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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling 307 – Ian and Montana From Bicycle Benefits
May 29, 2025
Full Spectrum Cycling 307 – Ian and Montana From Bicycle Benefits
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Transcript
0:00
[rock music] Million Voices Rise! [rock music] Oh.
0:12
[rock music] [laughs] Hey, everybody. Welcome to Full Spectrum Cycling. This is show number 307. Did you hear the crickets in there? Wonderful. Yeah, I was wondering what I was hearing, but yes.
0:27
[laughs] That means I pushed two buttons at one time. Oh. That's what that means. Uh- [laughs] It's a wildlife show. Yeah. We're- [laughs]... we're, we're, uh, we're doing the, the nature thing here. All right.
0:40
Well, we'll cut that off. Hey, everybody. This is, like I said, show 307. Do we know anything about that? No, I- All right... I've been on vacation at home. Right on. Oh, yeah. My brain- That's right...
0:50
my brain's been- We'll, we'll, we'll ask you about that in a second. Uh, that's JK. You guys know him, 'cause he's on the show all the time. Yeah. Hi, everybody. Uh, we have Montana. Hello. And Ian. Hello.
1:02
I- Ian is, Ian is a show... He's, he's been on... How many times you been on? Couple, three, this is- This is my third... third time. Trifecta. Yeah.
1:10
So, uh, we're gonna talk about some stuff, and then we'll talk about some other stuff, and then, uh- Oh- And then we'll be done... let's talk about the o- [laughs]...
1:17
the stuff stuff The stuff first and then the other stuff. Uh, JK was on, he, he's on holiday this week. Ah, yes, yes, yes. [laughs] Uh- And he keep, yeah, and the weather is cooperating so nicely.
1:29
Well, actually, it's not bad right now, but- Yeah. So, yeah. Relaxing... end of the semester holiday. [laughs] Yeah. What are you doing on your vacation? Absolutely nothing. Perfect. Very- [laughs] Absolutely...
1:41
very little. Like rubber duckies in the bathtub? That's what you're supposed to do, I think. Kind of. They're the one. [laughs] Yeah, it's...
1:49
I got my Grover book, with the monster at the end of the book, so- Well, um, let- Putting myself to sleep- [laughs]... in terrors by that one, but yeah, it's waking up and then going, "I don't have to be up,"
2:01
and knock out for another hour or two. Good call. It's beautiful. That's nice. Beautiful feeling.
2:04
Let's, uh, let's start out by recapping last week's, 'cause y- you, the, both of these fine folks here are, are putting events together around the city, and we got one upcoming we'll talk about.
2:14
But, uh, let's recap the Petal Parade. Oh, yeah. And let you know. That was, uh... I saw the video of the people leaving at the start, and it looked like you were well-attended, and many decorated bikes.
2:28
What, what was your impression of the whole thing? It was just so wholesome and sweet and fun, and this was the third year doing it, and it's a completely free event. I buy posters, and everybody else donates.
2:46
We get food donated, mu- live music from The Vibe donated, um, prizes donated for, like, the best, uh, bike decorations and bike floats.
2:56
We had Bicycle Benefits, Truly Spoken, Vulture Space, Dream Bikes, um, Acorn Apothecary, and Scrap Yard Solutions with Eric Bang, all donated prizes, and people were really excited about those, and yeah.
3:13
So what, what, uh, what brought the idea up to do it? Well, three years ago, I had done my first, uh, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, and it was, like, Fat Tus- or was on my birthday.
3:27
And we just did, like, months of, like, two months of parading around.
3:32
And there's, like, the standard parades, you know, that the police put up barricades, and a lot of people come and watch and whatever, and those are fine.
3:40
But there's a lot of, like, anarchist style parades- Nice, nice... where you don't... Like, nobody knows that they're gonna happen.
3:47
There's, like, a really nondescript poster that's just like, "Show up at this time," at the... And, like, sometimes you have to call to know where to show up, and there's, like, a theme. Is it like a flash mob?
3:58
Kind of, yeah. Hmm. Like flash mob parade style, and, like, everyone just shows up in theme, and you just start parading around town and just, you know, making the cars stop as you waltz around.
4:09
And I was like, "We need more parades in Milwaukee." Ta-da, yeah, yeah. Yeah. That's awesome. Very true. Yeah. [laughs] Oh, you c- I don't, you couldn't have had a better day. It seemed like the weather was beautiful.
4:17
Oh. Oh, yeah. Perfect, yeah. For sure. So that was Saturday. That was Saturday. And then, uh, Sunday we had the... Where's my poster? Damn it. Where's my prop? Oh, where did it go? Best laid plan there. Where's my prop?
4:29
It, uh, we had the Tour de Towner, uh, which is the- Oh... 20, I, it's the 29th, although that says- 5... 25, but it was really the 29th. That's what a degree in classical civilization [laughs] will yield you.
4:43
I, I- I know, I know my Roman numerals, dude... I can Roman numeral with the best of y'all, I guarantee you. As long as it's not, like, over 10,000 or so, I get kind of caught at the, at the end of the- Oh, sure...
4:53
at the end of the M's or... [laughs] That was the pain of having to do conversational ancient Latin. [laughs] So, uh, you guys had maybe 50 or 60 people.
5:03
I think the Tour de Towner was probably not quite as well attended. We'd say maybe 25, 30. Eh, in the 20s. T- in the 25s. Um- It was a fl- a floating attendance. Right.
5:13
Some just, like, went as far as they wanted to go, turned around, and- Yeah... headed back to the bar. Yeah.
5:17
'Cause that ride, we go up by Brown- 'Cause, yeah, it is- We go up by Brown Deer Park, which is, I don't know, eight miles away. It's not s- you know, it's not huge deal... it's not close, and- No...
5:25
most people can handle it. They just kinda are like, "Holy shit, I'm out this far? Oh. Oh, oh." Uh, uh- You know? It's like, "I didn't know I could do that." I didn't know this was Tour de Outta Towner.
5:34
[laughs] Tour, yeah, Tour de Outta... That's still Milwaukee up there, isn't it? Yeah. It's, it's nudging. It's nudges right onto the Brown Deer- Yeah... city limits, I think. Yeah, for sure.
5:44
But that was, uh, another bluebird day. Mm-hmm. Mm. So the cycling in, in Milwaukee this past weekend was bonus. Yeah. Uh, Ian, welcome. Hello. Again, welcome back to your third appearance on our show.
5:59
I didn't have to break in this time. [laughs] Right? Uh, why don't we do a little- Oh, yeah. [laughs] Yeah, that was very sneaky of you. Cory Bauman s- just snuck up on us last week, too.
6:11
Yeah, that was, that was fucking- I was like, "Why is that, why is that big guy walking through? Who is that guy?" What? [laughs] Uh, why don't we...
6:18
W- can you recap what Bicycle Benefits is maybe, and, uh, we don't have to go through your whole history. People can listen to former shows, but, uh, past shows. Former? Past. History. Prior.
6:29
Uh, I'll, I'll put some links in the show notes about Ian's past appearances on the show. [laughs] Uh, but Bicycle Benefits has been going on for how long now? Well, in Milwaukee, it's been going on for 11 years. Okay.
6:42
And in other cities, we're at about, like, 15 or 16 years. Right on. And it's, it's kind of like a, you know, a flip in the culture where, you know, everything's prioritized around driving.
6:56
So, uh, we connect with local businesses that see the value in cycling to their establishments, and they provide some reward or discount if you ride your bike there. Good call. Uh, we...
7:07
I just had a couple props if you wanted to, to show anything. But basically- Okay... the stickers, you stick on your helmet, and, uh, if you ride to a, a business that...
7:17
Is this this year's or is this la- That might be- Yeah, that's like a listing card. That's this year's listing card.
7:22
So there's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 32 at least minimum. 65. All right, I was get- [laughs] See, I'm bad at estimating stuff, too. [laughs] Right.
7:33
[laughs] Um, 65 businesses in the Milwaukee area provide a benefit, $5 off a day pass at Adventures, Adventure Rock. Ben's Cycles, 10% off. Bliffert, if you need some hardware, 10% off.
7:43
There you are, the bars and breweries. I love the Bliffert... Bars and breweries. Dollar off your first draft. BOGO Thursday through Saturday at the Cactus Club. There's tons of stuff in here. Lot of good stuff.
7:53
And some of what you're gonna be doing is riding around the city, which brings us to the Bike Bingo card. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Which is kind of a s- a similar but separate deal, right? I designed it this year.
8:04
Doesn't it look pretty cool? It looks cool. Nice. Looks, uh, kind of- Pretty funky... kinda psychedelicy. Yeah. With the... You can only get this, uh, special edition sticker with the bingo card.
8:16
So if you want the cool sticker, iridescent- Very nice... gotta get the bingo card. And so t- explain a little bit about what, uh, Bike Bingo is. Well, it's more of, like, the game version of Bike Benefits.
8:28
So people can use the, uh, the Bicycle Benefits year-round, and then some people, like, you know, maybe have certain places they use it, and then some people forget about it.
8:39
[laughs] So then the Bingo kind of provides, like, a little agenda. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. It, yeah, it- Reinforces, like, "Oh, shit, I was just there." Yeah. "I was just there."
8:47
Purple Door Ice Cream, I go by there all the time. [laughs] So it goes for a set time period, the Bingo. So you go to a place, you use your Bike Benefits, and then they'll stamp your Bingo card.
8:57
And then when you get five across, what does that mean? Bingo. Bingo. Okay. Then you- B-I-N-G-O... yeah. Bingo. So then you're in the, into the prize wheel. So then you get to- Can we, can we do diagonal?
9:06
Can we- Oh, yeah. Can we make any funky shapes like, uh- Four corners? Sh- You can't do the four corners. You can't do four corners? No. Not the box, not the little box? No.
9:13
Not the- You can't do the box or the heart or the zigzag. Not the heart. [laughs] Trident. Yeah. What's, uh... Yeah, they have a...
9:18
So at Next Door to Morphic, they have a, a little bit of a twist on Bingo in that there's at least three questions. It's the free space usually if they use it. Uh-huh.
9:29
And then the first two prime numbers they call will have a trivia question. So if you don't answer that right, you don't get the space. Uh-huh. Mm. But they have a bunch of goofy, uh,
9:39
Star Wars related weird shit and stuff that, for patterns. Right, right. But anyway, this is your traditional five across, five down, diagonal, call it a day kinda thing. Yeah. Yeah.
9:48
And the Bicycle Benefits app is, I mean, the, the site is very robust. And very mobile friendly as well. Teeny, yes, very mobile friendly. Mm-hmm. Yep. And I do recall. With the map, yeah. Yeah, by Natalia.
10:00
But you know, the, the Bicycle Benefits and the Bingo, it's, it asks one more things for the local businesses.
10:06
So it's like a, I mean, a huge shout-out to the loc- the places that say yes to these things that I bring to the table. Mm-hmm. Because, you know, they have their systems going, you know.
10:15
They have to train their employees. They have their buttons on the computer. So then, you know, I show up and I'm like, "Hey, let's try something else.
10:22
Let's do, like, a discount when someone comes in with a sticker on their helmet." And then, then maybe they're like, "Okay, we'll do it." And then, and then I'm ask them to sell the stickers, too, you know?
10:31
So they're like, "Okay, I guess we can do that." [laughs] Then, then I show up and I'm like, "Okay, can you do this Bingo thing?" [laughs] "Stamp people's cards and sell these, sell these Bingo cards?" So.
10:41
[laughs] You know, fortunately, the businesses are, uh, you know, you know, have, uh, you know, see value in it 'cause it, you know, brings new people in.
10:50
And with the Bingos especially, it has people seeking out different places that they wouldn't normally go to, so. Yeah, it's like I go to Amorphic all the time. I'm like, "Where's my Bicycle Benefit discount?"
11:01
[laughs] Yeah, and Amorphic's a great place that they, they do their own thing independent of Bike Benefits. What do they do, like, two bucks off all your beers on- Yeah.
11:10
I think it's Monday through Thursday, $2 off if you ride your bike to, it's a, it's a brewery, craft, craft br- craft- Yeah, I think it-... craft brewery place... I think it, yeah, I think it's weekdays. Might be.
11:22
Mi- I don't know about Fridays. Weekdays. I think Tuesday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I think. Monday, Wednesday, Friday. I don't know. Eh. It's wh- Eh. It, it's during the week. Eh.
11:32
And, uh, I'm sure you can find out 'cause there's a poster over there about it. But then you can use your Bicycle Benefits the other days. Right on. Yep. Dig, dig. Yeah. So you, y- but you cannot double-dip. No.
11:45
No double-dipping. [laughs] No double-dipping. The days of double-dipping are over. [laughs] Oh, I tried once. Oh, yeah. But I think, I think Brian kinda leaned into it on one of them, where he's like, "I..."
11:55
Yeah, "Just, I'll just do it." "I just figured, I just figured I'd... Okay. Da, da, da, da." [laughs] I'm like, "I'm not gonna stop you."
12:00
They have a, they have a slew- "Got $4 for a very robust beer would be, is fine by me." Yeah. They have a slew of good bartenders over there. Yeah.
12:07
Uh, speaking of over there, I guess we could jump to next week real quick and, uh- Talk a little bit about the Bike Week party, right? Is it- Oh, yeah... yeah.
12:18
It is at Amorphic, which is right next door here on Fratney Street in Riverwest in Milwaukee, but, uh, Ian's been putting this thing together, so he's got some experience now with event, uh, planning.
12:30
Yeah, so here in, here in Wisconsin, we celebrate Bike Month a month after other states. So if you're listening in from any other part of
12:40
the country, then you're probably like, "Oh, May is Bike Month," but in Wisconsin, we've declared June as Bike Month. That's 'cause riding in May is very unpredictable. Yep. You'd be like, "Well, it could be snowing."
12:50
[laughs] Or it could be... Uh, yeah, so, uh, is it Tues- it's Tuesday the 3rd at Amorphic. Mm-hmm. But yeah, just- At Mor-... uh, hip us to the scene. What's going on at that thing? Oh, so we'll have a...
13:04
First of all, ev- everyone that rides their bike to the event gets a special prize, not to be disclosed at this point. But, uh, we'll have fix-a-flat competition.
13:15
W- we'll have a blindfolded fix-a-flat competition- Ooh... for those that are up for it. Wow. We'll, we'll be make, doing some spinny making.
13:23
There'll be bicycle show and tell, so if a person has, like, you know, built up their bike or they got some kinda fancy bike that they wanna show, or maybe they, like,
13:34
you know, rode their bike from here to, you know, who knows where, they can, like, bring their bike up and be like, "Me and my bicycle, we went on this great adventure together." The brag zone. [laughs] Yeah. Bragadocio.
13:46
So what about, uh, what about cargo bikes? How are they fitting into this whole scene? You can bring your cargo bike. Right on.
13:52
Yeah, you could even, like, do, like, bring your cargo bike if you wanna do, like, a demo, Greg. Mm. So people could ride around the, you know, the parking lot or on the street. [laughs] Yeah.
14:02
Uh, yeah, it's kind of, that's, that's a big part of why I wanna put this event on because in here in Milwaukee, there's a lot of y- social bike groups, there's advocacy going on, but there's really nothing that, like, brings all the, all our efforts together.
14:16
So, you know, kind of the subtitle of the event is Let's Talk About Bikes, and we, and, uh, try...
14:23
So we can all, you know, f- find the people and connect with the people that are doing this or doing that in the community, and we can all help each other out to, like, grow the movement. Yeah. Right on.
14:33
So that's k- that's kinda the inspiration of putting on the event. Getting out- It sounds like what, we'll be there for sure. We used to do the show on Tuesdays, but now we don't, so we can be there. Right.
14:44
[laughs] Uh, there's, so, yeah, y- I mean, speaking of basically bike advocacy and Milwaukee getting to become a better bike town, city, there, there's some projects that have been in the planning stages for a decade that are starting to come to fruition, including the Beerline Connector Trail that's going, and that's getting paved.
15:07
Oh, yeah. And there's, there's, uh, there's a couple of, of places around the city where they're improving access to the main Oak Leaf or Beerline Trails, which is really cool.
15:19
And I just read a thing today, and this is not new news to people in Milwaukee probably, but
15:25
they're talk- The, the 794, the one mile long chunk from the main freeway basically to downtown is deteriorating and has to be replaced, not replaced and repurposed, or, uh, there's a third th- Repair?
15:42
Repair is not an option, I don't think. No. It's deteriorating too much. No. So, uh, but the infrastructure they've got planned to do the grid downtown would be very bike friendly. Mm. So hopefully that happens.
15:58
Flip, flip it. Flip the hop, kinda. Yes. [laughs] Oh. Just boom. I like the hop. You can put your bike on it. Yeah, it's neat. Sure. It's neat.
16:06
The, uh, the people that are, you know, working, working f- in the city are, you know- Mm... from a different generation of, of the people that were working for the city.
16:15
So there's a lot of, like, new, fresh energy in the city, and they're seeing, like, solutions to a lot of these issues that, um, the other predecessors did not see.
16:26
So, uh, uh, Sealy Dave, Dave Schlabowski, who helps with the fatbike.com site, was the former bike and pedestrian coordinator for the city, and a lot of the plans that they're implementing now were studies they did a decade ago or more.
16:40
[laughs] And they're getting around to them, but you guys ride around the city all the time, and you've seen a bunch of the traffic remediation and a bunch of the...
16:48
I, it's like, it seems to me like they're experimenting with different things to see what works better in certain... Does it, does that work well in that spot?
16:55
Not really, but maybe one of these other ideas would work well there. Oh. So are they just kinda throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what sticks, or do you, do you know, know anything about this whole scene?
17:05
Well, how do y- even as cyclists, how do you think getting around the city has improved or become more difficult as a cyclist? I feel like it's improving, and maybe they are experimenting, but, like, educated guesses.
17:19
Like, doing that, I don't know what you call it, what they did to Edgewood with the dotted lines- Right Yeah... and, you know, that- It's a, it's a virtual bike lane.
17:28
[laughs] But I, and actually, I, uh, have been using it a lot lately- Yeah... and it works really well, and it's, I think it works for that street because it's not too fast a pace- Mm-hmm... of a street.
17:39
Um, people seem to respect that one pretty well, so I thought that was really cool. Yeah, after the initial clamoring of everybody- Yeah... there was a lot of- Where do I go? Where do I go?
17:47
There was a lot of noise at the beginning of that. Like, yeah. It was just like- Yeah... it's like, oh, just, it's like any side street- Yeah... that has parking on both sides. Exactly.
17:56
You know, you're only gonna get one car through- Yeah... anyways. Just- Everybody knows... relax and da, da, da, da, da, you know. But yeah, I think people got confused- Or take a different damn route...
18:04
as, as automotive, as automotive people with the dotted line because if it was a solid line, you knew it was a bike lane- They probably would have gotten up in arms more- Mm-hmm...
18:14
and they still would have driven over it anyway- Yeah... but, but the dotted line means if there's no cyclists around, then you can use that part of the lane. It's very simple. Right. Mm-hmm.
18:23
But it sure did take a lot of people time to figure out how to use it. Change is hard, you know? It is. It's, it's slow. It's a struggle, and you just gotta struggle through.
18:31
And for its boundary, because it was Shorewood one side and Milwaukee on the other, so nobody really wanted the ownership of- Mm. Mm...
18:39
or the responsibility of, well, maintenance for a long ass time, because that wa- used to be a total rock polisher while you're going. It's like, "Um, I'm gonna jump on the sidewalk, sorry." Uh-huh.
18:50
But it's just a much more smooth ride. Yeah. Well, one- At that time it was [laughs]. Yeah. It was just like, mm. I, I- Because I worked on campus, so that was my cheater route for many times.
19:01
[laughs] I know there's not a ton of, uh- [laughs]... to hills on this route. [bell ringing] What's the bell? But we are at the top of whatever hill we're at, and this is where we talk about the beer of the day.
19:11
Oh, okay. [laughs] Well... And it's not the first Toppling Goliath beer we've had, but it is the first time we've had Cyber Sue. Yes. What, what damage is this doing? I don't know. A 6.7 damage, I believe.
19:24
Oh, that's not- It's not super bad. 7.2. Same thing. [laughs] It's only a half, see, a half a percent would be technically a neighbor. This is what happened, this is what happened to me- [laughs]...
19:32
when I, yeah, when I had my- Uh-... my third Surly Mosh Pit, which I found out was 7.2. [laughs] But I found that out on the s- on the third one. Like, "Oh. Oh, okay."
19:42
So yeah, the, the, any Sue seems to have some sort of, uh... Is that a T-Rex on there probably or something? Something of that, yes. I, it, it's just- Great art...
19:52
it, so I was looking for something we hadn't had before, and when we go to Otto's, because we go there often, we, there's not many we haven't had there. [laughs] Right. Right.
19:59
But, uh, this is from, uh, Decorah, Iowa, Toppling Goliath, pseudo, uh, uh, Cyber Sue. It's an India paleo with citra, mosaic, and simcoe hops. Unfiltered beer, sediment is normal.
20:12
I've had, in fact, on one of the pseudo Sues, I didn't have just sediment, I had chunkiness. [laughs] Little chewing. Little chewing. It was a little, uh, yeah. Between your cheek and gum. Yeah, you stick it in there.
20:23
But, yeah. You stick it right in there. Like a Skull Bandit. I haven't gotten any chunks in this one. [laughs] No, this one seems to be- Yeah. [laughs] It's unfiltered, but semi-smooth.
20:33
Well, yeah, I, this one's really good. Mm-hmm. I, I like it a lot. Yeah, it's kinda, like, fruity. Did you, did, your ones, did you s- get a sip? Oh, yeah, it was very nice. Yeah. Good, good. It's got flavor.
20:43
They make a- It's got style... tasty beverage. Yes. Uh, I wanna, so we'll divert from Milwaukee just for a second into Minnesota now. Our, our buddy, I don't know if you guys ever listen to this show, but, uh, Big Sexy,
20:59
in fact, he's been to Riverwest several times and he still proclaims his love for Riverwest. And he called me on the phone the other day
21:07
and said that he was in New Orleans, where he winters usually, and, uh, typically he would leave New Orleans, New Orleans about, uh, beginning of March and go to Florida, visit his mom on his Schwinn tricycle.
21:21
[laughs] Which is, uh, he had Heather and I forget the other one now. Oh, yeah. But- Anyway, he-...
21:27
yeah, that, that was, Heather was- So Heather, Heather lasted 26 state capitals or something like that, and 20,000 miles. Mm. And it was a pretty basic Schwinn Meridian tricycle that you get on Amazon for 300 bucks.
21:40
Whoa. [laughs] I think he went through about 20 wheels because- Yeah... it's not made to ride 20,000 miles across the country. Anyway, he, um, he'd been kinda off the radar for a while.
21:50
He was working down there, and then he was getting ready to kinda get going again, and he got a, he got attacked by somebody for something at a gas station, and he was, they put him in the hospital and blah, blah, blah.
22:02
Oh. So now he's up recuperating in Minneapolis with his brother. Oh. Um, and I just, he, uh, we hadn't talked to him for- Yeah... probably a year. And it just was out of the blue, he said, "Yeah.
22:14
Hey, here's what's going on." 'Cause he would call in from time to time with reports from these state capitals that he rode this tricycle to. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And then he would, you know, about- Slightly hobo.
22:25
Yeah. You know, just like- Definitely... and be like, "Okay, I'm gonna just flop over in this park. Nobody should give me any guff." You know? Well, he had a l- Did the-...
22:32
he had a lot of good tips- I went, I went to the other-... on where to sleep, like- Yeah, like-... baseball dugouts at, uh- Yeah. Oh, yeah. I slept in some of those.
22:39
[laughs] Oh, you know, just like, yeah, you know, just when you're, when you're living on the road, there's, there's places to kinda pay attention to and- Right, right...
22:47
you know, he has f- friends all over the country now because he'd been doing it for several years and it's like, "Well, I'm gonna go visit those guys in Riverwest.
22:53
I'm gonna go visit those guys in, uh, w- whatever, Ohio." You know? And, uh, so I, I... All the best to him. Hopefully, he does have a Venmo thing. He's always light on cash. There's a Venmo link in the show notes.
23:06
You could do that. If you feel like throwing a couple bucks his way, you could do that and make his life a little better. Oh, yeah. I would think. But, uh, yeah. Riding a trike is hard.
23:15
It's so much more effort, it's ridiculous. [laughs] Oh. Okay. So this will be, uh, not total news for some people, but news for you guys probably, is, uh, we went over,
23:27
because of the, the Lake Express ferry, you donate a bike in the spring and you get a cross the lake and back round trip. So you pay about 30 bucks, get your bike on there, and for free you go to Michigan.
23:39
And he was coming from the Detroit area or something, and we met him in Michigan, rode a very slow 15 or so miles from Grand Haven- Oh... to Muskegon. Okay. I could, I couldn't almost ride...
23:54
Anyway, uh, because the bike, the trike is not fast, especially when there's hills, 'cause it's not a three-speed or seven-speed, it's a one-speed. Oh, wow.
24:02
So, uh, but we escorted him onto the ferry, escorted him from the ferry to Riverwest, and it was during, I think it was during- Yep... the 24. Yep, yep, yep. It was during the Riverwest 24. It was the launch. Wow.
24:12
So we, we timed it so that he was here for that- And then he- And it was a slow parade from the- It was a slow parade... from the Lake Express to River West. [laughs] I was just like, "Okay." Um,
24:25
I'm gonna blast ahead, uh, hit Sabbatic. You guys just slide up that hill, right? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well, it worked out great in the end. It did work out. I was just like, I g- I can't go that slow.
24:34
I mean, it's like I'm gonna fall over, you know? Almost literally. [laughs] Uh-huh. I mean, I don't... It's like I need just a bit more speed. Oh, you need a tricycle. Yeah. Then you can go slower.
24:44
Then you wouldn't fall over. Right. And you could go the same speed. That comes in about 10 years. [laughs] 10, 15 years maybe. So he, he sp- he sp- When the body doesn't cooperate anymore... he spent a few days after,
24:55
uh, the 24, uh, just in River West, hanging out. And I don't remember if it...
24:59
It might've been the Sunday after the 24 or something, that we were at Bremen Cafe, and he had the trike there, and he was letting people ride it around the block. Yeah. I thought I was gonna die. [laughs] Yeah.
25:09
I rode it around the block. I'm like, "How does that guy ride this bike?" As far as he r- He, I mean, again- Yeah... 20,000-plus miles on the thing. Wow. And he's pretty much done every state capital,
25:21
you know, like, east of Pierre, South Dakota, or, you know... He hasn't gone west a bunch yet, so. That was, that's on the docket sometime, though. Wow. Yeah, yeah. Well, that's great to be able...
25:32
I mean, you're not, like, taking a moment in someone else's shoes, but if you get to jump on their bike and ride it for a half a mile- [laughs]... or half a block, then you're like, "Oh, I see what they experience."
25:42
Yeah. Yeah. I can see how. Like, how do you ride this? Yeah. Or, like, wow, this is a cool bike. I mean, like, yeah, your body must be just dialed just into it, you know? It made- Uh-huh. I was like [laughs]...
25:51
it made me appreciate what a very [laughs] Yeah...
25:54
what a very good rider he is, because I would be like, I'm going on a side road in Indiana, where they don't have any bike lanes or anything, and there's trucks blowing by at, you know, 60 miles an hour, and they're, you know
26:06
... And he hasn't been hit or died yet, so it's- Yeah... you know. He l- he must have, like, a calliope going on in his brain while he's riding. Ding, ding, ding, da, da, ding, ding, ding.
26:15
[laughs] That's all I could think is it just... I do have respect on that, 'cause... Yeah, I just did. Yeah, I did. Uh, right outside of Clark Foods in Bremen, and not even a half a block. Yeah. Just spun back around.
26:29
I'm like, uh- No... no, no, no. [laughs] Not ready for one yet. Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Our friend Tristan rode his, uh, cargo bike out from Portland, Oregon, to our water tower in Maine, just north of Portland, Maine.
26:43
Portland to Portland. Portland to Portland in the cargo with a 12-pound typewriter. Oh, yeah. Yeah. He was writing a book- You know Tristan?... the whole way. I r- I recall this. Uh-huh. I recall... This is...
26:56
It's, it's- It's, it's, it- It's, or it's reawakening a memory. Yeah. It's interesting.
27:00
We had, uh, Mike McAbee on the show, and he traveled around mostly the Midwest, but with his guitar amp, his guitar, his, all his stuff to do his one-man performing show at bars, on his bike. Nice. Oh, cool.
27:13
And he rode from somewhere in Ohio to somewhere in Iowa with the same name. I can't remember the name. Not Kalmer, but it could've been. Mm-hmm.
27:22
Anyway, a similar name to name, Portland to Portland, whatever it was to whatever it was. And, uh, yeah, people put some challenges on themselves when they do stuff like that. [laughs] That's impressive.
27:33
Is that Tristan- Bangs... Tristan Bangs. Not Klein. Bangs. Not Klein. Not Klein. I was gonna... I'm like, I don't know either. I don't mind.
27:40
I don't know of any Tristans, but I do know- It is not- Maybe if you pass him at, like, 7:00 AM, he does this big, "Good morning." [laughs] Yes, he does. Yeah. So- You'll, you'll know when you meet Tristan.
27:55
[laughs] Gotcha, gotcha. Yes. I'm interested. I'm gonna mention this because, uh, it is something I put on the, on the notes. Uh, the site does like to be funded some, because it costs money to run it and whatnot. And
28:09
not sure what people think of Amazon, but you know what, a lot of people use it, so there's a list on there of some bike tools and some fat bike essentials and stuff, that if you purchase that stuff, we get a little bit of a, little taste, a little bit of taste from that to help kinda keep the site going.
28:25
Nice. What else do we have to talk about today? Oh, a, a s- a cycling drummer, Dan Dahl. [laughs] Ah, yes. He has a new b- he has a new band called, uh, Shade Seeker. They played the back room next door, didn't they?
28:43
Maybe. They're kind of a- Couple months ago... psych- Yeah... psycho or psych- psychedelic rock thing, something, something, something. Yeah. But the, the new song they just released on Bandcamp is...
28:52
I think it's pretty cool. Mm-hmm. I mean, maybe I'm just a little biased 'cause he's kind of a buddy, but it, uh, it's called, uh, I think it's just called Hat Man. And I'm like, "What the hell's Hat Man?"
29:03
So I had to, I had to go down this rabbit hole of figuring this stuff out. [laughs] But apparently Hat Man's an mysterious figure known as a, a boogeyman figure that has been featured in online Creepypasta stories.
29:15
And then I'm like, "What the hell's a Creepypasta story?" [laughs] Yeah. Do you guys know? I'm wondering. No. It must be something like maybe if I asked my son, he would know it. He's 19.
29:24
It, apparently it is- Pastafarian? Uh, it's a, it... A Creepypasta is a horror-related legend or story shared online, often intended to scare or unsettle readers. The pa- It'll scare the pasta right out of you.
29:36
But it came from copy/paste. [laughs] So somehow it turned into Creepypasta. So somebody would copy and paste a story- Oh, okay... and it became Creepypasta. I d- Oh, okay.
29:46
So it does- Is that- How did- It doesn't have anything to do with, like, people that are gluten intolerant- No... and why, why they became gluten intolerant? No. Because they heard stories about Creepypasta?
29:54
[laughs] This is typical- Is that how it, is that how it happened with you? [laughs] That's not how it started... typical Gen Z slang, it sounds like. Here, you- Well, they just make up stuff. Yeah. Didn't we do that?
30:03
Skibidi Toilet. Like dig, dig, dig, bro. What's the other one? Skibidi Toilet. What's that mean? I, I think it means, like, bad. It doesn't mean you gotta go to the bathroom?
30:14
It just means- No, it, I think it's just like something sucks. [laughs] You call it Skibidi Toilet. Uh, there's a... These are, they're slang. I gotta get more hip.
30:22
Uh, well, no, we can't use that anymore because nobody'd know what it means. They wouldn't like that. 'Cause there'd be too much shenaniganery.
30:28
Or asshat-ery They also use Ohio as an insult See, I, I can make up my words too [laughs]
30:34
Oh, sorry Ohio Uh, here, okay, so this is tomorrow night, internet time-wise Oh Uh, this would be the Bay View Gallery Night rollout Oh, yeah It's definitely a thing, so That's a good time Um, that will be at 6:00 PM's, 7:00 PM rollout.
30:48
I don't remember the exact times, but, uh- Yeah, it's on- Nor do I remember where it is [laughs], so No, it starts at Rushmore Oh, there you go Like, I mean Rushmore Records in Bay View, uh, but it is, i- i- if, if ever you do a ride in Milwaukee, the Billy rides are the rides that often are some of the most fun Mm-hmm.
31:06
Yeah, and this is j- um, much like a, a bingo card. You try to hit, um, certain... There's required stops
31:18
along the rollout, and then the rest are kind of elective, and you just try to get as many as you, or as many as you want to within the, I don't know, two hours. Yeah, it, it- Quite a lot...
31:28
it is in conjunction with Bay View Gallery Night. Yeah. Yeah. Right Yeah And there's activities at all the stops It's fun Exactly That's what makes it so great Yeah, we did it last year. It was really fun.
31:37
We got to, like, make dog treats at one. We got to make art. Got to, one, we did karaoke in the park We got to paint Flamenco dancing Painting.
31:48
Yeah Uh Oh There was the flamenco dancing that was at the, the house with the, the, always has the zombies on the front yard Oh, yeah Like, just south of, like Is that the big creepy one that's up on the hill? Yeah.
32:00
Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Um Yeah, whoever, the people that live there, she has a, a flamenco dance studio Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah.
32:08
I remember that And yeah Yeah, that was a good one Mm-hmm Uh, Dave Lunz has done welding and stuff there Oh, cool There, there's all sorts of stuff. Anyway, that's, uh, that's tomorrow.
32:17
That's the, well the- No, Friday That's tomorrow, internet time Oh, internet time Since we post this on Thursday [laughs] Okay Got it So we have to kinda, we have to kinda think into the future [laughs] I see And I can't even think that far.
32:30
I don't know if I'm gon- No... I don't even know if I'm gonna be able to volunteer for that one Um I'm on the hook kind of, but Right on.
32:36
Uh, the, the final thing I'll mention just because there's other stuff coming up, but, well, actually, two things. Fat Tire Tour of Milwaukee is June 14th.
32:44
That is always a huge thing, um, and has been going on for, I think, 40 years now. S- I wanna say. It's been a long time It's getting close. Yeah Damn close. Damn fun.
32:56
Usually if it's a good day, there's 500 people on this ride Yeah. It is a, yeah. It's always well-populated, but yeah, the better the weather, the more the people, but that's kinda everything in the world.
33:07
And, and then, you know, just a little bit after that, June 19th to, uh, the 29th is Tour of America's Dairyland.
33:15
The thing to know about that, I think, that's gonna be a lot of fun is during the Bay View race, which is kind of the, towards the end, it might be the last Thursday or so, whatever.
33:23
We'll figure it out by the time we get there, but there is a fat bike criterium. Yeah Oh, neat [laughs] Something- Nice... something different and something fun.
33:33
And, uh, Sealy Dave, I think he, I don't think it's up yet. He's writing a story 'cause the guy that originally sort of, I don't think he, he,
33:43
I don't think he came up with the idea per se, but as a result of something he was doing, this became a thing, and it was he rode his fat bike across Iowa in 2014 when people weren't touring on fat bikes.
33:56
They were just using them for sand or snow or whatever. And he rode across, and he got to the eastern side of Iowa near Dubuque, where they have a bunch of bike races.
34:06
And it was raining, so they weren't bike racing, and he just started doing hot laps on his fat bike.
34:11
And then some other people that happen to have fat bikes there kinda joined in, so it became this, this fat bike criterium thing.
34:18
And now it's, you know, 11 years later, and we've got it here and there, and there's a couple other ci- cities that have had this along with the races. It's kind of an entertainment thing for the crowd.
34:29
Cool Yeah, that sounds fun Yeah. And- I may, I may actually participate- I'll watch you... depending on the right day I'll watch you participate [laughs] from the sideline I'll find out Oh.
34:39
I'm offering my services now- Loady, loady... a few weeks out before I come up with an excuse Well, heck, we, uh, so- [laughs] Not gonna make it... we did talk a lot about Milwaukee.
34:49
One thing I was curious, Ian, about is, uh, you said that, uh, Bicycle Benefits has been going in other cities for longer than Milwaukee.
34:58
Mm-hmm What are, what are cities that people will find a Bicycle Benefits benefit in? Uh, Boston, uh, Seattle. Um, I don't know, Burlington, Vermont, Portland, Maine.
35:13
I think just, just a c- Charlotte, North Carolina is a big one...
35:16
Charlotte, North Carolina Were these just places you wanted to visit, and you just thought, "I wanna spend my summer there, and I'm gonna, you know, do this thing and help them out"?
35:21
And you're like, "Oh, yeah, it'd be cool to spend a summer in Seattle." Well, it was, it was a mixed bag.
35:26
It was, uh, when I took off on this Bike Benefits tour about 15 years ago, I just started, I would go from, I started, I started in Burlington, Vermont, and then I met the person that was, like, heading up Boston's effort to, like, transform the city into, like, a biking mecca, and they, they were encouraging for me to come there, and they helped support the effort there.
35:47
And then, and while I was in Boston, I, I guess it was, I was kinda struggling after three months to take on such a large area, and my connection at Trek was encouraging for me to come out to Madison.
35:59
So that was actually the first long-distance bike trip I went.
36:03
And then, you know, in some other cities, other people have started it up 'cause they've seen it elsewhere, and they've done the groundwork to, like, get, bring it to life. Yeah. That's, I th- Well, there.
36:12
You'll see across the nation Oh, yeah. There's a lot of- All of the little-...
36:16
lot of blue spots on there Oh, yeah Yeah, that, that's- There's like 200 different cities That's impressive that it, basically a groundswell took hold, and it kind of got its own wings, and you helped it fly. Yeah.
36:30
Well, we c- we, we created the, like, the, the concept and kind of, like, the online presence and, and now, like, the- You know, the knowhow.
36:39
So, you know, people that reach out, I can tell them all about the failures and successes- [laughs]... that I've experienced and all this. Well, sometimes the failures are the most interesting to talk about. Mm-hmm.
36:49
Absolutely, but- Otherwise you don't learn. Yep. But recently the, a city in Gra- Grand Forks, North Dakota. Is that right? That's a SAC base up there I think. Or is that South Dakota? North Dakota.
37:01
North Dakota, that program just got going. Yeah, it's just- Rochester, Minnesota recently. I don't know if they have any, uh, they don't have any nuke bombers up there in Grand... They probably still do.
37:10
It was like a huge strategic air command base in Grand Forks. Nike missile sites? I... Yeah. No. Like the Summerfest Grounds? These would be B-52s with bad stuff in them. Uh, what- Oh [laughs] What- Like Dr. Strangelove?
37:22
One more thing we can touch on Montana is, uh, your, your business. We could just touch real quick on that, is a... It's sort of a bicycle powered gardening business. Yeah. Is that correct? It is.
37:35
Yeah, so I, um, I have a greenhouse lot. It's just a, an empty lot that was, a house was bulldozed on. Built a, a friend built a greenhouse there, so I grow a lot of plants out of there- Is that across from Tony Berger?
37:51
... that I sell. Mm-hmm. Across from Tony's house. For- former, former host of the [laughs] one of the hosts of the show. Yeah. Yeah. So, okay.
37:57
And, um, so I grow a lot of plants in there that I sell, and I have a variety of different bike trailers for the job, and I help people try to, you know, closer the better [laughs] when you're traveling by bike carrying a bunch of plants, but, uh, help people do more, like, sustainable, uh, redesigns of their yards and, um, gardens.
38:20
I'm a big fan of plants that come back every year. Perennials. Yeah. Yes, those guys. Those are nice. Those guys.
38:25
Except, except the day lilies and the hostas attack my yard and they take it over, and then I have to cut them all out, and I put them on the curb, and the next day they're gone because people love stuff like that [laughs].
38:36
Yeah. So I'm not a, I'm not a- Okay... I am, I am the guy in my house that doesn't kill plants. Uh, Wendy- Oh, nice... Wendy will be the first to admit she can't be around a plant, my wife.
38:45
[laughs] Um, so I'm, I'm going kind of mental in the house with, with the scheffleras and yuccas and stuff that aren't too hard to take care of, but, uh- Nice...
38:57
it would be, it would actually be cool to, to find out more than just the basic couple of plants that we have that I know come up every year. My tulips, those guys stopped coming up after about 20 years [laughs] somehow.
39:11
Well, they made it pretty far. I don't know. I don't know. Yeah, so. Squirrels like to eat those. Oh, I... Squirrels are kind of cute when I'm looking out the window at them- [laughs]...
39:20
but I also don't like them getting into every, like annuals when Wendy will plant annuals in, on the front porch or over there or over there, they dig those things up. Mm-hmm. Little bastards. Yes.
39:32
Squirrels are interesting where they're all, like, cute, and they can be cute for years, and then we start, like, growing vegetables or something, then all of a sudden you're like- [imitates gunfire]...
39:40
"You messed with my stuff." [laughs] "We are no longer friends." When they're soaking wet it looks exactly like a rat. Yeah. Well, so- [laughs]...
39:48
I don't know if rabbits do soaking wet, they have the ears, but I y- I don't know, I haven't looked this year so much, but I used to have a rabbit highway- Mm... between my deck and the far corner of the yard.
40:01
It was, like, seriously mowed down grass where they would run to whatever they could get through the fence over there or whatever, but it was just like br- [laughs]... a, a, a perfect path. Like, I...
40:11
If it was single track on a bike, I would be riding it. [laughs] Wow. [laughs] That actually came up as, like, a Facebook memory I believe, where, like, I, the [laughs] the, this place where...
40:22
No, I was standing outside my old house, and there was, like, it would become rabbit season, and all of a sudden there was like one- 40... 50, you know. [laughs] Exactly.
40:32
And it was like right off of North Avenue, and I was outside having a smoke, and, you know, I'm not bothering anybody. The two rabbits are just sitting there, and one of the rabbits farted. [laughs] What?
40:42
[laughs] Is that a thing? Loudly. Is that a thing? And I, yeah, and I just- What? A rabbit fart I guess... I just laughed. I, I j- all I could do, "Bhaha," and they freaked out and ran away. But I had- [laughs] Wow.
40:52
I have never heard that... I had do- I had documented that. I was like, "A rabbit fart. Baha." I bet they don't, I bet they don't fart in f- front of humans anymore. Well, yeah. At least, yeah.
41:00
[laughs] Yeah, I bet they don't. South of North Avenue I guess not anymore. The next generations of those parents are gonna be like, "You gotta keep your farts in."
41:08
[laughs] All righty, so- That's when I was living, uh, yeah, out on the deck that underneath was just, uh, hornets', like, megapolis. I mean, it was just h- like, and I'm ph- phobic of bees and stings and what have you.
41:26
Yeah? And, and knowing I was, like, sitting on a, or living on top of like a powder keg of... That I was just like, "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God," and, you know.
41:35
Especially r- you know, in the summer months, you would just watch hundreds of them just zipping out. I mean, they wouldn't bug me because, you know, they don't, you know, shit where they eat kind of thing.
41:45
[laughs] That'd be gross. So it's like, "Brr." I, I think you're- And I know-... beading sweat just talking about this... yeah, I think so. He might be. I wouldn't doubt it, man. [laughs] Oh.
41:53
[laughs] So before we make like a tree and get out of here, uh, is there anything you guys wanna leave, leave our listener with? Oh, I have something important. Okay. Um- Do tell...
42:04
so this year for the River West 24, they... I mean, it's getting so filled up with volunteer teams that not everybody got in for the extra teams this year. Actually, very few people did.
42:17
Only a few- JK overslept, so he didn't... yeah. I overslept. So, yeah. And, like- He, he would've hassled Jeremy though until he got in. Yeah. We were, like, our- Give him the puppy, puppy dog eyes...
42:25
our household as a team, we were, like, m- the last team to get in basically, and th- we saw the s- sad faces out there. But there is a prize, a raffle prize,
42:37
that River West Radio is gonna be raffling off on their boat party fundraiser that is on Friday That is the 30th Okay. That's like tomorrow. We've already established that [laughs]. Is it tomorrow? Yes.
42:53
[laughs] In internet time. It is tomorrow. Yes. [laughs] Friday, tomorrow, internet time. [laughs] Yeah, so you can go, you can still buy tickets to go on the boat, and, um- What boat is it?
43:07
It's the Milwaukee Boat Lines Vista King. Ah. Is that... Oh, that's right down on the river there by, uh- Yeah... was it what- Off, like, Third and- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah...
43:16
and I can't remember the cross street, but yeah, right there across, like, Uncle Bucky's or some sh- person. Stuff. Yeah. There's not kids listening. And- They should be sleeping by now...
43:26
you take the- You're bad parents if your kids are awake right now, just saying.
43:29
[laughs] Takes the river down, and then you go into Lake Michigan and do a circle, check out the art museum and all the cute stuff, and there'll be, um, live music.
43:41
There'll be a bunch of free food, and there'll be raffle prizes, and one of the raffle prizes is a team for the Riverwest 24- Nice... the last available team slot. That is a good thing. Nice.
43:53
I kinda like- Is that, is that, uh, is that part of the Goth Barge? No. No, it's not. Okay. I, I, I know there are two- It's its own separate- Okay. I, I knew there was... That was kinda coming up.
44:02
I didn't know if those things were affiliated. I'd, I'd like to go on that boat because I wanna check on my lighthouse. [laughs] You guys have a water tower. I want that lighthouse. You want the lighthouse [laughs].
44:10
Yeah. How... What do you have to do? That seems kinda tricky. I think it was for sale. I'm not sure if anybody bought it yet. Really? Really? Yeah, the one at the end of the breakwater. It's like you could have a- What?
44:20
Yeah, you could have a f- you could have a house, a brew pub. You could have a Airbnb. You could have a... I don't know. You could have a bike party out there probably. Wow, that would be great. Right?
44:27
And that would go along with your water tower. Let's do it. Yeah. It's a water thing lake. It's a water thing tower. You get the, you get- [laughs] You get the lighthouse, I'll get another water tower.
44:35
[laughs] Let's do it. All righty. Well, thank you very much for being on the show. I hope we covered everything that was important today, and some stuff that wasn't important at all. Exactly.
44:45
'Cause that's what we do here. Like rabbit farts. Very important. Exactly [laughs]. [laughs] So, okay, that's funny because I was, uh... I, I don't know- And we're back down the rabbit fart hole...
44:55
well, I was doing something on the interwebs.
44:57
[laughs] I was doing some kinda looking for something, and somehow I [laughs] was like, "Well, I sh- maybe I should look up and see what the, what ChatGTP says about our show," because we've been doing this since 2017, so there's plenty internet shit out there.
45:11
And it said something about blah, blah, blah, bike, bike, bike, and, um, ironic humor every now and again, and- [laughs] Wow... and I'm like, "Oh, Chat- Mr. GTP, my friend, does know me pretty well."
45:23
[laughs] Or mo- more likely, uh, Michael or JK or- [laughs]... Shakespeare or the California Raisin right there.
45:31
[laughs] And also, I don't know if you guys ever in the olden days were Macintosh people, but this small dog is from a place called Small Dog Electronics, and every time you ordered a part for your computer or whatever, they would send you a different dog.
45:46
Oh, cute. And that's the only dog I have left right now. You could... Did you have the whole collection at one point? I don't even know if there was a whole collection.
45:53
[laughs] I just would be like, you know, it's a grab bag of dogs, and they would just throw one in your order with you along with, like, a piece of candy or something. That's so sweet.
46:01
How do you know that you were the only one getting a dog? But now, but now I don't... I'm gonna say I bet close to 30 years later- Like, like Cracker Jacks... I still remember the name of the company that sent that dog.
46:11
So that was a very good- Good marketing... marketing thing. Well, smart. All right, we're getting out of here, folks. Thank you very much for listening to our... Hey, Shannon.
46:21
He's probably our only listener today [laughs]. Blather. Blather. No, Ko- Kobe's listening... we're blathering. Kobe's listening for sure. Oh, you gotta call, we gotta call out a few prom- I'm blathering...
46:28
props to peeps. All right, bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.
46:35
[upbeat music]
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