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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #284 – Seeley Dave – Origins of Santa Cycle Rampage – Northwoods Cold Weather Gear
Dec 12, 2024
Full Spectrum Cycling #284 – Seeley Dave – Origins of Santa Cycle Rampage – Northwoods Cold Weather Gear
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Transcript
0:00
Well, ready? I'm ready. Let's just do it. I'm ready. Hit the button. [rock music] The Colossus.
0:22
I thought that was Sam's band. I didn't know that was the AI. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Could be the same thing though, really, I mean. Maybe you should send it to him. He's probably, "I can do this." Sam's band?
0:33
I thought he recorded something for you guys that you were able to use for your- Which Sam do you want? Oh, oh, you're thinking of, uh, uh- Jeff... Jeff. Oh, right. Yeah. From Scam Like. Yeah. Okay.
0:43
Or- Jesus, Mike, wow... never mind. We're done. [laughs] I already can't- Take two... yeah, from El Ruango. [laughs] El Wrongo. Not Scam Like. I think they, they did do something. Rido, Rido. Rido El Ruango.
0:54
I just don't think it's completed yet. Oh, okay. Um- Especially with Mr. Albini passing... I think it would be cooler. Right.
1:01
I'm about ready to get rid of this song, but it's not happening any time real soon since it takes time to do that stuff. Yes, yes, it does. It takes time for you to type into AI, "Please play this."
1:12
[laughs] Well, why can't we, why can't you just get the thing from El Ruango? Well- Takes time... we'll get them to [laughs] finish it would be awesome. [laughs] Hey, everybody, that's Tony over there. JK. Hi.
1:22
Nice record store shirt. We got Mr. Dave Schlabowski here. Seely Dave, Seely Loggers. Hey, when it's red it's looking at you. Okay. [laughs] Seely Loggers. Daily... [laughs] Ah, Sven here, of course.
1:35
And, uh, it is Full Spectrum Cycling. Wait, wait. Is it Loggers or Lagers? Loggers. 284th show. 284. All right, Mr. Intro Talker. Oh, I did. [laughs] Yeah, let me just turn this off. No need for that noise anymore.
1:50
Well, what a weekend. Indeed. Did, did you look at the show notes and count how many places we stopped at? Yes, and I, I, uh, actually- [laughs] We may have forgotten one...
2:00
I did verbalize them to somebody today, and it was funny 'cause they were like, "What?" [laughs] Well- And, like, "I'm tired, like, listening to that." So Santa Rampage, and then also the same day, Global Fat Bike Day.
2:14
I did not ride a fat bike to the event, and had planned on riding after, but the event for me lended, ended at, like, 11:30 at night, and I was- Oops... I was done. Oops.
2:25
[laughs] Uh, we did see a bunch of fat bikes on the event, so- Yeah, absolutely... took a few pictures of those. Normally, normally I... Yeah.
2:33
If you got any pictures, throw them my way, because I'll, I already posted a story, but we could put some more pictures in there. Normally it's my idea to,
2:42
when, you know, when Rampage and Global Fat Bike, which seems to be- Always overlap. Yeah... exactly, coincide, try to attend Rampage with fat bike. Yeah.
2:53
But I just got the [censored] bike and I really wanted to ride the [censored] bike- [laughs]... with Santa on it, so it just worked out so nicely. Well, every day, every day is Global Fat Bike Day for some people. To us.
3:01
Right. Right, right. And for me, it was more about getting the Omnium in front of people. I had a few people test ride it. Mm. Everybody's stoked about that thing, and I'm kinda just trying to raise interest.
3:10
So that was a good place to get a bunch of people to see- There were some people challenging... see an Omnium and how awesome that thing is. I think this is, I think this is only the second one that I've missed.
3:22
I- You were there in spirit... may- maybe the- Your name was on the-... maybe the third. I mean, I started it, so. Yeah. Yeah. [laughs] No, no, I, uh [laughs] Well, go back a little bit in time.
3:31
It, it was, what was the, what was the year- It's not a little bit in time... in the way back machine? We're old. You know, I don't even remember the first- It's like 2011-ish? Yeah, something like that.
3:38
I've got definite photos from 2012, and I think there was a year before that that I don't have photos from. But the first year was five, six people, you know, just riding around and going from bar to bar.
3:52
We rode over the Home Bridge each of the first, like, five years- That-... or six years... that's impressive... or something. And that's, that was banditing, not, uh- Yes. No- No, no... no permits. [laughs] Yeah.
4:01
There were no permits for anything that, that we did- Right... initially. Um, we rode through Grand Avenue Mall. Oh, you know, this is how you know how small it was. Everyone was able to ride through Coppa's. Wow.
4:13
[laughs] Everyone on the ride was able to ride through Coppa's. [laughs] That's something. I mean, what, uh- That's also really cool. [laughs] I mean, so how many times has Coppa's been sold since then? I...
4:24
Is it for sale again? I don't know. Uh, I don't know. Mm. The cupboards are a little bit bare. No, I came up on, uh, my memories from 2012, and this was the abbreviated, but it was, still had a route. Oh, yeah.
4:37
So that- It still had a route... so that was very, it, it was- It was, it- So it, so it's much earlier than that- Yes, yes... then. That's when it... Yeah. It was at least three years before that- Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah...
4:46
that, that- Come- So that was actually a Bike Fed specific one? Nope. Nope, nope, nope. That's pre-Bike Fed. Yeah, that's when it was actual route riding. Come dressed like Santa. Yeah. Have fun.
4:54
Lakefront, Great Lakes, Kochanski's, Cafe Central. Yeah. That, uh, so we did- Wait, what was that?... hit most of the traditional- Yeah. I mean, we, like, Hollander was- Was that pouring rain day?
5:06
Well, Mike Eidell was, was partners still- Yeah... with, you know, uh, Central then, so, um- Yeah... so we worked with them all... We've always worked with...
5:17
Mike, Mike was on, the first one, I think, started from Trocadero. In 12? I think we, we started at Trocadero then. Gotcha.
5:23
So Mike, uh, Mike wasn't on it that year, but he quickly said, "Oh, this is cool," you know, and he rode with us- Yeah... for most of them after that. Yeah. We, we, we saw him at Nomad, for sure.
5:34
It just, I always, I'm amazed at- He throws a heck out, too... how many p- I know. [laughs]... how many fingers- I know... how many pies, fingers of his are here. He, he has, yeah, he's got his fingers into everything.
5:44
Yeah. Interesting. So yeah, so, uh, Dave was one of the founders or the founder of- I think the founder... the Santa Cycle Rampage.
5:51
I, well, I technically stole the name from a friend of mine, John Greenfield, in Chicago, that did one in Chicago, and it had gone on a couple years before that.
6:01
John, I don't know if you guys remember, John, um, he was the-... bike rack installer, the guy in charge of putting all the bike racks in- Mm... in Chicago at the time.
6:11
And he, um, and I had a ride called, uh, The Frozen Snot Century, where every- we would trade off from year to year who had to take off Milwaukee or Chicago Friday. Oh.
6:25
And we would ride down there for the Chicago, um, winter bike party, and then they would ride back here, and they would- we would hang out somewhere here, and then they would ride back.
6:35
And then it would switch the other way around. [laughs] It was in Febu- Mm-hmm... it was in February every year, and people did it on tall bikes. It, you know, it actually got fairly large.
6:45
For a while, 100 people would- Nice... do it, you know. In the middle of February in the olden times? Yeah. That's pretty neat. Yeah, so- On a tall bike...
6:50
so, but he started the Santa Cycle Rampage in Chicago, and their gig, though, was, "Let's go to, um, the Miracle Mile to Michigan Avenue and sing," and he's a musician and a songwriter, "and sing anti-consumer Christmas carols- [laughs]...
7:08
at every p-" And I was like, "Yeah, you know, how about we just have fun, dress up like Santa, and drink beer [laughs] and, and leave the whole anti-consumer advocacy- Give me-... to somebody else?"
7:18
Yeah, you're gonna get a lot more people participating. Yeah, probably. Well, and, and rightly so. That's what... The Chicago one, despite it being 6 million whatever people- Mm-hmm...
7:26
in the metro, you know, never drew more than, like, 20 or 30 people. Right, right. And ours, obviously, it's like 2,000 now. Yeah. Th- this- Yeah...
7:33
well, the weather was 50 degrees, so it brought out a lot of people that probably wouldn't normally have come out. And easily- That's awesome... easily 2,000, but then, I mean, we didn't ride- Oh, oh...
7:45
you know, as, as a group, we didn't ride the main ride. We- A lot of people don't... well, we went to, we went and met at Great Lakes.
7:51
We meandered or at, uh, Lakefront, meandered to Great Lakes with many stops in between. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16- Wow... 16 if you count Kyle's- Okay...
8:03
if you count Kyle's back room. That is a lot of stops. And that's what did me in, folks. I didn't do the last one. I just did the second to last one.
8:09
Well, you might've helped there though because what was there was a bottle of Bulleit Bourbon. Oh, hell no. And when- [sighs] And- Glad I didn't go to that... and, [laughs] you know what?
8:17
And I actually- A- and when Kyle and I left- Mm... guess what was not there? The bottle of bourbon. The bottle of Bulleit Bourbon, so guess where I slept? A- Right behind you on the floor.
8:25
I was gonna say on the- [laughs]... on the chair. Oh, I was gonna say- I c- I, I-... inside that bottle of bourbon. [laughs] Yes, I slept right there because I'm, no way I'm driving my car home right now.
8:32
I'm- I'll tell you that much... I'm in my cups. [laughs] I'm so in my cups. [laughs] Yeah. All in all- That's too much... it was a good weekend though. I, I was happy.
8:38
I'm sorry I missed it, but, you know, I had to come down for my dad's surgery thing, so I could not be in Milwaukee that extended period of time, so. Right. No, it makes sense, for sure.
8:47
I got to, uh, the Marsupial Bridge and- Yeah, you're real- you're listed on here. Tony Bail- [laughs]... Lakefront Brewery. [laughs] I ba- I, I looked down from the Marsupial Bridge, and I saw so many Santas.
8:57
I'm like, "You know what? I have a beer at home." Yeah. Well, there was a lot of Santas down there. And I'm like, "I'm- Oh, that's what you bailed. Okay... gonna go up this- Yeah... this stack."
9:04
He just went up instead of down. Actually- Fair enough... I always, I always enjoy hanging out outside of Lakefront- Yeah...
9:11
uh, because they do serve beer out there, and they usually now have somebody actually pretty decent singing goofy Christmas carols or something like that. Only two porta potties though. Oh. Oh. That's a major faux pas.
9:23
Yeah. True. I mean, they literally had four, but two of them were construction and locked with padlocks. Oh, yeah, that's- I mean, you're kind of inviting public urinations- Yes, you are... at that point.
9:33
But I w- did not do that. I was diligent, and I waited in line, but everyone was bitching at everybody else that was- Mm-hmm... waiting in line. 'Cause, 'cause what? Everyone's in gear.
9:43
Do you remember when they had- It's gonna take time. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So what I did was Snuggie over the shoulder, pants down. I mean, I had shorts on- [laughs]... so I'm not, like, naked.
9:54
You're already in line with your pants down, getting- Yeah... ready to go? [laughs] Yeah. I'm going like, I mean, I, I, I'm going like, "Come on." That's a Santa. "Come on, let's do this." Now, that's a Santa. Yeah.
10:02
There you go. So I made some friends in line. Remember when they had- [laughs] Remember the couple of years they had the, um, beer bubbler there? They had a beer bubbler. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
10:12
That was a nice... Those guys are cool. They've been at that for a long time. All right. Well, since- I didn't wander around too much... since we're, we're about to the top of the hill on the Rampage thing, let's, uh,
10:24
let's talk about what we got going for beer today. It is... All right, already. There you go. [laughs] Uh, from Toppling Goliath, it is PseudoSu.
10:38
The reason why we have this instead of Ham's is 'cause they had 12 packs of this, and it wasn't that expensive, so. Right. Yeah, they were- Potos? Yeah... everywhere. And, uh- So funny...
10:46
and it's PseudoSu, not King Su, which every bar around here seems to have the King Su. Huh. I think we've talked about this before, but- That knocks you out though. It does... it's so easy to drink.
10:54
And this doesn't, even though you drink a few of them and it is- It's still, you still gotta be careful. It's a little high test. It's in the probably in the- Yeah. I think this is a seven... I don't know.
11:00
It's in the sixes somewhere. Sixes. Probably says somewhere on here. Let's see. I'm looking. I'm just saying- It's in the sixes.
11:06
It's, uh- It is, it is a Decorah tie-in 'cause Chewy did a, uh, a very sad, he said, Santa Rampage [laughs] in Decorah. Aw. Aw. I just, yeah. Like little Cindy Lou Lou. You know what?
11:17
Okay, so a place like Decorah- Lou... and, um, Lunz and I- 5.8 Oh, there you go. That ain't even a super easy drink. That's really good. It's easy drinkable. It's almost in the session category. I might as well- Right.
11:28
[laughs] Yeah... I might as well just get, you know- That's not even a senior citizen there. Um- Come on now... so Lunz and I, over the last several years, have not done Milwaukee.
11:38
We've gone to Rochester, Minnesota a couple times. We went to Decorah last year to kinda try and bring outside people into the thing and say, "Let's get this rolling." Yeah. Rochester got going pretty good.
11:49
Like, the, uh, one of the good years there, we had TV coverage. Um, Chewy was a- able to arrange that. I've heard some of those post-Rampage podcasts from those guys. Yeah. From the, yeah.
11:59
It's just, I mean, you know, I like the idea of trying to spread it around, but nobody's- Yeah... nobody's ever gonna do it like Milwaukee. No. You just can't It's all Dave's fault And, you know,
12:09
I was- Blame, blame Dave [laughs]... I really would like Global Fat Bike Day to be a different day, because the Two Rivers guys for Global Fat Bike Day had- Yeah, I know, but George-... had a great turnout...
12:16
George does a really good job up there Yeah, yeah... and it's just like you can't really do both. But George does a great job. He always gets a huge crew out on that ride. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
12:24
Well, that's because their Santa Rampage is later. [laughs] Well, it's the same day. Oh, later. Oh, they do it- The Green Bay Santa Rampage is later. Oh. We're talking about George, right? George. Yeah. Okay.
12:33
Oh, yeah, yeah. Broken Spoke George. Yeah, yeah. All right. Yeah. Well, that's, uh... probably beat the Santa Rampage thing to death. Everything is Global Fat Bike Day if you want it to be- Yeah... as you said.
12:44
Well, that's true. So, uh- Sorry, I have a frog in my throat... we- I think we've talked a few shows about breweries closing around here. Oh, God. Another one's going. They're dropping like stones. Enlighten.
12:53
Enlighten's- Enlighten's gone... closing- Oh, really? Closing on January 5th. Oh. Oh, no... so. Yeah, I don't know.
12:58
There was a, a, like a year ago there was a thing, 27- Well, that's a lot of real estate in that building... like, places that brew beer in Milwaukee that are not, you know, big mega breweries. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
13:09
Gotta be some thinning out though probably, huh? It's- Unfortunately, Enlighten, the building was humongous and- Yeah... that can- I mean, just heating that place has gotta be a tax on- Yeah... thing, huh?
13:18
I'm worried about 1840 now with the owner's wife being ill and, and that's a hard- Well, it's tu-... operation to keep going. Yeah, but it's, uh, tucked in that one building, so.
13:26
Well, their brewery's actually in a different location. And they've got kind of like a weird business model too- Yeah... where it ki- it's kinda like a club sort of- Ooh, and they're huge into-... thing co-op and-...
13:35
beer blending, a lot like, uh, Harbor Brewery in, uh, Zion Or, or Split Rock kinda just, "Hey, we're gonna- Harbor Brewery... rent out some of our fats." Right.
13:42
Yeah, that was a Global Fat Bike Day stop one time in the past. And, and they're good, but that's their... They're niche breweries that do blending of beers. Mm.
13:51
Which at first I thought was weird until I had a couple, and I'm like, "Okay, this k- kinda makes sense." Mm. But that's 1840's big thing.
13:58
Also, um, up, uh, north of us, up in, uh, Superior, is a, um, a brewery that is starting to do some things with bike events up by us. Um, but, uh, they, uh...
14:12
and they were with the Hungry Bear for a while when I ran the Hungry Bear Gravel Race, because it's Ursa, Ursa Minor Brewing. And so- Aha... I thought, "Oh, Ursa Minor. Let's, you know-" It's a bear, a bear thing...
14:22
it's a bear thing. Ursa. You know, you wanna be one of our bears. Bear. But, um, so they have a bunch of cool beers, but, um, I recently had one that was absolutely delish that reminded me of one of Tim's beers, Spruce.
14:37
Oh. Yeah. And it is a spruce beer. It's called Sauna Beer, but it's- Sauna... like a s- it's like a sessionable one though. So it tastes like- With, with spruce? Yes. Interesting.
14:47
It tastes like Tim's beer, but it doesn't have the- But you can have more than one? Yeah, doesn't just like- The punch that [laughs]... hit you over the damn head with a- Yeah. Right. Yeah. Interesting...
14:56
with a, with a- It's a log of spruce... yeah. [laughs] Right. But it tastes a lot like his, his beer, just- Interesting... doesn't have quite the depth to it, 'cause it doesn't have that much alcohol, you know, in it.
15:05
But yeah, it's really good. So i, it's not... Ursa, they're a very small brewery still, so they don't really distribute a lot much- Right... so.
15:14
But it's good if you ever get a chance, if you're ever up north of- So you were saying sauna. It reminded me of a thing I saw this week of all of the public saunas in Finland,
15:24
and I would like to figure out what that mapping program was, because s- people for fatbike.com want somewhere where all the groomed trails are on a map.
15:33
I think that's a great idea, but there are thousands and thousands and thousands of public saunas in Finland. I'm sure. 'Cause it rules. You know how many are here? Zero. Probably none. Public saunas?
15:45
For the most part, yeah. Um- I mean, there's publicly accessible ones. Yeah. Like Rome, Rome has one. Right. You can rent, uh, you can rent time outside of, uh, Boone & Crockett. You can- They've got a sauna...
15:55
oh, yeah, that's true You can rent them. There's a bunch of companies- Oh, God, yeah... up by us that have like a- Yeah. Oh, Minnesota's got a big sauna renaissance. And they got, and they have like cold plunges as well.
16:01
Yep... yeah. Yep. It's taking over the place of the, uh, the outdoor bar. So- That I could have gotten a drink at- Since we're going down-... simply instead of going in there going, "Anyone? No? Okay."
16:11
I'm more of a hot tub guy. I'm gonna go back outside and go into my fat bike. See, I'm... We don't have either, but- I'm, uh... I went down a rabbit hole. My wife wants a sauna, or wants a hot tub. I want a sauna.
16:23
Um, I don't wanna drop eight grand on a sauna and find out she doesn't like it, so I've now gone to tent saunas. Mm-mm. Drug sauna. Yeah. [laughs] They're, they're- Yeah, yeah... 1,200 bucks. Yep. Wood-fired. Yep.
16:37
You can get them to 200 degrees, and when you're done, you pack them up and take them away. Or you leave it up for the winter while you use it- Right, right... and then you take it down in the spring.
16:45
And I am hardcore considering one of those. Yeah. Espec- they make one with a pellet stove. Yeah. So you don't have to keep feeding it. So you don't have to like feed it? Right. Yeah.
16:52
I mean, you can directly- Pellet, pellet stove, you got- Drug sauna... they make noise and- Oh, yeah... you know. They do, but you can regulate the heat so much better. Oh. Drug sauna. [laughs] Drug sauna. Drug sauna.
17:05
Oh, yeah. There you go. It's a good band. [laughs] It's the name of a band. They play out of a van. Yeah, they play out of a van. Um, I do love a, I do love a good hot tub, but the maintenance is a nightmare.
17:13
Yeah, I know, and that's one reason why we- Sauna's not so much... frozen pipes and all that stuff. Oh, yeah. Yeah, right. So- Sauna, on the other, especially a wood-fired- No... like for you, with your land- Right.
17:24
But, you know, we have a wood stove in our, in our living room, so like... and honestly, after like an hour, it's 85 degrees in our living room, so you're sweating and taking stuff off anyway.
17:37
It's not 180 degrees or whatever, but it's, but it's- It's pretty comfy, warm enough... it's pretty warm and it's pretty comfy. And we put a kettle on the top and it's steaming. Yep, yep. So, you know, so yeah.
17:48
Mini sauna. Yeah, not quite, yeah. Small scale large sauna. [laughs] Right. Yeah. You okay there? Yeah. Okay. Charging his, uh, lighting. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Uh, I actually ran my light out on the Rampage. All this talk...
18:00
yeah, well, yeah, that's what I'm saying. [laughs] I was going like, as I was leaving, I'm like- I ran mine out on Saturday, Sunday... I don't think I did recharge- After church... this son of a gun on my way.
18:07
Were any of you guys around in the heyday of mountain biking? Back in the late '90s, mid '90s when- Yeah... when they made- Yeah, as Road Rider... when they made American-made derailleurs. I was on ESPN.
18:17
I, I podiumed on a ESPN filmed, like- Wow... race and I was on ESPN. Right on. Yeah. Do you remember American-made derailleurs out of, like, billet aluminum, Precision Billet, Paul Components made one.
18:30
Oh, uh, American-made- Made... yeah. Yes. Right... derailleurs. Well, there's, there's... Yeah. And now there's another one. Yeah. I don't know. It's, it's- Oregon? Are they out of Oregon? Yeah. Yeah.
18:39
I think they're out of Oregon, and it- They're pricey... it's 300 bucks, 295 dollars. Is it... Yeah. And rebuildable. It's not that expensive compared to- But they're claiming it's really, really nice...
18:47
and rebuildable, and it's not... If you compare that to, uh- That's what they said about Precision Billet too- But- And I still have all the parts it takes to rebuild one, 'cause they kept coming back to get rebuilt.
18:55
But if- Because they would just, they would just twist under load. Oh, okay. I'm sure these are way better designed. Yeah. But if you, if you compare that price to, like, an XTR or- True... you know, it's- 250 plus.
19:06
Yeah. Yeah, good point... right. So, yeah, or an Eagle. Or you could just run internally gears or ride single speed.
19:13
Or we can all go back to friction shifting, which I- Yeah, I don't think I've actually- I keep thinking about it... bought a new drivetrain part in- I fucking love friction. Oh... although one by 10, it's hard.
19:23
You gotta be really finicky with that friction. Oh, well, I wanted to try it with- I got a 12-speed- Ungermann can do it like no tomorrow... well, it's not friction, though. Well, it could be. I have a, just a- Yeah...
19:31
thumb shifter for my 12-speed and it's like click, click, click. Un- Ungermann's got a 12-speed thumb shifter and he can shift that thing like a dream. Yeah. I'm like, "Dude." It's all about being precise.
19:38
I'm thinking about it. It's, it's literally like- The tiny little nuts... oh, yeah. And it's the next gear. I'm like, "How do you do that?" [laughs] Or it's all single speed or fuck it. Or he just rides single speed.
19:47
Yeah. Or you just- Fuck you, you fucking fuck. Yeah. Just saying. Just saying. All right, so Dave's- Every time I have a- Th- anything-... anything with a derailleur, something about the derailleur goes to shit. Yeah.
19:56
And e- no, I just have, I... Maybe I'm Charlie Browned, you know, I just have that- Oh, you're Charlie Browned. [laughs] I just have that cloud on me, but it's just like, "Come on, world."
20:04
[sings] It, it's not like I bang the hell out of it by any stretch. [sings] But it all comes out to being one speed. Yeah. So just stay at one speed. Right on.
20:14
And, uh- Uh, people that have listened to the show before probably know Dave's from up in Hayward, Wisconsin these days. Or Celay. Technically Celay. Technically Celay, but Hayward gives you a spot on the map to- Yeah...
20:25
kinda, where people may have been to see- You can find Celay. It's- On a map you could, but- It's an intersection... yeah, just people know generally where it is.
20:32
[laughs] Uh- Oh, that's- It's halfway, I'm halfway between Hayward, Celay is halfway between Hayward and Cable. Right on. So. And you have snow now. We do. We have snow. No shit. Yes.
20:44
We've had snow for a while, consistent snow. It's not deep. Um, it's not enough to groom for fat bikes yet, but, um, all our trails, the Cambu trails are, it's that ride in perfect l- you know. Nice.
20:59
So everything, the nice thing about living in northern Wisconsin is that all winter long it looks like a snow globe. [laughs] It looks like a pretty winter wonderland.
21:11
The snow never gets that gray, dark, you know- Oh, yeah...
21:15
'cause there just isn't enough dirt in the air, and we get enough tiny little, even if it doesn't snow but a 10th of an inch or something- It's enough to cover...
21:22
every couple of days we're getting just, you know, a few- Yeah, it's pretty... dustings to make it pretty. So, so it's actually an amazing time to ride right now, 'cause you can ride all 100 miles of the Cambu trails.
21:34
They're all technically groomed for single tr- Nice... for, for fat bikes right now because they're in perfect... And it's, I just rode the other day and I r- I was riding just down, like...
21:45
Oh, it's another perfect time because there's not enough snow for snowmobiles. ATVs, everybody's got them in their garage already. [laughs] Nice. So all the ATV trails and snowmobile trails are, like, they're your own.
21:57
I rode one, I'll send you the picture. I rode one the other day, um, and, uh, I was following wolf tracks the whole way. So I got- Wow, cool... I got some pic- That's cool... I got a picture.
22:09
I'll send it to you for your show notes for later of- Right on... of, um, my fat bike tire next to a wolf, wolf track. Wolves are big. They're big.
22:18
Yeah, you can also tell they're wolves and not dogs because, um, they overprint. Wolves only leave, like, two, they, they step in their- 'Cause they, 'cause they step in their same track, yep...
22:26
step in the same tracks, so dogs usually are- They ride single file to hide their numbers. [laughs] Right. Yes, yes. Yeah, so, um- Only Imperial Stormtroopers... but yeah, so that was nice.
22:36
Uh- But yeah, so we've had great, great fat bike- Awesome... right now, and, uh, I've been trying to, I've rode every day in a row for, like, four days finally for, for forever. Sweet.
22:47
I'm not, like, trying to do my squirrel abatement or anything like that- [laughs]... that normally occupies me. How are those coming? I'm at 23 flying squirrels and counting- Fuck... from our rental.
22:57
Are you relocating them? Yes. Yes. Yes. [laughs] They're going to their farm in Siboy- Are you relocating them with a gun? Testing, testing their flight- No, not a gun... let me test your flight capability.
23:06
I can promise they're never coming back. [laughs] They drown. All right, so, so the, you've got the snow, you've got the cold. Uh- [laughs]...
23:14
we kinda talked a couple times over the last couple weeks about favorite winter gear. Right, and I- You-... I saw that, I saw your hats and whatnot- Dave brought some props...
23:22
and so I, I did bring some, a couple of- Nice, prop it up... props, winter, winter props. What do you got?
23:25
I thought about wearing the pants that I wear all the time, and then you could put as click bait on the title, "Dave Drops Trow" on the YouTube. [laughs] But instead I just brought them. So, um,
23:38
so I have these- Ooh, those look comfy... the, they're made in USA, Big Bill, I don't know where. Big Bill- Oh, where's, where's Big William from? I'm not sure. Lined wool? Thick. I- Lined ironed wool... I did that. Oh.
23:53
Ah. I took an old, I took an old, um, uh, silk, uh, sleeping bag liner that I never use. And I lined the fronts. Um, so I, I split the seams and I just sewed in a front wind front of silk.
24:10
So now- Sweet... it's wind front, but and it's thick wool so it's warm, and it blocks the wind, and it breathes really well. Nice. You, you know what I'm thinking of when I see that? I do not Fox Yeah, so- Oh, yeah...
24:22
these are, they look like- That's what I, that's what I wore on Santa Rampage- Right... my fox ones And I also, I also ta- But they're not wool... I tapered them when, when I, 'cause I cut the seam down.
24:31
They, they're meant to fit over boots and stuff, so then I, when I sewed them back, when I sewed the seam back, I tapered them a little bit so, so they're more bikey.
24:40
But they do, they are, um, also really, like, high-waisted. Like, they're old school dungaree style.
24:47
Like, they, they fit like old man pants and stuff, which actually for the winter- At your waist, where your actual waist is- [laughs] Right here in the belly area... usually just below. Yeah. That's nice.
24:55
Not around my belly. Big belt loops. Not below my belly. Yeah, and it has, they have, if you wanted to use suspenders- Suspenders, yeah, absolutely...
25:02
you, if you wanna go the bib route, if you're, "I'm a bib guy only-" No... you can wear suspenders. I tweed ride. Yeah, I like it. There's always a tweed ride a year.
25:07
So, so these I wear, and I never wash them 'cause they're wool, so I just hang them outside and I- Let them air dry... rinse them off if they get muddy or something- [laughs]... and then I just hang them to dry.
25:18
Um, so I got those, and then I did the same thing, you'll recognize this shirt, Greg. Uh-huh. Uh, it, it, it looks very similar. [laughs] Wait a second. So I did the, I did the same thing to, uh, to an Icon, uh- Ah.
25:33
Kitsbow... an Icon, Kitsbow Icon. I took the same sleeping bag liner, silk sleeping bag liner, and sewed a front, wind front into the front. I wish the, uh, Kitsbow folks were still sewing, 'cause- I know...
25:46
I really- So do I. So this shirt, which is the same- Yep... pattern, this is the one that they tried to make for fat Americans. Yeah. But it's kinda shorter. Could've just said Americans. It's not the right- Oh...
25:57
it's not... So the one I like the most is my gray one, which is the original. And even though I'm kind of getting rotund- I did the same-... it's a, it's, it's longer- I am not... in here and I like it more.
26:06
I did the same thing. At first I tried with them to get their, like, their more relaxed fit, whatever it was, in the same size that I normally wear. And then I realized, you know what? This is still, like...
26:18
I dr- So I just ordered one size up now, so I get the large. Normally I'm a medium, I get the large. And so that's a large. It fits over whatev- depending on different- Yeah, layers...
26:27
temperature range, I can put a heavier wool base layer or something under it. And then it, if it gets very cold, I have this Johnson Woolen Mills, um, com- super nice, very warm, um- Thick wool... thick wool.
26:45
And it's also, though, very breathable, and it's a zipper. Um, it doesn't- Beautiful... have, like, the back funky pocket, which again, like the old Woolrich hunting, Pure hunting ones have.
26:55
But those, again, that's just extra crap to stop it breathing in the back, and I find that, like, sweat management, if you're gonna be out for- Yeah... more than a couple hours, that's- That's fine...
27:07
the number one thing. You just gotta- Very good... stay, keep from sweating so much. Certainly a common theme is wool. Yeah. Well, it's- 'Cause it rules.
27:17
It, it, if you do s- so even my base layers are wool, and if they do get a little sweaty, they still hold heat. Whereas, like, the sort of, like, plasticky stuff dries quicker, it does dry- But gets cold...
27:30
but it gets cold if- Agreed. Agreed... it, if it, when it's wet. Have you tried alpaca or any of the other alternate fibers to wool? Other animals, yak, yak? Uh, I think it's still wool. Yak.
27:41
As I say, alpaca's still wool. Yaker. It's just wool from a different animal. Different animal, yeah. What about, uh, yeti fur? I think I have had, like, hollow, aren't those hollow- Same squeeze...
27:51
those were a Wisconsin company, Hollow Socks. Hollow, yeah. Yeah. And those are alpaca wool. I tried those.
27:56
My socks, though, and I used to, I try to be Wisconsin first, and so I was a Wigwam guy, and- Got tons of them... right?
28:04
But honestly, I, I hate to say this, Wisconsin sock makers, but, but, um, Darn Tough socks from Vermont- Are way better... are better. They just last longer. I, and- I get years out of my Wigwams, though.
28:19
I, I haven't yet. And they're cheap. I haven't. Yeah, they just, they kind of lose, to me they lose their- Yeah... their, their- Elasticity... yeah, their, they just become- Wow, maybe it's just me, I'm lucky then...
28:28
the huggery. Yeah. I have, uh, Willow Ace are what I'm using now, 'cause I, they re- reasonably priced, you know, and still- The Darn Toughs- Darn Toughs are-... ones from Ver- they're not super expensive or anything.
28:40
They're, they're a few bucks more than, like, a Wigwam. Okay. You know, I can get them at my farm, my L&M Supply, my farm and fleet place- Oh, cool... you know, on the rack. They're, they're not, you know, yeah.
28:51
They're, but, yeah. Awesome. So anyway, I- You, you can't beat a quality pair of socks. I agree. Yeah, absolutely. And glove liners.
28:58
I mean, you, you get a decent pair of glove liners and a g- decent pair of socks, you're way better off riding.
29:03
I, it, I, people were on the ride, even when it was on, uh, for the Santa Rampage, wearing two pairs of socks and I think making the, you know, too tight a fit, and their toes are cold. Yeah. Yeah.
29:14
And it's like, just wear one pair of socks- Right... in there, folks. Unless you get really cold- Let your skin breathe a little bit... and then you gotta do stupid stuff like baggies on your feet and whatnot, but. Yeah.
29:21
But it wasn't cold like that- Not gonna-... for Santa Rampage. Yeah, no, it was beautiful. Well, no, people, some people were just wearing sneakers and just trying to be clever.
29:28
I, you know, I ride in- And I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, "It's, it's nice out-" I ride in my- "... but it ain't that nice out." I ride in my work boots. Yeah. And, um- Yeah, just like, yeah...
29:35
and the winter, I, I've got the waterproof lined Thorogood work boots, which are essentially like an insulated version of, like- Yeah... the leather ones. And those, until it gets to be
29:48
below zero or low single digits, those are fine. I don't have to switch out to something else.
29:54
Um, we do have lots of icy s- places that I ride, um, both frozen lakes and icy gravel roads that get iced up all, in the winter, so I do switch to, um, I've got those Icebug boots that have got the built-in studs on the bottom.
30:10
Nice. Just because you forget when you're on studded tires, and you get off your bike and- You fall down. [laughs] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, many times.
30:17
[laughs] I've got, uh, well, uh, Grip Stud still makes one that you, they're boot studs. You screw them into the bottom of your boots.
30:23
I have used just, like, hex head machine screws that I s- Grew into my Keens when it gets super cold, you know? Yeah, I've got a pair of Keens with, like, s- eight of them, I think it's a couple up by the toe- Yeah...
30:36
a couple on the heel. I- I probably do that... it's enough not to fall down when you get off your bike- Right... like you're saying. That's what it's for. Probably fall.
30:40
[laughs] If I, if I'm riding on a frozen lake and I- Sweet... yeah. Speaking of that, the dude that was the elf at Santa Rampage who looked- The one... just like Will Ferrell. Dude. Oh, yeah. The one. Oh, no.
30:51
The one guy, you know? He did. He looked, I'm like, "Holy shit, is Will, Will Ferrell on this ride with us?" Yeah, he actually did look a lot like Will Ferrell. Like, he looked, he was like 6'6". Hmm. He, it was good.
31:00
I'm like, "Oh, my God." What's up? I know that guy. I, that's what I said, "I know him." I know him. [laughs] I had just watched it before the ride because of Daniel. Oh. I like that movie. I like that movie.
31:11
It's a good movie. What's her name? Uh, the singer, what's her name? Zooey Deschanel. Zooey. Deschanel. Yeah, Zooey Deschanel. Yeah. She's, uh, in some other shows, too. She's- New Girl. New Girl. Yeah.
31:23
No, I liked that movie. When they got to meet- Oh, is she... Really? When, when they got to meet Prince- Oh, yeah... and Prince was there. Oh, yes. Wow. Oh, yes, you can freak out now. [laughs] Ah!
31:33
[laughs] I- Is that what he said- Yeah... to New Girl the night? [laughs] I, I knocked Prince down on, outside First Avenue.
31:40
We were both not looking where we were going in the wintertime, and he was wearing stupidly high- Oh, he's so short... like, shoes Five-foot-something. And I, and I was talking- Still shorter than you...
31:50
to my friends and smoking a cigarette and walking, and he was coming out and- [laughs]... boom, and I just fucking knocked Prince over. Nice. Attaboy. And he goes, "Oh, dudes."
31:59
And this was before you had bodyguards everywhere and stuff- Mm-hmm... so I'm like, "Oh, he's-" Otherwise, you wouldn't be here right now. Right. [laughs] He's... No, he was cool about it.
32:08
And a friend of mine- Dave Spong... used to play basket- He's like... a friend of mine used to play basketball with him at Paisley Park. He's like, but he's like this tall, isn't he? Yeah.
32:15
Yeah, he's a little over five foot, but he's actually a pretty good basketball player, too. [laughs] Yeah, my friend said he was a pretty good basketball player. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yep. [laughs] Yeah. Right on.
32:23
Well, folks- Yeah. [laughs]... we're, we're at that point. Uh, do you wanna leave us with any thoughts, Dave, or, uh, what's going on here? We could talk more, but, uh, we don't have to.
32:31
Well, like I said, uh, if you're looking for snow, um, we've got it. If you see- We've got just enough to make it, like, really nice riding everywhere, so, um, you cannot go wrong- It's, wasn't-...
32:44
in northern Wisconsin right now... the lake effect like, uh, Buffalo and Erie, Pennsylvania? Oh, yeah. Oh. No, no, we don't get that. Oh, baby hammers.
32:50
You know, but so I w- I haven't checked, but, um, you know, th- over, um, east of us a ways, they catch some of that in northern Wisconsin before it hits, like, by Montreal and Guile and stuff like that, and so I wonder, I haven't looked, but Wind Man, if, people haven't ridden at Wind Man, it's another awesome place to ride in the winter.
33:10
Really great groomed trails, flowy, super well-groomed, um, purpose-built mountain bike trails. Okay.
33:18
And they're really good, and they've got a great little s- place to get beer and snacks and food and stuff like that there. It's an amazing place to ride.
33:26
Um, so they might have more snow than us, and if they do, it'll be groomed well. All right, I gotta put that in the notes to remind myself. Yeah. Besides your big, your big bill pants, I'd put Kisspoon there- Big bill...
33:36
but we- Oh, and they are-... can't find them anymore... and they, over in, over there by, that's by Boulder Junction and Winchester and Manitowish Waters, and, um- Ah... and they are building an ice skating trail.
33:49
Really? Trail? Yeah. That sounds awesome. [laughs] I like... With ele- with elevation and everything? Yeah. No. Oh, my God. [laughs] And they bought a- That sounds like so much fun...
33:57
they bought a used $5,000 mini Zamboni, and they're building an ice skating trail. I like this idea. Ice... Where is this? I'm not, I'm not ever doing it- Ice skating... but I like it. Manit- It's like a pump track.
34:07
But it, it's- [laughs] Oh, I wanna do this. It's in Vilas County. It's in Vilas County. An ice skating pump track, I could see that. That sounds like a blast. It really does. I- Send more info to the podcast.
34:16
They've got them in Finland. We were talking about Finland. They've got them in Finland, and that's where they got the idea. There's lots of Finnish people up by us, so. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kim's cousin, uh,
34:26
from South Side of Chicago, he would always go up in that- God, that sounds like so much fun... in that zone of, of violence. Right? That sounds like so much fun.
34:33
And he's just like, he's like, "Da, da, da, da," and he's finally just full-on moved up there. Yeah. So he's- But they even bought a Zamboni for it, so it's gonna be legit. That's awesome.
34:41
God, that sounds like a good time. It does sound like a good time. That sounds like a really good time. You know what sounds like a good time, too? Beer? Tune in next week for show number 285.
34:51
[laughs] Don't wanna shoot at all this, will you? Well, yeah, I mean, Dave was- Sparklers... pretty much made the show easy today 'cause we didn't have to talk that much. Yes. We're the dancers.
34:59
[laughs] Notwithstanding, um, thanks for bringing some stuff to show. I- You bet... do have to check those pants out. Those look pretty cool. Yeah. [laughs] They're not super expensive, either. Big bill.
35:07
They're not super expensive. Good thing, yeah, good thing you didn't wear them and had to pull them down- I was gonna do that... because this way, I have to check your pants out- [laughs]...
35:13
would've come off very interestingly- Yeah... after the fact. Especially since you were just talking about wearing yours around your ankles waiting for the bathroom. Right.
35:20
It would, it would've fit right in with the theme. I had shorts on underneath. That's fine. Normal shorts. Sure. Sure. Yeah, G-string, shorts, same thing. Yeah. All right, everybody. Job trap. Hey, thanks for listening.
35:30
Thanks. [laughs] Thanks to Dave for being here, and, uh, thanks Tony for keeping the beer flowing. Yeah. That'd be awesome. Ohm. Bye.
35:41
[rock music]
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