like 32-ish. I saw Lloyd. Lloyd.
2:02
TNT Lloyd. Lloyd. Lloyd. And I- Lloyd...
2:06
it's funny 'cause I got to the Oak Leaf Trail, and just as I'm getting ready to pull on the Oak Leaf Trail, here's a guy riding a bike, so I thought I'd be polite and wait for him to pass me. He's riding an Expedition.
2:15
[laughs] I'm like, "Hey, I have that bike too." Oh, nice. He had all dressed up in Christmas lights. I'm like, all right, that's pretty funky. Yeah, man.
2:21
And then I went over to Amorphic and saw Lloyd on the way and, and, um, yeah, that was moist out, but God, you know, nice to ride in 30-degree weather and snow versus, or rain versus minus 17 and blistering wind.
2:34
Absolutely. Uh, I'm gonna push the button right now. Oh, button. Welcome to the radio program. Caller, who do we have on the line? Hola, señor. Marijuana, cocaine, or hashish? Yeah. Marijuana, cocaine, or hashish?
2:51
¿Como estas? ¿Como estas, mi amigo? [laughs] ¿Que pasa? Holy- What do you- Hello. Do you speak English? [laughs] I hope. That, it, it's the, it's the, it's the wayward JK here on the line, folks.
3:03
Uh, you got, you got some folks in the room with you there? Hola, hola. Are you, are you at a restaurant? I'm sorry? Are, are you at a restaurant? No. No, we're walking to the marina in Cabo.
3:18
We just went to the supermercado and bought wine, tequila, and beer. Supermercado, supermercado. [laughs] Did you, did you see Sammy- Wine... did you see Sammy Hagar yet? And water. No Shaggy Hammer yet. Water.
3:32
That's gonna be the next place. You gotta dance on the bar. Uh- [laughs]... no doubt. Yeah, we're gonna find a place to sit and recombobulate ourselves. So did you- Man, you just get harassed, harassed, harassed.
3:48
[laughs] It is beautiful down here but ooh, you gotta have your armor up. Did you- The gate, the gate... did you just get there today? We got here yesterday. Oh. We were supposed to get here two days ago. Oh. Oh.
4:04
We did the Amazing Race. We got in, our flight kept getting delayed from Milwaukee. As soon as we got there at 5:00 in the morning- Oof...
4:18
they got us a Lyft down to O'Hare because they changed our connections. [laughs] So on like 90 miles an hour in the ice- Holy shit... zero degrees. [laughs] Got to O'Hare. Nice. And then O'Hare to Seattle and- What?...
4:35
but we got delayed on the tarmac in Chicago, so we missed that connection. [laughs] So we got into Seattle, and then they sent us to fucking Atlanta. [laughs] Oh, yeah.
4:44
[laughs] And then Atlanta, we got in until like midnight and 1, 1:00 in the morning to check in for an hour to shower, re-task the body.
4:59
Oh, yeah, and then put on the clothes for the event on a catamaran that we were going to.
5:06
Then, so then we flew in at, got there at 5:00 in the morning to get on the flight for 9:00 in the morning because Atlanta is humongous. Oh, yeah. And then we got in right,
5:19
just a half hour before we had to meet to get on this catamaran. So [laughs] we got all of our shit with us onto the boat, and then we're on the boat for six hours somewhat decompressing- Ooh... but just punch drunk.
5:34
We jumped in the, in the ocean and watched the whale. What? Who's blathering in the background? Is that Kim? She is. I don't know why she thinks she can talk like that. [laughs] It doesn't work that way.
5:45
Stop talking, Kim. Tell her to call in on another phone and we can have her on. [laughs] Yeah, or I can... Let me at- te- let me attempt speaker for a second here. Lloyd.
5:57
[laughs] We were, we wanna- Okay, caller, are we still on the line? Oh, we're here now. We hear you. All right, good deal. We saw one whale. You saw a whale? Yeah, we, we saw one whale Hi, Kim.
6:10
How do you know it was a whale? And we saw like four sea lion. How, how do you know it wasn't just a big fish? And- Seven, seven bicycles and we're gonna take the, uh, rickshaw, bicicleta taxi back to the hotel finally.
6:23
Cool. Oh, cool. That sounds fun. Apart from that, how are you? [laughs] Same place, and I don't feel the cold. It was, it was. It's really fucking cold, JK. Colder than when you left. Oh, yeah. It's cold. I...
6:38
Oh, I'm sorry. Then that, that's how the whole thing began. We took the Green Line bus because it's a 10-minute walk from the house, but it was 10 minutes at 4:30 in the morning on Sunday, which was at- Zero...
6:53
yeah, zero. Uh, and the wind blasting- Oh... at least from the west. With our suitcases. With our suitcases. I, I have a picture [laughs] also where...
7:03
I mean, we look like the homeless people hanging out at the bus shelter. I totally empathize now. I attached- [laughs]... bags on my shoes with rubber bands. Oh. Oh, boy.
7:11
[laughs] That, that makes it slippery, though, if they're on the outside. [laughs] It was on the way there. Right on.
7:19
So, uh, do, do the rickshaw guys down there use electric, uh, power or are they completely human-powered? It's all acoustic. Wow. Oh, right on. It's pretty flat. All, all- It's pretty flat down there...
7:30
it's like a folding. Like a bunch of folders. Well, no, there are a couple electrics, but they're- I got-... they're that, that really, that, like, uh, bagel wheel. Tiny. Yeah. Yeah, little suckers.
7:43
[laughs] What did they- Sweet. Oh. All right, man. Well, we're- Sounds good... we're, uh, we're waiting for a call from Mr.
7:51
Peterson here in a few minutes, and we got some stuff, stuff- Well, I'll take some more blah, blah. Take some pictures of whatever cycling-oriented stuff you get into down there. If it involves- Yeah...
8:00
tequila, so much the better. [laughs] Yeah, exactly. Yeah, the wa- yeah, my, my wagon has been slightly derailed, but that's what vacation is for. There you go. [laughs] All right, man. Good to hear from you.
8:14
I already boiled water. One of the wagon wheels fell off. Yeah. I've already b- boiled water and [laughs] put it in the freezer. [laughs] You can piss in the water, I don't care.
8:23
And put yeast in it, and I'm like, "Oh, shit." [laughs] Right on. Oh, hell. Well, we'll see you, we'll see you in the studio next week. All right.
8:31
I will, I will elaborate further when we're back in, uh, face-to-face world. Copy that. Good to hear from you. All right. Safe travels. All right. All right. See soon from you guys. Peace. Bye. Bye. JK, everybody.
8:44
Calling from, uh, Cabo San Lucas down there in, uh, southern California, Mexico ville. Um, yeah, that, uh, that's kinda interesting when the, when the phone has a blatherer in the background. [laughs] Right. Yeah.
9:00
Catching a lotta... I remember, uh... Yeah, we've had a few, few interesting calls like that. We have once in a while. Good to hear from JK. Once in a while.
9:07
Um, so just w- we were, before he called, we were talking sloppy crap, and it wa- y- uh, how nice it was to ride, but, uh, Andrew was looking for some studded tires for his, um, Surface 604 bike.
9:22
And we were talking about, first of all, I tried to find some... Said, "It's an electric bike, it doesn't really matter. You could use V tires on it."
9:29
Right, you could 'cause- 'Cause, but we couldn't fi- There, there's none available really. Uh, just thinking that they would be a little more durable, 'cause they're horrible when you're...
9:37
You know, they're thick and heavy and- Yeah... they're, they suck as a, an acoustic bike. But for an electric bike, it wouldn't really matter. He was looking for some Dillinger 5s.
9:45
I'm like, "Yeah, eh, in sloppy, shitty crap, you kinda want narrower tires." I agree. And, um, Dillinger 4s studded ones are on sale for, like, 75 bucks 'cause QBP's whoring stuff out.
9:59
That's, that's- And you, I can't even-... really cheap compared- I can't even-... to what they retail... yeah, I can't even buy them for that. The, I, so I had him, I s- said, "Buy them online.
10:06
We'll throw them on for you because I can't, I can't buy them and, and sell them to you for that." I was just talking to Mr. Trusky yesterday about those. Mr. Trusky stopped at my house. Did he, now? Yeah. Nice.
10:16
Had to do some little work with SOLIDWORKS. Oh, are you making a, a 3D-printed thing? Uh, I was helping him with his, just the laptop itself. I don't know 3D printing or SOLIDWORKS to save my soul. Right.
10:28
But I know how to make a machine work with it, so that's why- Well, sure. And that, it takes a little, uh, horsepower to run.
10:33
It was, you know, SOLIDWORKS is one of those really, really, I'm not gonna say dubious companies, but the whole deal is, is you can't buy SOLIDWORKS from SOLIDWORKS. You gotta buy SOLIDWORKS from a third-party vendor.
10:45
I don't, it's been- Then he asked me to take a look at his machine 'cause he got an error message. So I launched it, and it's like, "You need to check this configuration." So I go and look at it.
10:55
It's a freaking sales pitch to get him to upgrade to the latest version of SOLIDWORKS. Ah. And there was literally no error. It was just a yellow flag triangle, you know, with an exclamation point.
11:07
I'm like, "Are you kidding me? This is just to get you to upgrade to the latest software." I'm like, "No, that's, that's BS." But- Yeah. Well, it's- Yeah... I don't know.
11:14
It, uh, I'm not sure why all those design programs make you jump through a bunch of hoops, but- Absolutely... AutoCAD does the same thing. Yep, very true. Um- But he's got a very kick-ass laptop. Well, that's good. Yeah.
11:23
And, uh, he's, he's, he's learning quite a bit about doing 3D printing too, which is awesome. Yeah, he is. He's got a big Monoprice. Yeah, yeah. Um, I, we, we need to get more into 3D printing.
11:34
I think it's the wave of the future, or currently- Well, soon we can just make AI do it for us, then everything's waved. Yeah. We'll see how that works. Yeah. Uh, sh- what do you know about, uh, Shiver West '24?
11:47
You got any updates yet? Uh, I do have a lot of updates. Um, so thanks for bringing it up, 'cause I would've spaced it. Uh, we have another meeting tomorrow night.
11:54
Uh, we are finalizing the route and the warming huts and any extracurriculars, but there's still a lot up in the air.
12:06
Um, I know that there'll be, uh, an area of fire pits Uh, on Clark. I think that's Clark and Pierce. Um, Abby's house. Abby's a sweetheart. She's one of the people helping.
12:20
So she's gonna get a permit and close the road and throw some fire pits in there for just a hangout warming area.
12:26
There's going to be a stop at the co-op/Falcon Bowl, 'cause Falcon Bowl's got an event that day as well, which is a, uh, um, a, a bizarre affair where they're gonna be selling stuff. [laughs] That's bizarre. Um, right.
12:40
How bizarre. Um, there is a stop at where we're gonna be doing snow painting with... I don't wanna spoil all the excitement, but snow painting with food coloring- Okay... and spray bottles. Sounds good.
12:52
So that should be kinda cool. Yeah. Um, that'll be at River West Grown. Uh, we are going to have a stop to warm up at Am- It's, it's River West Grown as in plants, not just River West like... Uh. Uh, yeah.
13:04
Uh, we are gonna have a... Th- this is all currently in the planning stage tentatively, but there's a stop at Amorphic to warm up, and obviously have a beer. Obviously. Um, there is a...
13:19
Uh, I just read tonight that there's a potential stop at Uptowner, 'cause our buddy Steve's gonna be smoking some meats. Oh, that'll be good. And, uh, yeah, Steve does not mess around with his meats, um, for sure.
13:29
Oh, he makes the meats. He's, he's a good dude. Uh, and then finish up at House of Rad is what I've been told for the after party, um, which is hot chocolate, hot dogs, things like that.
13:38
Checkpoint two of the River West 24 is going to have a block party which will be family oriented. Um, and, uh- That's the one on Burleigh, right? Right. Speaking of River West 24, let's not... Let's bring in the big dog.
13:52
Matt Baron apparently has been talking to the UWM meteorologist, who says that the end of January, beginning of February, is going to be, quote-unquote, "unseasonably warm." All right.
14:06
So- I was gonna ask you if you had an extended forecast... it could be mucky. [laughs] It could be a... Yeah. We were... There was... There's so many different options out there. Like, if you wipeout...
14:14
Like, Andrew went out and did a practice lap this week, and he wiped out. And I told him, "You know, the rule of thumb is if you wipeout, snow angel." So- Oh, that sounds all right...
14:21
he came to my house, 'cause I had a messed up shoulder from shoveling, and stopped and said hi, and he's like, "I did two snow angels on the switchback."
14:28
And if you remember the first time you and I did the Shiver West 24, that's where Josh Sutton did his first a- snow angel, 'cause he wiped out [laughs] on the switchback. Yeah. That was... Boy, that was a long time ago.
14:41
It was 2012 I think it was. It was very icy. A long time. You were the only person with studded tires. The only smart person you're saying? Well, they didn't really... They weren't that popular back then. No, no.
14:51
You had to be- But yeah... you had to know someone. Yeah. [laughs] And so you and I were the only two fat bikers, and then you had studs.
14:57
And that was, as I brought up I think the last time we talked about this, that was my first experience at The Swinging Door. Oh. That was generous of them. And we all went...
15:05
Everyone's like, "We're going to The Swinging Door." I'm like, "What in the hell is The Swinging Door?" That's- And I get there and I order sliders thinking, you know, "Yeah, I'm in a bar. Who cares?"
15:14
These sliders came out so well prepared. I think I even said to you, I'm like, "What's going on here? There's, like, parsley on the plate and shit." Yeah. And they're like, "You've never been here." I'm like, "No."
15:22
He's like, "You're in for a treat." [laughs] And I have always... Every time I go to Swinging Door I'm in for a treat, because it's gonna be good food. Right on. All right. I'm gonna push the button again. Button.
15:31
Pushing the button. Welcome to the radio program caller. Who do we have on the line? Hi. This is Mark Peterson from Ogden, Utah. How are you guys doing today? God, I love when Mark calls in- He's fun...
15:44
'cause these guys, he's like... If, if he was here in the studio with the mics, he'd be, like, the radio voice guy for sure. He, he has the radio voice. Yeah. Absolutely. Welcome. [laughs] Welcome to the show, Mark.
15:52
I'm glad you called. Yeah, yeah. Thank you for having me. How have you guys been? Cold. Oh. C- yeah. It's, it's- Cold... gruesomely cold out today. Brutally.
16:03
Well, uh, Happy New Year and Merry Christmas and all that shit. Oh, yeah. It's been that long, hasn't it? Yeah. We haven't talked to you in a- Happy New Year... been several weeks. Yeah.
16:13
You, you've got some- It's been a while... you've got some fancy ass full suspension electric bike you've been riding if I keep reading your posts.
16:23
Well, um, I went out and, uh, demoed one of the rentals that we have at Pronghorn. Okay. And it's the first time I have ridden, like, a, a mid-engined, uh, like, genuine mountain e-bike. You know what I mean?
16:38
All the other ones that I have ridden are kinda like commuter e-bikes for the most part. Right. They're, they weren't built to go mountain biking, right?
16:45
So I got to spend a couple days with this thing and, man, I was impressed. I had a lot of fun on it. They're fun times. So what's the brand of that one? Um, I can't remember.
17:00
[laughs] I can't remember to be honest with you. I'll, I'll, I'll follow up on your Facebook post. Oh, I know what it is. It, it, it was, it was a, a Fantic, F-A-N-T-I-C, uh, 1.5 I believe. Okay. Yeah.
17:13
I rem- I remember how, you know, riding a true, uh, electric mountain bike, uh, at, like, Bootleg Canyon during the, uh, during the old Interbike days was just a, a, a revelation what they can make those bikes do.
17:27
And still be- Oh, yeah. And, and-... and still be competent as mountain bikes, not as a commuter bike, you know? Right. Yeah. Absolutely. But see, the... Here the... Here's the thing.
17:36
Like, when I went and rode this thing, um, I, I don't know. I, I hadn't talked to you guys in a while about this, but, um, just recently I surpassed two years of trying to get my life turned around and lose weight.
17:49
Um, I have officially lost 110 pounds- Jesus... in the past 24 months. Man. And, and a lot of that was done on e-bikes. And, um,
17:59
kind of to celebrate that kind of thing is I wanted to go on a trail I haven't been on in four years since I was healthy and fit.
18:10
And so for the first time in four years, aboard this Fantic 1.5 that Pronghorn so graciously kicked me down for a couple days- I got to go up on this trail and it was epic.
18:21
I had s- it, it, like, just opened my eyes again and made me excited to get on top of the mountains.
18:26
And I don't wanna depend on it, but it opens up that avenue where if I wanted to get up high in the mountains, on the top of the front range along here, there's a trail called the Skyline Trail, but it's just epic.
18:37
But unless you're in great shape, you're just not getting up there. That's all there is to it.
18:41
Right, and what's the, what's the- And this- What's the vertical feet from, from the valley floor down there where, where Pram Horn is up to the top of that? Yeah, that's high, right? It's, like, 2,500 or 3,000 feet.
18:51
Um- Something like that? Yeah, yeah. Well, it's... Yeah, I would say between 2,000 and 2,500. I think we're at about 5,000 foot here in Ogden, and that peak up there I think is just 8, 8 and a half or nine maybe. Nice.
19:06
Nice. Yeah, so, yeah. I could see how it would be an all-day task just to get up there, but the, the electric bike would help you shorten that period by a sig- significant margin. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah.
19:19
Well, and, like, bike camping, like, being able to take, uh, y- all your bags and stuff like that. Right. And on, uh, the spur of the moment, jam to the top of the mountain and sleep overnight, you know? I mean, wow.
19:32
Yeah. Yeah. Well, uh, c- congratulations on your, uh, getting your health back under control. I think that's been- Yeah... something pretty important for you, and y- you definitely worked hard at it. How's the back now?
19:42
I know you were- Oh, thank you. Thank you... a little sore lately. Yeah. It's, it's one of those things where I, I am... I have permanent nerve damage, and it's gonna be this way forever.
19:52
In fact, it's going to get worse. It's not going to get better ever at all at, in any way. It's just a matter of managing the pain from now until the end.
20:01
And so even though, uh, we are doing the best we can to manage the pain, occasionally things don't add up right and it throws me for a loop for a day or two, like what happened recently.
20:13
And it was weird, because normally I'll, I'll lift something heavy or awkward or do something obvious. Mm-hmm. But there was none of that. I was, I was at work feeling great, working on bikes.
20:23
Next thing I know, I was just doubled over and it was just going off, and it sucked, man. Bummer. So here's something I wanted to get your take on. Uh,
20:35
uh, yeah, I assume you're keeping up with bicycle news, being in the shop and all, and all that. Uh, did you notice that W- Yep... did WTB has, has come out recently with a fat bike tire?
20:47
I thought, I thought- I did see that... I, I honestly didn't think we'd ever see another fat bike tire.
20:51
I seriously thought if they still have some molds, they'll make a few tires if they wanna sell some, you know, whatever brands are out there. But I was like, oh, WTB's making tires. It, it's cool.
21:01
Yeah, I thought it was cool. I've, I've heard people compare it to the, uh, the 45th North Dillinger I think. Oh. Yeah. It's got a similar look.
21:09
My gripe, and I, I did this because I wanna gripe about this, is they're only making it in 27.5. They're not making 26-inch versions of it, and I think- What?... I, I'm like, "What?" You know? Like, weird.
21:21
Not every, not everybody's a performance racery kind of person. 27- Mm. I mean, there's, I, there's far more 26-inch mountain bike wheels out there than there are 27.5. Fat bikes for sure. Yeah, f- fat bikes.
21:32
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, for sure. Oh, did I say- Yeah. Fat bikes. Yeah, fat bikes. Yeah. Whatever.
21:36
Um- I'll bet, I'll bet you WTB has an angle of some sort where 27.5 i- it would be the reason of why they came out with a tire recently. But what that angle is, who knows? Yeah.
21:46
It's probably some OE brand that- That's gonna-... is gonna slap it on their bikes. Right. Um- Right... so it would make sense. A manufacturer, huh? Yeah, I would think. Correct. Uh, I don't know. Maybe. Who knows?
21:56
But still, I'm cl- my, m- my, the whole, the main point is, A, you might've heard fat bikes are dead. Guess what? They're not, so shut up. Yeah. You know? [laughs] They're just a fad, though. They're just a fad.
22:06
And, and these tires are not cheap either. You know, they're, uh... The, the- [laughs]... the non-studded one is 135 bucks-ish, and the, uh, the studded one is 280 bucks. That's a, it's a- Holy shit...
22:17
that's a spendy tire. That's a- Yeah... spendy tire. Yeah. But, uh, like I said- Yeah, it is... at least someone's still making them. Uh, that's four tires for my car. Uh, uh, is, is someone gonna ride them out there?
22:28
Do you know anybody that's gonna- N-... give them a go?... not, not yet. I would think Gomez might be the most likely. We don't... I mean, I've, I'm not- I would agree...
22:36
I'm not, I'm not getting greased s- as much as in the old days with, with good stuff. I mostly have to buy the things I wanna use now, and, uh, currently that is- Yeah... nothing because I'm poor.
22:46
So I am trying to [laughs] sell a bunch of bikes and be able to buy more new fun stuff and just turn that money into other bikes. Yeah. Speaking of that, how, how are you guys doing? How's everything? How's the business?
22:58
How's life? How's the shop? What's going on? How are you guys? Mm. I would say personally everything but the shop's going pretty well. The shop is, you know, it's, we're, we're...
23:07
Oh, I came up with a new, uh, a new tagline and I put it on the site today. We're now called the second floor bike store, because we're [laughs] we're on the second floor of the building I've been in for 20 years.
23:18
[laughs] Um, and I, I just, I just noticed that where our old shop was on Locust Street just a few blocks from where we are right now, there's a, there's a couple potential,
23:29
uh, storefronts again in that building, and I'm like, "Oh, I'd really like to get back in there." But I think if we do that, I think we're gonna be, like, 98% service. We're not...
23:40
I mean, I'll sell some bikes if we can order them, but I'm not- Yeah... stocking stuff on the floor.
23:45
We don't, I, you know, first of all, the places aren't big enough to do that, and second of all, you know, we're not a big enough business to afford to have that inventory sitting around gathering dust, especially when, um, the, the companies just pour their stuff out- Yeah, that's gonna be just-...
24:00
and take all your margin away. So I don't know. I'm, I'm- Right. Right... I'm not real big on, on new bikes right now, unless you're a consumer and you go out there and you buy, buy one, uh, what was it, Kona? Yeah.
24:11
Buy, get one free. Buy one Kona, get one, get one Kona free. You can buy an $8,000 bike and get an $8,000 bike for free. Yeah. My buddy just did that. Yeah. [laughs] I mean, why wouldn't you if you're a consumer?
24:21
Like, seriously. If you're a serious cyclist- Yeah, yeah, and-... that, that's gimme Yeah Yeah, and he, he got wicked nice bikes too because why wouldn't you if you're s- gonna get a BOGO like that? Right. Right. Yeah.
24:36
I, I mean, I, I s- I assume- Yeah. Yeah...
24:38
I assume, I don't know what you guys are seeing at Pronghorn or what the owners think about the, the state of the biz and what they're seeing, but I'm thinking 2024 is kind of a rebuilding, throwaway year, and then 2025 maybe start to see some semblance of getting back to- I don't know...
24:56
normal-ish maybe. I don't know. The next big- Well, we just had, uh... Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. No, no, you go first. Uh, well, we, we just had, uh, an, a, an, um, a meeting, which is weird because I got invited to it.
25:11
Um, normally it's just the bosses that get invited to those things, and I've always been like, I consider myself low man on the totem pole. I'm the, I'm the janitor.
25:19
I do whatever needs to get done, and I'm grateful to have a job. And next thing I know, I got invited to the, the business meeting.
25:27
And so, um, in, in that meeting, we talked about our strategy and how we're going forward and how we're making choices collectively instead of like in a dictatorship, and everyone's putting in their input.
25:39
And everyone's, uh, quite experienced in the bicycle industry from a variety of different areas, and so everyone's got different perspectives that kinda when you put 'em all together, it makes the future look really good for us.
25:52
We're incredibly excited. We did double the amount of sales that we projected. Like, we projected- That's outstanding... we were gonna do a million bucks.
26:01
In our first year, we figured we would do a million dollars worth of revenue, like we would turn a million dollars worth of product, and we ended up doing two-point-something million dollars worth of product. Wow.
26:11
So we doubled what we thought we were gonna do. So our, our projection and our model is working really, really well. What we did do, though, is we skinnied down on brands.
26:22
So we stepped away from any brand that is gonna do a direct consumer and is gonna undercut us and cut us off at the knees. Yeah. Makes sense. They're gone. For sure.
26:32
And then we're gonna focus in on the brands that did really well, and then we're gonna, uh, accentuate where we did really well, which was in service.
26:41
We actually did incredibly well, particularly at the Syra- Syracuse store, with service. And- Hmm... like we had talked several times, many of us believe that r- uh, retail is almost dead for a while.
26:54
You might as well call it dead for the next year or two, I mean, in a metaphoric kinda way. But s- service is gonna be where it's at.
27:02
And so, um, we have found a niche in that service, and we're going forward, and God, it was, it was a really cool meeting. But I gotta tell you, something weird happened during the meeting. See, I'm low man.
27:15
I'm keeping my mouth shut just watching, observing, listening. Next thing I know, Irv, the owner of the shop and the company,
27:24
starts talking about how, you know, they really, really needed to talk about someone who had really kinda flown under the radar, uh, was underestimated, and has, blah, blah, blah, all kinds of good things, nice, happy, warm things.
27:39
And I'm thinking, I'm positive he's talking about the guy sitting across from me, who's named Aaron, and who is doing an incredible job, is everything that h- the boss had just said. And then Irv's pointed at me, and he
27:57
gave me these accolades and made me all warm and fuzzy in front of the group, and y- then gave me a $400 5Dev titanium two-bolt stem that is in bronze for- Oh. [laughs] I saw that... one of my bikes. Very nice.
28:10
That's sexy. Well, that's, uh, obviously you- Right?... you deserved it, but I mean, it's nice to get, you know, recognition like that too. That's, uh, that's kind of a hard, a hard- Yeah...
28:20
thing for a lot of bosses to do. They, I think they wanna do it, but they don't think about it or whatever. I'm really glad that, uh, he took the time to say, "Hey, Mark, nice job."
28:30
Well, it, it, it went a long way, and I'll tell you what, um, I, I've always been a firm believer in a, a gratitude management style rather than like a, a drill sergeant management style. Sure.
28:43
I, I, I believe that when people feel appreciated, they will work harder for less. Absolutely. Makes good sense, yeah.
28:51
And when they feel neglected, it's gonna be like pulling teeth, and pretty soon they're only doing it to not get fired. And the minimal amount of work to make that not happen, right? Right. Exactly. Exactly.
29:03
So it's really cool- Or even less than that so they do get fired... to come across a group of people. [laughs] Yeah. Or, yeah, maybe somebody wants- Yeah, yeah... to get fired. I don't know.
29:08
And then, you know, collect unemployment. That sort of bullshit. So this stem is made for mountain biking, and it has, like, this crazy 35 millimeter, or, or, yeah, m- uh, the, for the bar, the clamp is like 35- Yeah...
29:23
which is huge, right? That's a big clamp. Yep. And I, uh, I did the obvious thing and put it on my Surly Cross Check with a 26 bar with some titanium shims- Yep...
29:33
just to go, just to go against the grain, but it turned out so sweet, man. It is just, it's ridiculous. Surly Cross Check w- with a stem on it that costs half as much as the whole bike. Yeah.
29:47
It's pretty short too, if I remember, right? The stem? Yeah. I love it. I love it.
29:53
Yeah, it's, it's n- it pulled my bars back just a little bit, and it put the mustache bars right under me in a perfect place, and I couldn't be happier.
30:01
Like, that's, that's, like, definitely one of my trophy pieces in my bike collection now. Nice. Yeah. Rock on. So I, I pulled out a- Yeah, yeah... a, I pulled out an old faithful and, um,
30:13
I was, I was getting it ready for winter. It's my, uh, my specialized Stumpjumper Pro comp. Um, but it's pretty nicely... You know, it still [laughs] has Rhino Light cranks on it.
30:22
They still haven't broken, um, which is pretty amazing. Nice. Um, but-
30:27
I was amazed that when I pulled it out from in my basement and I'm, like, starting to build it up, I looked, and it's got about 140 millimeters [laughs] stem on it. [laughs] Yeah, I remember those.
30:36
So I'm like, "Holy crap." Yeah. And then when I started riding it, I'm like, "I love being this far over the front wheel."
30:43
It, it- [laughs] You just, you know, you have so much control because you're, like, in front of the tire. It's hilarious. [laughs] Yeah. That's, I mean, that's kinda what they did with modern, modern geometry.
30:54
Well, right. Lengthened the bike and shortened the stem, and- Shortened the stem. And, and then I, I look at my- Makes good sense... I look at my Ape, which has a 45.
31:03
[laughs] I mean, it's, like, a tiny little BMX stem, and I love that one too. [laughs] Yeah. It's like, "Wow, this is weird. I really like riding weird bikes." Yeah, for sure.
31:12
[laughs] Actually, to continue with that- Oh, man... I gave, I gave my friend Michelle, she's, she's been an absolutely fantastic person, her bike was stolen from her backyard, and I'm like, "Look,
31:23
I have a weird cargo bike for you." Stop talking to me. It's a Mixte. It's a Miyata Mixte frame with a Extra Cycle Free Radical back end on it. [laughs] I said it's got an- Awesome...
31:38
it's got an Elfin 8 26-inch rear and a 700C front. I, I'm like, "Just, um-" Yeah. That's all, that's all Frankenbike-y. I'm like, I'm like, "Just take it out for a ride and let me know what you think."
31:50
And I, I, I gave it to her husband first. He took it home, Paul. He took it home and he rode it. He gets, he immediately when he gets home, he sends me a message. He's like, "There's no way she's not gonna love this."
32:00
And then he, then she rode it, and she's like, "Yeah." She was already in the market for a different bike that she was gonna buy, and then she's like, "This is so much nicer, I can't believe it."
32:11
And then my buddy Paul, like, three weeks later tells me, he's like, "You know, you just like to build bikes that ride really fun." Yeah. And I'm like, "Yeah, I don't care what they look like." Right. Thanks.
32:19
I don't care. I'm like, "As long as like-" Hell yeah. He's like, he's like, "Every time I ride one of your bikes, all I can think of is, damn, this is a nice comfortable bike to ride." That's awesome.
32:27
And that's what you're supposed to do. Oh, that's kickass. Yeah. Makes sense. You'll ride the bike you like riding. Yes. Period. Definitely. Grant Petersen. Exactly. [laughs] Yeah. Hell yeah. I agree 100%.
32:39
Hey, um- Oh, so, uh, fellas. Yeah? Um, I, I wanted to ask you a question. Um, how many of you guys did BMX when you were a kid? Uh, how many of you have BMX in your, your past? I was more of a skateboarder.
32:51
I did ride, I did ride 20-inch bikes for, for years, but I wasn't a, like, a competitive BMXer. Sure. You know, I, I had an Orange Krate- Right, right...
33:00
when I was 10, and it weighed more than I did, and, you know, we made little ramps and jumped off of them and stuff, but, um, I never got into the, the, the com- Right...
33:08
I'm old too, so the, we're talking, like- Right... in the late '60s and early '70s, which was, I was a little bit old when the BMX thing really hit. Even I was a little bit old for the BMX thing. Yeah. Yeah.
33:19
I just turned 60. Yeah. You, you can't play the old card. I turned 60, man. You're not that old. I turned 60 the other day. No. No. I, I, I literally- I, I know older BMXers. Yeah, no, I know too. I do too. For sure.
33:30
I do too, but I consciously, when I was getting into my, you know, cycling days,
33:37
I consciously chose to buy a Cannondale ST 400 touring bike instead of a BMX bike to commute because I wanted to go fast, and BMX bikes in my eyes didn't back then go fast. At least not without me working way too hard.
33:54
[laughs] Yeah. Well. You know, so- Well, that's, that's still true... I, it's, I was thinking back on this and, and I've, I have a lot of weird bikes, but I had... This is, this is me. Okay.
34:05
So my mom said if I could, if I made it through first communion, she would buy me my s- my Schwinn Sting-Ray, which was a 20-inch drop bar bike. I've never seen another one like this Sting-Ray in my life.
34:20
But then I was thinking about it, that's the only 20-inch bike I've had until I bought my electric cargo bike. Wow. [laughs] I have 14. Wow. I have 16. Um, so I have a 14-inch- [laughs]...
34:30
you know, I have a 22-inch wheel with the, um, the weird ass Sparta 880, but I have not had any other- Nice... BMX sized wheels. It's just so weird to me. Yeah. I, I had a cruiser for a long time. That is interesting.
34:44
Uh, w- I used to take a 24-inch- Yeah, yeah... um, we made, we made three Schlick Cycles 24-inch cruiser frames, Tom Teasdale built them, for a couple- Yeah, yeah... of guys that were racing.
34:56
Um, and it was basically, uh, a, a modified double XL Redline cruiser, which would've been in the, the, like, 2000, I don't know, 10 or 12 or something. It was n- pretty recently. Cool.
35:09
But I, uh, one of m- one of the guys was done with it, I took it back from him. I said, "You're not racing anymore, I'm taking that bike back."
35:15
And I used to go to Rays all the time with it, and it was my m- absolute favorite pump track bike ever. Oh, it sounds like fun. Yeah. It was so great on the pump track they had. Awesome.
35:23
It was so fast and, uh, I wish that Rays were still here, because if it was, I never would've sold that bike, but- Wonder what happened to that pump track? I do have one more, I have one more unbuilt frame.
35:34
[laughs] Really? Yeah. 24 cruiser. The 24s? Yeah. Wow. I'd sell it if somebody wanted it, but- Well, you might, might wanna, you might wanna stash that for me there, bro. [laughs] I'll send you pictures. It's on- You-...
35:45
it's on Facebook, or it's on eBay, but I put a pretty high price on it, so- Oh... it's not, it's not going anywhere yet. No. Okay. Are you, um, are you Facebook friends with Strongman Sam by chance?
35:56
Um, I don't think so, but- Okay... uh, you never know. I mean, there's, like, 2,000 of them- Okay, so-... so I kind of lose track.
36:03
Sam, um, my, my New Year's resolution was to be nice to Sam this year, and I'm doing very well at it, but, um, when you- Right on... when you meet Sam, the last thing you think of is BMX racer.
36:17
And- That's absolutely true. [laughs] And Sam is currently 6'1" and 300 pounds. Um- And not, but he's not fat. But he- Shut up. It's not fair I'm not saying anything bad about Sam this year. Um, but- [laughs]
36:34
S- Sam is a larger than life human being, and what, what amazes you the most, Mark, when you see him is w- with... He spends more time on one wheel on a ride than he does two. He rides wheelies- Yeah... constantly.
36:52
And that is- Yeah. There, there is this... There's like a, this kind of mutant human, even though they're a certain size, they're incredibly agile. Yeah. I've known a couple people like that. Yeah. Wow.
37:03
He's a freak of nature. He, he, he has the physical abilities of 10 men. Yeah. His balance is incredible. Right. Um- His, his- I think Tony wants a date. Yeah, right. His pinch strength is just- Oh.
37:16
The guy is a fucking nut. Yeah? I mean, I, I... He's a really good guy, even if he's a right-wing nut job. [laughs] Oh, wait. I'm sorry. I'm being nice to Sam this year. That's not mean. That's not mean. No, no, no.
37:25
That's just truth. Calling it like it is. [laughs] But no, you should meet up with the- No, so I was asking about BMX because I've got a specific thing in mind.
37:33
Um, there is a new BMX track that is gonna be opening up not far from our Syracuse shop, and a new organization called Antelope BMX, which is w- uh, out there right now, and we're part of supporting.
37:46
And so here's the thing: I'm building me a BMX bike 'cause I'm going racing this summer, boys. Sounds good. Are you gonna go 20 inch or are you gonna go cruiser? I'm gonna do both.
37:57
That's a good call, 'cause you might as well. You, y- they don't last very long, so if you're gonna pay money and be there all day, you might as well do as many classes as you're eligible for. E- exactly.
38:06
And I hope m- hoping that I might be able to double up on some, uh, like, entrance fees [laughs] and see if I can get a break that way. Can't you get a sponsorship from the shop? Oh, yeah. That's... I mean, yeah.
38:17
I mean, I don't wanna... They've already said that they're gonna do stuff, but, like, it... I, I hate presuming until I'm told something like that for sure. Me too. Me too. But, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
38:28
So brakes or no brakes? Well, anyhow, the... So the, the, uh... Oh, who needs brakes on a BMX bike? [laughs] Yeah. Anyhow, um- There we go...
38:37
no, um, I recently acquired a set of Mike Buff Z rims, 20-inch Mike Buff Z rims that are the full Mike Buff Z rim, uh, wheel set. I saw your post. And then they've got the white hubs say Mike Buff Z on them.
38:52
And I had a pair of these when I was a kid on a Schwinn, um, uh, Phantom, I believe. Yeah. Uh, like a chrome Phantom, and I loved them.
39:01
I, I understand that other people hate them or that they maybe didn't perform well for everyone, but I loved them.
39:07
And when that bike went away in my life many years ago because I'd left it at a house after we got kicked out or evicted or something in my 20s, um, I always kind of lusted after those.
39:18
I was like, "Damn, I wish I still had those. I wish I still had those," and I've looked for them for years and years and years.
39:24
20 years I've been looking for a set of them, and on eBay the cheapest I've ever seen a full set is over $1,000 for a full set. And that was once, and they were gone, and I haven't ever seen them since.
39:38
Well, one of my Facebook friends, Owen Britner, um, he actually had a client come into his shop. He's a bike shop owner as well.
39:46
And, uh, he brought this guy's BMX bike back to life, and what that meant was going from the Mike Buff Z rims that this guy had on his bike to some mags. And so I said, "Hey, hey, hey. Can I get dibs on those rims?"
39:59
And he said, "I'll ask the fellow. What's your offer?" I gave him my offer, and it came back, and I ended up getting them. Great. So these rims get here. I'm super, I'm super excited. Super excited about it, right?
40:10
But the kicker was that I put my post up on Facebook about how I got these things, and I'm also friends with Mike Buff. So, but he, he... We're just coincidentally friends, so he... I- he doesn't like my posts.
40:26
I love all of his posts, but he generally is quiet. But he piped up and liked the post [laughs] of his rims, and that just tickled me pink- Yeah...
40:36
that one of my childhood heroes and adulthood heroes that I got a product of somehow knows that I have one of his sets of rims and thought it was cool. Right. [laughs] Yeah.
40:46
And those are, those were, like, some kind of composite, like, plastic material, right? Yeah, yeah. They were like mag rims, like, you know, the nylon mags- But with, but, but a spoked-... um, the ACS mags...
40:55
but a spoked wheel. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And I think they were, um... I wanna... Uh, it's, it's actually a fairly well-known, I wanna say Suzer or something like that hub was the, their base hub.
41:08
So it wasn't a super shitty hub, but they... Again, they weren't not built as, like, high-end race wheels. They were built as, like, durable, strong, beat-them-up wheels. Right. Yeah, yeah. That makes sense. Uh, yeah.
41:23
Anyhow, so that... I was super excited about that, and I wanted to share that with you guys. [laughs] Well, appreciate it.
41:29
Uh, I wanted, before we, uh, let you go, 'cause we're getting close to the end here, I did wanna say, uh, thanks for sending me or, uh, pimping me or, or whatever-ing me that, the link to the dude, uh, from Wisconsin, the, uh, f- I think he's called Bike Farmer on YouTube.
41:46
The g- it w- Yeah. I was just gonna bring that up... it, it was so, it was s- I know a guy with a bicycle. It was s- [laughs] The Bike Farmer. It was, it was pretty good. I, I h- the... I watched a couple of them.
41:54
The one that, I think the one you sent was 10 Tips To Beat The Bike Shops in 2024. [laughs] Right. Yeah, yeah. I remember that. How funny was that shit? [laughs] And Mister... Yeah, Mr.
42:01
Nice Guy reveals the insider secrets you'll need to win. Um, I, and I haven't gone back in his, his catalog, but, uh, he must do... What, what does he call the other guy? Mr. Asshole, basically? Um, uh- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
42:14
Yeah. I, I know that guy. He might be me sometimes. [laughs] Top, top 10 reasons that all bike mechanics are assholes. That, that was, uh, it... Top 10 reasons that all bike mechanics are assholes. Oh, yeah.
42:24
They tell you your bike sucks and stuff like that. I'm like, "Well, that's just the truth." [laughs] Yeah. That's not being an asshole. [laughs] It is just- If your bike sucks- It is just, it, it-...
42:32
it really does suck... well, speaking the truth should not make you an asshole. But yeah, I, I really appreciated that. Well- And he's, he's like- Yeah. He's, you guys know him? Um, where's Lake...
42:39
Tony, where's Lake Mills? It's like w- It's maybe 45 hour away, less than an hour It's before Madison. Yeah, yeah. It's the- It's due- It's like the McDonald's exit- It's due west of us, yeah...
42:48
it's the McDonald's exit before Madison. That's exactly where it is. Yeah. How did you know that? I know. Is it 'cause you go to that McDonald's too? I do go to the McDonald's. [laughs] I get the, I get the parfait.
42:55
So I have... So I'm gonna go visit him at some point here for sure, because the guy, he's from Wisconsin, and that's- Oh, right... and it's hilarious. And Lake Mills is, yeah.
43:02
And, and so Lake Mills, I don't know if anybody not from Wisconsin, probably anybody from Southeast Wisconsin doesn't even know where it is. Tyranena Brewing. Or, but it's maybe 3, 4,000.
43:13
It's not very- Maybe a little more. It used to be a really wealthy- En-... enclave of Madison. Yeah, and it is where, isn't that where Ringling Brothers- It-... overnights? I believe they do overnight.
43:22
It's in Baraboo, but it's in, right in the neighborhood. No, it's not near Baraboo. Uh, I don't know. No. But no, the, the- He is way north... anyway.
43:28
Next door where Trek- My point- He said he's right by Trek, like the main part of Trek. Yeah, he's south of the freeway and Trek's north of the freeway basically. Yeah. Um, but he...
43:37
So anyway, point here though is the town is small. It's like 3, 4, 5,000. It's not very big, and he's running kind of a family-style bike shop.
43:45
But I think him doing these YouTubes and some other stuff that he's doing kind of in the media space is kind of helping him out, you know. I mean, I don't know how many views this thing has.
43:53
He's got close to 20,000 subscribers, so that's not terrible, you know.
43:58
Um- Yeah, and I've actually, I've been modeling what I am doing, uh, with my neighborhood bike shop, um, my nonprofit that I'm starting up, which is basically a bike shop out of my house, where I'm emulating his, his practices.
44:10
And you guys should check it out too, because you guys' business model is almost exactly like what he's talking about. So dig into this a little bit, but it's really good.
44:20
But on, while I still got ear for a half second, I am gonna be launching the neighborhood bike shop, um, um, nonprofit. I'm hoping to do my first real video on my channel, my YouTube channel, The Neighborhood Bike Shop,
44:35
um, in the next two weeks. And I got a sponsorship by the, the Damn38s and Endzone to, um, hair metal bands, uh- [laughs]... that I know the lead singer of. Right on.
44:51
And so he sent my, me their entire discog- discog- discog- all their music. Yes. [laughs] For, and, and, and, and giving me license to use them in all of my videos on my YouTube channel. Nice. How cool is that? Nice.
45:05
To have a rockstar give you access to their catalog. Yeah, sweet. Well, I, I'll keep- There you go... my eyes out for the videos. And, uh, next time we chat we'll talk more about- Yeah...
45:15
the, uh, the, what do you call it? Uh, the neighborhood bike shop. Bike, Bike Farmer. Bike Farmer. Yeah, well, I mean, no, the, the... Check out The Bike Farmer, and you guys will see what I'm talking about- Yep...
45:23
what I wanna do in my own personal life. Right on. All right, Mark. Ton- Well, I love you guys. God, it's good to talk to you. Tony, you got- You as well... you got one more thing? What are you saying?
45:33
No, uh, 7,100 population. Oh, okay. Lake Mills. Okay. All right. And there's a lake there, it's called Lake- There's a pyramid at the bottom of the lake. Oh. Check out Tyranena Brewing. It's fantastic beer. Lake Mills.
45:44
Yeah, true that too. Um, all right, Mark, uh, you got anything before we split, split, splitski?
45:52
I just wanna say that if you guys find yourself in Utah, please come visit us at Longhorn Bicycle, either in Syracuse or, or in Perry, Utah. We will take care of you, and we are bike people for bike people.
46:05
So I love you guys, and I hope to talk to you soon. And I hope, hope you guys have a great weekend. Love you too, brother. Absolutely. Take care. All right, Mark. Thanks very much. Talk to you soon. Peace. Good.
46:13
Later, boys. Bye. Hey, everybody, that was Mark Peterson from Ogden, Utah, down there in, uh- What a-... Utah way. Great conversation. That's the, that's the, that's the old family stomping grounds out there in Utah.
46:24
Yeah, for when the non-drinking side of your family. I'm not saying they didn't drink. Ah, at least not in public. Yeah, right.
46:32
Uh, we'll have to go explore that some more because there's, uh, there's some, there's some good stuff out that way. Uh, no, did we get... Oh, real quick, um, uh,
46:42
the local trails, uh, for the fat bike folks, we got out there at Minooka, got probably 12 to 14 inches. They got hammered.
46:51
Yeah, and they, uh, there's a little bit of deadfall, but they've been grooming out there pretty regularly. And Oak Hills, uh, in Tosa, right along the, uh, what is that?
47:00
Menomonee River, uh, people have been snowshoeing that end. So if, if you wanna get out in the snow and play- Brr...
47:06
I think we heard last week from, uh, Seely Dave up there in Hayward that they're starting to, uh, lay some stuff down too. And, uh, go out in the snow and ride your bike. Yeah. Please.
47:17
And then come back next week when we'll hear from JK about his, uh, his, uh, bitchin' vacation. Bitchin'. All right, bye. Bye.
47:26
[upbeat rock music]
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