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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Cycling #92 – Underwear Ride’s Steve Roche is in Studio and Chewey Checks in
Dec 25, 2020
Full Spectrum Cycling #92 – Underwear Ride’s Steve Roche is in Studio and Chewey Checks in
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat rock music] Hey, welcome everybody.
0:16
Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. It's Full- Ho... Full Spectrum Cycling number 92 coming to you on Christmas Day. Christmas Day. On Christmas Day. Thank you for unwrapping us into your ear. [laughs] I think it's cold out.
0:29
I believe it's cold out today. [laughs] Yeah, it's supposed to be cold out today. Baby, it's cold outside today, yes. Yeah. Well, s- 55 on Wednesday, so that was a heck of a nice day. That was a nice day for December.
0:44
Mo- moved my motorbike and then had God's hand pushing me home with the south wind- Mm... on my bicycle. That was sweet. Which god? Huh? Which god? What you talking about, Willis? [laughs] Which god?
1:00
Someone, someone of them. Alanis Morissette. It wasn't the electric bike god, it was just- Yeah. [laughs]... the wind god. It was, uh, Scirocco or what, how many- What?...
1:08
Borrado, how many different gods does VW- Yeah... have as names for their- Oh, yeah... use for names, Eos... cars? Wow, yeah. Eos, yeah, they're all wind gods, I believe. Mm-hmm. So yeah.
1:17
Eos is the sun god, but, you know, whatever. Whatever. It's a convertible. [laughs] So JK is to my right as, as normal. Ho, ho, ho. Uh, Tony t- to my left over there, and splitting the uprights, Mr. Steve Roach.
1:31
Hey, hey. Steve. Steve is, uh, uh, a first-time guest, I think. Yes, first time here. Which is kinda strange, 'cause he's always around the bike scene here. Long time listener. [laughs] In the Mi- in the Milwaukee nine.
1:43
He has a little background on you. Yeah. I mean, you, how long have you lived in Milwaukee now? I've known you for, like, for a long freaking time.
1:50
You're the fir- I was thinking about this today, you're the first person I've ever, I've ever met with pierced dimples. [laughs] Long gone. That's the one thing I...
1:56
Yeah, [laughs] that's the one thing I remember when I first saw you. I'm like, "Wow, that dude's got pierced dimples." [laughs] Almost- Like, that had to hurt. [laughs] I, uh, took them out- Wow... a couple summers ago.
2:05
Yeah. I lost one at a Tom Petty concert. Nice. [laughs] I lost another one letting the dogs outside. [laughs] It was nice. Outward or inward w- was it? Yeah. [laughs] Or was it a combo?
2:15
It's just like it sounds, like the spots, the outside- Okay... dimples and, like, the outside- I didn't know if it had a back catch...
2:19
bald spot was just missing, so I just- Just make sure you take pictures of those dimples... so I just- I thought it was like a back catch, so back catch going into you, and then the outward coming.
2:25
Nope, no, no swallowing the piercings. [laughs] Okay. I just, out of curio- out of visual- I said a piece was missing, time to take them out...
2:30
you were, you were painti- painting the word picture, and I just wanted to- [laughs]... get, get it all together. [laughs] So yeah, you've been around the Milwaukee bike scene for quite some time. Yeah.
2:38
Living in town coming up on 14 or 15 years now, and yeah, like, I mean, ask away. I don't wanna talk about myself, but- I, well, I- Well, that, but you're the only interesting thing we got going today.
2:50
[laughs] Yeah, well, I'm, I'm gonna throw one thing out. [laughs] How is... I- is the record label still going on? Yeah, kinda on a hiatus right now. Right, right. Confluence Records. Um, we have four releases out now.
3:01
All right.
3:02
And then, what was it, mid-March, we did a release show on March the 6th for Classics Quiet, the Posthumous Physical release that came out last November, and then the world kinda went to [laughs] shit for a while. Yeah.
3:16
[laughs] Yeah. Yeah, for sure. It's fun 'cause there's definitely some, some things churning and planned, but now it's kind of on hiatus right now. Right, right.
3:24
Well, let's, uh, let's take a call from, uh, someone here while we have the time, and then we'll catch up with Steve after we- Yeah, we can do that... take a call. Who is it? Sounds great.
3:33
Hey, welcome to the radio program, caller. Who do we have on the line? [laughs] Hello. Hey, guys. Hello, Tokyo. Everybody there? Hello? Hey. Hey. All right. You there? Come in. Come in, Tokyo. Come in. Tokyo. Come in.
3:43
Hello. Hello. Yeah, I hear you. Can you hear us? Can you hear us? I, there's an echo. Yeah. No, there's not, I just said it twice. Sorry, guys. [laughs] Is this Chewy, the electric bike guy? Of course it is.
3:58
I know, dude. I'm giving you shit. Oh, wait. Are we gonna start off with an electric bike story? [laughs] [laughs] No, we're gonna, we're gonna, we're gonna start out with a, a happy holidays to you, Ron. Yeah.
4:07
It's, it's, it's the holiday today, or someone's holiday anyway. Somebody's. Oh, yeah, that's right, it is a holiday today, isn't it? It is. Yeah, it is.
4:15
Um, it's, it's a vacation day for me 'cause, uh, Sue and one son and the grandkids are headed to the house in Iowa, and I'm staying back in Rochester. Wow. Nice.
4:25
Is that, is that a, a Rona safety thing, or you just got something to do? No, um, it's, uh, it's weird. It's a little bit of all. The house is kinda small. All the dogs and kids and
4:39
everything like going that, and I really do have stuff to do. Hockey season is gonna start, so I'm actually gonna stay in town and get a bunch of hockey stuff ready to go that we've been ignoring for months now. Sure.
4:49
Right on. So- You're a busy guy. Yeah, you are. I, I don't know you too well. What do you do with hockey? That's Mr. Steve Roach now. Oh, I'm, I'm, I coach. Okay. I coach- Goali- I coach a couple different levels.
5:01
Are you goalie coach only, or are you coaching m- more broadly now? No, no, I coach, well, I coach goalies for youth hockey, and then I coach, um, JV and goalies for high school. Right on.
5:13
So I, and sharpen skates and order jerseys and do everything. I'm kinda, I'm kinda like the, I'm the guy with the most seniority that, that's been around the longest that knows everything to do.
5:23
My, uh- Call, comb the, uh- What is this like?... trophy shops. Like, "Oh, gotta get that right trophy." Yeah. [laughs] I, uh... Well, they don't get trophy... We don't, we haven't gotten trophies in a long time.
5:32
[laughs] You d- don't you, don't you get a- I wanna get a trophy... participation award or something? Yeah. Yeah. Like a medal? No. No.
5:38
Not with, not, not with the guys that I coach with, and not at the level we're playing at, you don't get participation trophies. [laughs] That's good, 'cause they're stupid. [laughs] So what's on your mind, Ron?
5:50
We haven't talked to you- Yeah... for a few weeks. Uh, let's see. Well, okay, so I'll do my first e-bike story. [laughs] Um, I, I have a new boss at my other job, and, uh-
6:02
We been polite to him and haven't really got on his butt about it. It's kinda turmoil around the hospital right now, especially in our department.
6:09
But, uh, he's, we've been good to him, and all of a sudden he comes and goes, "Hey, what do you think about e-bikes?" Oh. And I said, "Are you fucking kidding me?"
6:18
[laughs] And so I broke him in really fast, and like, and everybody else was like, "Whoa, this is gonna be ugly." And I'm like, "Two things you can never do to me.
6:26
Don't ever fucking bring up e-bikes, [laughs] and don't ever, and don't ever ask me to fix your e-bike." [laughs] Send them to us, we'll fix it. Yeah. You're gonna- Gladly...
6:35
you're gonna be changing your tune pretty soon there, old man. Steve, Steve, just so you know, uh- [laughs] No. No... Chewy, uh- No, no... I've, I've never been
6:44
with Chewy physically without being wickedly hung over the next day. [laughs] The man, he's, he's trouble. Telling you. [laughs] My- He's a shit ton of fun... give me a ring next time- Yeah...
6:55
you're in Milwaukee or vice versa. Yeah. Getting your popcorn fixed- Oh, I will... for your wife. We, uh, um, we did do something cool.
7:02
I do- I don't know who you guys out with COVID, but we're back somewhat in a shutdown, and, uh, um, our governor said, "Oh, you can do things outdoors." Well,
7:12
now you can, but, um, last Saturday, uh, the bar just up the street from us did a, um, it was a fundraiser for, uh, the local Paws and Claws.
7:21
But they did, [laughs] um, you bought a parking spot, and you were supposed to bring your ice shack out there and set it up. [laughs] And they... Yeah, it was brilliant.
7:32
And then for 20 bucks you got, they donated some to the f- to the, uh, Paws and Claws, and they got you, you get two Pabsts and a, and a couple hot dogs.
7:40
And we just sat outside there, and they come walking over with an arm full of wood, and they just threw it down. We started a bonfire in the parking lot, and it was- That's hilarious... it was a blast.
7:47
It was really so much fun. Nice. Yeah. And for a good cause. Yeah. It's a good idea. Yeah. We don't, there's not a whole lot of sh- uh, ice shacks down this way.
7:53
We don't, uh, get a whole lot of ice fishing in, in the big city here, but- Oh, just on the, uh-... you'll, you'll get those out west a little bit... the, uh, Lake Shore State Park little zone last year. Oh, that's true.
8:04
That's right. Yeah. Yeah, they got- 'Cause that was a little unsettling getting out there... you can, you can actually get out on the lake. Yeah, inside- Well, it's like a pond... it's inside the harbor. Yeah.
8:11
It's like a little, little lagoon. Oh, gotcha. Okay. Yeah, it's, it's inside the breakwater. What about, what about McKinley? McKinley too, yeah. There, there's definitely. That's true. Yeah.
8:17
But people don't usually set up a whole shack out there that they can go in, like, every day like they do up there in Minnesota. [laughs] It's just visually unsettling to me. [laughs] Yeah.
8:25
Well, you know, by, by s- um, spearfishing stuff they do, right? Oh yeah, like in Sheboygan and stuff? Or, um, yeah. Mm, Sheboygan. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, that's what they do. Yeah, they'll, they'll set up a, a big...
8:37
Yeah, that, that's, that's crazy. I don't know. Are they gonna do the Ride Across Bago this year? If it's cold enough. I don't know. I mean, there's, there's a few things still happening, but did you hear an aloha?
8:49
[laughs] Did you hear an aloha? Yeah, I heard a hello. That was my speaker. [laughs] I forgot to turn it off, off- Oh, [laughs] it's like-... and it just-... I'm hearing hellos and there's nobody over there.
8:55
It's very weird. Power off. It's really weird. Okay. It's just JK's speaker talking. That doesn't really have a date, does it? They just wait until it freezes over- Right... and do it, right? Right.
9:04
So they usually give it, like, they set a date, and then if you follow the website, the Facebook page, they'll kinda give you conditions. And, you know, it, it's...
9:15
I tell you, the, the two times I went there it was so glass perfect ice that, uh, I watched, like, eight people yard sale within 100 yards. And I'm like- [laughs]... "Yep, I'm turning around."
9:26
[laughs] [laughs] Like, "Yeah, I'm gonna go find a bar, have some food." [laughs] Well, yeah, like wasn't it last year they were just like, "Uh, please do not park on the, on the lake- Ah...
9:35
as e- everything is starting to crack right now." Right. Yeah, yep. And it's like, no shit. Um, [laughs]- Yeah, that was a really, really rough- You don't need that reminder... I guess.
9:43
It's not even a herd, but God, I mean. There was a couple on a studded tandem that yard saled in front of me that looked brutal. It looked like someone hurt themselves. You know, falling on ice sucks.
9:53
Yeah, but riding on it sh- shouldn't be that hard with studs on your bike. Come on. Yeah, depends on what you're working with. No. The Polar Bear Ride- Listen-...
10:01
couple years ago when, when, uh, Dave- Yeah, I, I didn't fall down... when he s- swam out. [laughs] I... Yeah. As he was GoProing, and then, then I swam out right in front of him- [laughs]...
10:13
with this, like, on camera, which was perfect too. [laughs] That was a good year. That was fun. Well, we're probably gonna do some sort of Polar Bear viewing- Probably, yeah... ride.
10:24
We go out on fat bikes and watch people walk into the water. Sounds like a good time. We, we drink- Do you stay up all night and watch them in the morning? Or no? Sometimes. It has been done.
10:32
[laughs] But I generally don't. I f- you know, I have a family tradition, then I get up and do it. You know, we, we used to go to Rascal's, but- Yeah... yeah. Can't get gassed at Rascal's anymore. No. So.
10:42
You go tumbling down hills. Yeah. Those were the days. Can't buy that at Walgreens either. [laughs] Right. It's fun. You have a little whiskey.
10:50
You watch them, and then we usually roll somewhere to along the beach or something as a, a group, a group of fat bikers. So Chewy, um, Steve here is... You're the, you're the founder of the Underwear Ride, or- Yeah...
11:03
yeah, here in, uh, in Milwaukee, which has become a pretty big thing. Uh, although I assume this year it wasn't as big as it's been in the past. But, uh- No. Non-existent for that matter. [laughs] Right.
11:13
I, I don't know if you guys had the s- You had to cancel it this year, right? Yeah, lowest turnout this summer. [laughs] Well, the last one we did was the Daikaiju one. That was, that I did. That was a great one. Yeah.
11:21
That was- [laughs]... the single coolest one ever. That just- That, that goes down in one of, like, my top few rides- [laughs]... of, like- That was on-... 10 years of doing them... and it was my birthday. Oh, yeah.
11:31
[laughs] Stars aligning. So that it was, like, even better. Stars aligning and drum kits f- Uh-... igniting-... igniting... everything [laughs] that you need.
11:39
So what kind of, what kind of, uh, got you interested in doing something like an underwear ride? How did that come to be? Uh- I don't know... it was a one-off ride.
11:50
I was living above a dive bar, Brunos or Le Chouans, depending how you knew it, on- [laughs]... Brady Street at the time. And I don't know, I was young
11:58
20s, m- like, I frequently found myself just in my underwear at parties or in- [laughs]... you know, not very asked for scenarios. And been going on weekly grou- group bike rides with friends, and we just-...
12:11
comboed the ideas and did a one-off one at the empty parking lot there across the street that is now a Qdoba. Um [laughs] Oh, that's right.
12:20
That was for, like, the first five-plus years we just met in this vacant lot there, and- [laughs]... everyone had so much fun. The first one that they just said, "Do it again."
12:29
So I think we did two more that summer, and it became a, a series, if you will, within that. Um- Right... kinda stuck to its staples. It's a ride just for fun and to- Absolutely...
12:40
promote positive self body image, but it gets people coming that are interested in bikes and in music and in just a circus of a bike ride, if you will. Yeah, for sure. [laughs] Absolutely.
12:52
Um, so, you know, it's- It's fun... it cross pollinates. I've done many. Oh, yeah I, I like it, where some people are, like, coming on the ride 'cause they just wanna go to a show.
12:58
Some people, vice versa, are being exposed to great traveling or- Yeah... local musicians, and just put everything I loved under one roof. Yeah. Cool. Well, I look forward to doing 'em again.
13:11
Chewy, you gotta come down for one of those. And- [laughs] Do you really wanna do that to the people in Milwaukee? [laughs] Well, you gotta keep your cowboy hat on. Right? There's a, there's a reason why- I, I just-...
13:21
it's called Chewy, by the way. [laughs] I just wanna know, 'cause, so did you, like, put an ad out that said, "Do you like being in your underwear? Do you like riding bikes? Let's meet here"? You know,
13:32
I think it was when I still had a shitty Sprint phone and I would just text... It was friends originally. It was, like, friends or a one degree of separation. I used to,
13:43
I think maybe the second summer, might've been that, started a local advocacy website for just anything happening, like events or otherwise.
13:50
And I actually used to just bike around town or the campuses and see loaded bike racks and, um, just tape flyers to people's bikes, um, for just the website or the rides in general, and just
14:03
f- flyered like old school, just- [laughs]... you know, from promoting or putting on shows- It's its own form... just took that same format and got the word out, and then it just grew organically from there.
14:12
It almost got to a point where I didn't wanna promote it, 'cause too many people coming for the first time and having to- Oh, trying to marshal that... yeah, that shit. The- Yeah...
14:20
'cause early on, I'm not gonna lie, like we- Yeah... take, we'd meet at a public place, take one mid-ride stop at a public place that we never left from until we finished this handle of whiskey.
14:31
And, like, now I'm actually, like, finding that balance of responsibility and people having to, you know, yes, do that, but not trying to openly- Encour-... encourage-... encourage... him, like, the- Right. [laughs]...
14:42
shitface when you usually don't ride places. Like, the pleasure of that is getting to show people routes or neighborhoods or places in the city- Absolutely... they don't traditionally go to. Right.
14:51
So half the fun for me is planning a route, both in, like- I totally-... the physical streets you're going, but the destinations where they're like, "I never knew about this place." Mm-hmm.
15:01
Um, so yeah, kind of attacking it from all angles. That's- But definitely have to emphasize, like, personal accountability. That's cool, because it,
15:09
this town, it's so hard to get a casual ride like that that could blossom into something going. Everything here has to be organized and for a cause, and, um, you know, i- it just can't be for fun.
15:24
If it's for fun, nobody shows up, 'cause they, they won't go unless it's for a cause. [laughs] It's kind of weird. Yeah. All right. Hey, guess what? Oh, it's Top of the Hill.
15:34
It, it, it's Top of the Hill since three of us have the same beer right now. There, there's a plethora of, of different beers in there. Chewy, are you, are you imbibing today? I am.
15:44
Uh, uh, did you see the picture of the can I sent you? Oh, I don't know. No, I, you know what, the phone is what I'm getting the- Oh... your, your call in on, so. So Costco, Costco has a, um,
15:57
a, a beer advent calendar- Really?... and it was all German beers this year. Oh, I see it. Land- Yeah... Landgang- What do the Germans know about beer? [laughs] Landgang Brewery, Brauery. Yeah.
16:11
I don't, I don't- The w-... know. I'm a little behind, so the one I'm drinking right now is a Kellerbier. I'm not sure what that means. I, I'll tell you this: th- there's nothing, there hasn't been a bad one in the 23.
16:24
Um, they're... I've had one IPA. Everything else has been, like, a Helles or something along that. So they're fairly light. Nice, nice. Uh, four and a half to five and a half volume. Um, but good beers.
16:39
I don't remember what. Sue bought it for me, brought it home, but it's cool. Every, you know, it's an advent scene and they're all 16-ounce cans of beer. It's fantastic. Oh, wow. So are there- 16-ounce...
16:46
are there 25 of them or something, or? Mm-hmm. 24. 24. Yeah. Right on. Yeah, that beats the shit out of my b- They should be on sale now. I have the, I have the, my Mandalorian, the Child chocolate one that I've-
16:59
Advent calendar? Yeah. No. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, yeah. Gotta get back in the season, you know, and be rewarded with at least chocolate, if not beer. I saw one with whiskey. Uh-huh, hmm. Well, I was curious.
17:10
So JK bought- That would've been deadly.
17:11
[laughs] JK brought the Terrapin IPA Survival Pack, which has a bunch of Terrapin beers that you can get other than in this pack, but I think this Cryosphere looks like it's, you can only get it in the- Yeah, I think this is their new-...
17:23
in the Survival Pack, so curious about it. It's Cryo Hops. Fascinating. Cryogenically engineered hops or- Yeah... something. Oh, Jesus... something creepy. Something all- Yeah... Dr. Freeze style. Right?
17:35
But- So what is it? It says, uh, what does it say about this stuff? "Packs in huge amounts of hop flavor and aroma while minimizing bitterness.
17:42
We achieve this by using state-of-the-art hop product called Cryo Hops in both the brewing and dry hopping of this beer.
17:48
By highlighting the unique cryogenic process, we expose the best attributes of what makes hops, of what these hops have to offer." Little low on the ABV, 5.5. Mm-hmm, hmm. It's, um- Not too bitter... pretty good. 46.
18:02
Yeah. It, it feels- That's pretty good. It's drinkable. Yeah. It just reads like it's kinda genetically altered. [laughs] No, it's tasty. Which- Sure. Sure. Cool...
18:12
which, yeah, I could rabbit hole into, like, oh my God, you know, and get to- Tinfoil hat out and [muffled vocalizing]
18:19
If you order at a restaurant, there's a- But I'll end up with, you know, finishing it and going to the next one and [whistles] out. There you go. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. There's only finite space I have in here [laughs]
18:29
to grudge, [laughs] grudge drink. Hey, uh, guess what? The, uh, the new issue of Bikepacking Journal, I just got mine in the mail today. Oh. Any, are any of you Bikepacking Collective members? No. No. Kinda cool.
18:43
Get some good stuff. You get entered into contests for free crap and- Yeah...
18:47
also get every, every, uh, twice a year, they do this beautiful m- magazine, book almost, that has a bunch of good stories from around the world from bikepacking stuff. Yeah, I saw it around here. Yeah, I- Is it good?
18:58
... put it in my thing so we don't spill beer on it, 'cause I haven't even read it yet, but- Well, that's good, because I- Is it good? Yeah, yeah. Uh, yeah.
19:04
[laughs] Chewy, are you a Bikepacking.com, uh, viewer on the old interwebs? I, I s- I scour the pages. Yeah, I don't, I don't, I haven't really joined them.
19:12
I, I jump in and grab it and take a look at articles more than anything else. I, um, I just put a big dummy together for a guy who had his stolen here in town, and we are- Ooh...
19:22
planning on going and starting up in Northern Wisconsin someplace and riding down along the, uh, the lake on our big dummies this year, and hauling our stuff and ending up somewhere near your guys' neighborhood.
19:34
Oh, that sounds cool. Oh, man. I guess I can't sell my, uh, my one-off Teasdale long tail fat bike that he made for me many years ago- Oh... so I can join in your long tailing fun. Should have.
19:46
Also, Mike, my, I kinda thought that there'd probably be somebody that would be able to drag us up as far north as we wanna go and drop us off and
19:54
park in front of Tony's house, and then ride back down there in a couple days. Yeah. I think it'd be kinda fun to do. Yeah.
19:58
It, it's, Susan and I did a little bit, uh, a couple years ago when we pulled the camper and went riding off of that, and the trails are fun and it, you know, the lake is always right there.
20:06
It's kind of a cool ride, actually. Where do you launch from? Um, we... Well, when we did it, we, we brought our camper and we started up by, um, is it Auckland? Auckland. Not qui- Aquel?
20:22
Not quite all the way up Aquamel? It was, uh, it w- someplace w- close by where there's a lighthouse. It was with Sue. It was, she hit it with the lighthouse. [laughs] Sounds cool.
20:33
Hey, just, uh, I, I don't know why I forgot about this when it happened, but, um, there was only one other person that ever had one of the long tails that Tom Teasdale built, was Ryan down at World of Bikes in Iowa City,
20:46
and he sent me a note a while back saying that somebody had ripped it off. Oh. So it's a totally unique bike. I mean, the, the whole rack system on the back is all hand done and welded to the frame.
20:57
If anybody sees a really funky looking long tail fat bike out there that has, uh- Lock it up... you know, yeah, lock it up and call the cops, 'cause it's, uh, it, unless it's mine, it's Ryan's.
21:07
[laughs] Does the, does the, does the back end of it look like yours? Uh, pretty similar, yeah.
21:13
The only difference I think was that they made that one compatible with the extra cycle, um, whatever that thing that goes on the bottom is called. Out, outrigger? No, what is that thing called? Oh, the wide loader.
21:24
Wide loader, yeah. I think it had the- The wide load? Right. Yeah. Yeah, it was compatible with that. Mine is not.
21:29
Mine just basic- basically mine's set up for four panniers and then has a long deck like, like a, you know, extra cycle would have. Right. Right. Just like that. You know, I do have the extra cycle, uh, sidecar for mine.
21:42
Oh. Really? That is- Yeah... kickass. What do you think of it? No, n- n- uh, it doesn't work real well going down a parking ramp with a cooler and a grill on it.
21:54
[laughs] At least it works okay for me, but the cars I bounced off of weren't, weren't real happy I don't think. [laughs] Oops. See, there's a perfect thing for an electric bike is a sidecar equipped Big Easy from Surly.
22:07
Can you roll it? Can you, like, get that, like [laughs] balance? Well, you need the monkey hanging off the sidecar- Right... keeping it down on the ground. [laughs] The lean. The lean. That's cool.
22:16
I didn't know anyone that's ever purchased that. I have two, Chewy. I have two Free Radicals that still- Oh, really? Still. Well, you could, you could so easily make that sidecar yourself. It's literally, um, two, um,
22:31
headsets, um,
22:35
you know, like, like a road headset, and with the rods through that to hook them together, and then just a, just weld a frame and then use like, uh, a burly, you know, the quick release wheels, a single one. Yeah.
22:45
That's all there is to it. That's all that it is. And then you just put a platform on it. Huh. Well, sounds like a winter project. No shit. I, we know a guy that can weld. Well, uh- Sorta... sorta. [laughs] Sorta.
22:58
He's all in love now. He doesn't talk to us. I did see him last week, though. I won a free beer off him. Oh, yeah. Oh, I did see that. Oh, I saw that. The, the- Yeah... I saw the coin out in the world.
23:09
[clears throat] The best story about that is he, I gave Cleone my wallet to go order french fries at Good City Brewing, and he's counting the steps she's taking and he pulls out his coin and he's like, "Wa-bam."
23:21
I'm like, "Really?" Oh. Oh. And I just turned my hip pouch over and he's like, "Ah, shit." [laughs] "It's in your hip pouch." Yep. Yep. I'm like, "Yes, sir."
23:29
And then you, we have these, uh, coins that we, that Chewy, uh, gave us all, and you have to present, if you present yours and everyone else presents, you buy the round.
23:39
But if no one has it or one person doesn't have it, they have to buy the round. I like that. And they're, they're to make sure- There we go. It's- Do we have to get Steve in on this?
23:45
It's always in the, it's always in the pocket. What's that? We have to get Steve in on this? We might have to. Well, we certainly could. I, I know I have at least one left that you left last time you were in town. Yeah.
23:55
[laughs] It's, it's not at the shop, but I'll, I'll- Okay. Otherwise, otherwise I was gonna say I'll send one. Looks like a- No, I got one left. I think, uh, Dave took a couple for- I'm going to look at this...
24:02
Scanlan and for, um, for, uh, Boner. [laughs] Boner. Yeah. [laughs] It, it, it does look like a slammer, though. It looks like we're playing pogs at the bar. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Right. Yeah.
24:15
But yeah, Dave, you know, Dave loses again. Sorry, Dave. DaveLuntz.com, folks And then we end up at Black Husky and, God, you know, such delicious beer and the next thing you know you're drunk. It'll do that to you.
24:28
Oh, they're big- It's just, it's just so strong. They're big, big beers over there Their beers are so heavy. Errors by Tim. Heavy, man. [laughs] Wow.
24:35
So Chewy, I've been planning out that Fargo Ti frame that I got from you. Okay. Did you, did you ever have a plan to build it yourself or did it just come into your possession and then you, you passed it on?
24:47
'Cause I'm kind of s- I'm like, "Do I do it as a 27.5 by three? Do I do it as a 29er? Do I do it as a 27 plus?" 'Cause it's supposed to be- No, I-... pretty versatile, you know, and I'm leaning towards- That came from,
25:02
that came from Tanner, um, with the stuff that you saw there. It was, uh, I'm assuming it was a w- when he was, when he was doing setups and stuff, I think it was a demo.
25:13
So the frame was probably set up at one time but never ridden. Okay... is w- what I think the deal is. And so he just kinda scavenged what he could. So that's why there's not very much there.
25:21
We really didn't, he, he never really did anything with it. Gotcha. Well, the one thing I've settled on for it is that new Whiskey Winston bar, which is kind of a, you know, a swept back...
25:33
It's not a drop bar 'cause I'm not a drop bar guy anymore. Oh, that funky one? Yeah. That's cool. Yeah. Looks pretty wild. And it, it's, it's like a- It's like a... It's almost like a stash bar...
25:40
It's like a, yeah, it's sort of like a stash bar 'cause I, I don't ride in the drops anymore. That's for foolish people. So, um- What, what are you gonna put on it for a fork then?
25:49
Well, you sent a fork with it, which I can't find right now.
25:52
So if I, if that one is the right one for the bike, I'd probably throw that on there for now 'cause I'm not spending 600 bucks on a carbon fork for this thing when I'm not sure what I'm doing with it yet. So-
26:01
No, and, and that-... um, I just kinda been collecting parts... and stay close to that, that fork because my experience with the Fargos was that fork was kind of the way to go.
26:12
Now I d- I never rode a Ti one, but every other one I had, and I had two other ones. Um, uh, one was, can't r- one wound up being a single speed because of, it was a defect in it.
26:24
But that fork seemed to be, to me, to be my favorite fork riding on it. There was a couple other ones that we checked on 'em just to see how they worked and if I remember right, I haven't r- ridden a Fargo in a while.
26:34
It was, um, I didn't like how it rode off road. It just didn't... The, the reason I wanted it was so I could do,
26:41
ride gravel and come into Decorah and go ride the trails in Decorah when I got done and be happy with it, and I never was. Yeah, I, I don't think it's really a mountain bike per se.
26:49
I think it's more of a adventure bike kind of an idea. You know, you might find yourself on a- Right... Jeep road or a B road or something, and having some big tires to take up some cushionin' is a good thing.
27:00
But I know. I'm just gonna build it up 'cause I have it. And it's, it's- I, I don't wanna just flip it on eBay or something and be a dick and make money off you, so. Oh, no. It's okay. I, I, I just, I've never...
27:12
I've had it for a while actually and I've just never, I'd never found the person, I never found, um, the situation that I wanted it.
27:19
I think my bigger problem was is I jumped into the Krampus and I went to the 29 threes, and so that, the Fargo with the, that idea kinda got pushed to the backside and I just haven't really gone back to it even though I probably should.
27:31
I'm going the other way anyway. I'm gonna get a clunker and be done with it. A s- from State? Done with gears, done with brakes. [laughs] All that kinda stuff. From State Bicycle? Yeah. [laughs] I, uh, I, I saw that.
27:47
It came, it, like, like I was... Well, it was, it was really weird. Um, James Rook is supposed to be building me a frame. I have a set of 27. I have the wheel set off of a Hank,
27:58
um, like the guys that f- did the first 27.5 clunkers. Um, I have that set of wheels sitting in Arizona. Hmm. And a guy was supposed to build me a frame.
28:06
He builds clunker frames for all the guys that ride for Back In The Pack Racing, so he's supposed to build me one. Well, it's four years later and I still don't have it.
28:13
So I saw this and I'm like, "Oh, I'm gonna have to get one of these." And I have to become a dealer again because I kinda let it lapse. Okay. So I'm back to being a State dealer. Well, I'd, I had just finished my 27.5.
28:24
I, I call it a clunker even though it doesn't actually look like one. It, I think we talked about it before. It was at the s- it was the, the bike you rode in Decorah with the, um, belt drive. Yep. But that, it turned...
28:34
It's so great. I'm so happy with it. Um, everything works really well on it, and it's got a coaster brake, so there you go. [laughs] I did. 'Cause doesn't that make a clunker? I don't- I think mine will. I'll... Right.
28:49
Well, I was just saying, isn't... Uh, if it's a clunker, it has to have a coaster brake, right? Can you call it a clunker if it's got disc brakes and it's a single speed? Then it seems like it's just a single speed. No.
29:00
Yes. Okay. It skids like mad. And, and- And by the way, don't get- The more you know... if you wanna make a bunch of racket, don't get those WTB thick slicks. They make absolute no noise when you skid. No sound. Yeah.
29:10
It's horrible. It's weird. It's the worst thing in the world, but they're such great tires- I had to lock up coming up to-... otherwise... a stop sign today. I'm like, "This bike literally makes no sound."
29:17
[laughs] It's, it's- I'm running belt drive and drum brakes. They, it is like literally I smashed on it and it's like... [wheel spinning] [laughs] Yeah.
29:27
That's the only, the only downside to those tires is they don't squeal like a pig. Yeah, like a big apple. So. Those bad boys sound terrible when you squeal [laughs] on them. They're great. Yeah.
29:36
Well, we might have to- Yeah... get some clunkers up in here too, 'cause I think having a clunker race series would be great. I'd build a clunker. Sign me up. Yeah.
29:44
Oh, and you gotta come down here 'cause the new shop is gonna be on a huge, huge old factory space, and I've already kinda laid out at least a over a mile course on the property that goes in and out of loading docks and in the buildings and, you know, it, it's like, yeah, we could have a clunker race every month if we wanna do.
30:04
Oh, yeah. Or every week. Steve would be right there. Yep. Yep. It'd be awesome. It's pretty cool space.
30:09
It's nice having, like, I, I don't know what it's like up there, but a lot of our creative or warehouse spaces are disappearing in Milwaukee- Yeah... to development.
30:17
And I think that stronghold up there where you used to be is, like, longstanding, like- I'm still up there. I've been up there for 15 years. And you know this is the building, two buildings to the south.
30:25
It's two buildings to the south. Yeah. The warehouse building. That's Milwaukee Warehouse. Is that what they're calling it now? West River Collective, I believe is the- Oh, okay... official term now.
30:35
Which is where our- Space is secure... this is where our fair podcast studio is moving because- Oh. Oh, you mean we're not gonna get nice little car accidents out front, front? Is that what that was? Yeah.
30:43
And, or a cop pulling over or whatever. And, well- No, we can have them in the parking lot instead... and a couple, like a couple months ago- Yeah... there was, boom, and took out a, one of the bikes- Parking meter...
30:53
on the bike rack. Yeah, that's right, the bike too. Yeah. The, the parking lot is big enough to have a demo RV. I, but I, I- The bus was with parking indoors here. [laughs] That's Eric's bike next door, in front of you.
31:01
Yeah. So we're with him at Comet- Yeah... and actually have a clunker for him that someone dropped. It sat for two days on the corner by my house. I have him a new just, you know- Another clunker?...
31:10
up- upright, like single speed, just- [laughs]... you know, his comfort, like what he likes to ride, like sitting in my garage right now for him. Yeah, it's too bad that...
31:17
Well, he, fortunately that one was still left, but- Yeah... it's a sad thing when people run into your bike when it's parked properly on the sidewalk. [laughs] Yeah. On the sidewalk. [laughs] Yeah.
31:26
Yeah, 'cause it knocked out one, the, the other staple that was there. Mm-hmm. [laughs] It's like, dude. That was Scully's bike, but I- Yeah... guess he moved down to North Kakalaki. Mm-hmm. North Kakalaki. Oh, really?
31:37
Yeah. What was the a- What's that? What was the accident that happened when we were there where they [laughs] took the kids? Oh my God. That's right. They rear-ended that- The Gallow side...
31:46
the, the, kids get the pizza run rear-ended that- Yeah... that doctor. Yeah. There, there's pretty much- Yeah... an accident- Car still had, didn't even have plates on it yet...
31:54
I w- I wouldn't quite say an accident a day, but there's a couple a week out there. Yeah, easy. They run into the building, they run into the tree, they run into the bikes, they, you know.
32:01
I think with the [laughs] with...
32:03
So the bike boulevard is now done to just to the west of us, a half a block, and they've put in some significant lane squeezing so you can't get the drag race off the stoplight, and I think that's somewhat eliminated it coming from the west.
32:18
But coming from the east still- It's-... people don't get that a stoplight is, is in the middle of the block, and they're on their phone or whatever they're doing and... Well, that's what Locust is too.
32:27
Like, I'm sure you've visited the, a shop from up where you are, but Locust goes for, in the River West, like our east-west stretch is six blocks there, and it goes from two lanes to one lane and then opens right back up.
32:39
That's how, that's what Locust Street Days was a celebration of- Mm-hmm... was. Mm-hmm.
32:43
Like shutting down the development and reopening of this road to, like knocking out homes and businesses to make it a quicker thoroughfare- Mm-hmm... up to the lake. Yep.
32:51
Thank God they didn't do it so they can go jump in a lake a little bit later. Later. Yeah. Kick off. [laughs] January 1st. Right on.
33:00
Chewy, you got any closing comments before we kick you off the air and go have more beer? [laughs] No. You guys go drink beer. Uh, merry Christmas to all of you guys. I will talk to you probably in a couple weeks.
33:11
Um, what are your guys' plans for New Year's? Are you guys gonna do a ride?
33:15
Yeah, probably go down and see the dips jump in the lake out down there at the Polar Bear Plunge, 'cause I imagine it's still happening to some extent. Yeah, so you can't stop people- And then we ride our bikes...
33:25
from jumping in Lake Michigan. Yeah. I mean, for real. They, they just had a New Year's Day out there. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. Well, I mean- Yeah, we had a New Year's Day. New and-... la- yeah.
33:31
Last year there was probably 3,000 people down there doing it. It was a little warmer. There was no ice, but you know, it, it is a, it is a- It was... conglomeration of people.
33:40
I don't know how they're gonna do it with what's going on, but I assume that there's no way they can really stop it, so we'll just go- We'll probably do-... view from a distance like we always do...
33:49
we'll probably do- Yeah, exactly. [laughs] It's like our, our, our jam doesn't really change. It's like, "Nah, I'll be over here."
33:54
[laughs] No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I don't even wanna be thought of, you know- [laughs]... being dragged in there by somebody who's been up all night. [growls] "Come on, I know you." [laughs] Casey.
34:06
We're probably gonna do a, uh... We can't, since we can't do the Hy-Vee ride anymore, which is really stupid. We usually go New Year's Day.
34:11
Hy-Vee does, like really cheap beer to empty their kegs, but they have, like really good beers, and half price hors d'oeuvres, and all the Bloody Marys you can drink for eight bucks.
34:20
So we literally went to the four Hy-Vees in Rochester and just rode very short and got very drunk on New Year's Day, but that's not gonna happen this year. So I'm probably gonna and do, um, the Decorah to Bluffton ride.
34:32
The guys do a run and then bike supports it.
34:36
So as they're running, and they have a bus that brings everybody back, but it'll [laughs] we just ride out and ride back, and you know, they're running so we can stop and have a beer quite often, so it's a pretty good time.
34:46
What's, what's the- Last time I considered myself- What's the bar in Bluff-... we wound up rather bloody. What's the bar in Bluffton called? It's at the campground. I don't know the name of it. Oh, okay.
34:54
I mean, I'm, I've done that ride before, and it's a, it's a nice, what? 12 miles out, 12 mile back kinda thing? Right. Yeah. Yep, yep. Just tw- Yeah. It's 24 miles total. Yeah. It's awesome.
35:04
Yeah, nice and hilly and all gravelly and whatnot. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds good. Well, all right, Chewy. Thanks for calling in, brother. All right. Good talking to you guys. We'll talk to you again. Merry Christmas.
35:13
All right. All right. Merry Christmas, everybody. Talk to you later. All right. Take care. Bye. Ho, ho, ho. Well, we finally got a Sammy walked in the door. Yeah.
35:20
[laughs] Just in, just in time to sh- shut this mother down. Yeah. Steve, anything you wanna add before we wrap this up? I- I'll chat some- Steve back soon please... I'll chat some other time more with y'all later. Yeah.
35:30
Yeah. Come back soon. Yeah. But he, he, you got a lot of- Yeah, shoot... he's got a lot of stories, so we'll bring Steve back. Um, well, we're gonna get a cast of characters here at some point.
35:37
I'm not sure what we're doing for the, uh, I'm not sure what we're doing next week. If we do this, we'll be here. Uh, but the following week, I think we'll be in the new space, I hope. Nice. Oh, it's that soon.
35:47
January 1st you're in there. Yeah. So we're mo- Well, yeah, hopefully. Um, we're moving the studio up to the building right across the hall from the bike shop, and it will not only be the home of our f-
35:59
just n- stupid Full Spectrum Cycling thing, but w- it'll also be a, a resource for people in the building and other folks to rent and learn about podcasting, so it'll be, uh, it, it'll be a good thing.
36:12
I will let you know more about it. I got, uh, podcastmke.org as, uh, so we'll have stuff there. And then I'll continue this conversation with you off air. Oh, right on. [laughs] All right. Hey, everybody.
36:23
Thanks for c- thanks for listening. I know that, you know, we don't always do it right, but today was damn good. It's fun. Thanks very much. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. [upbeat music] Go Santa. Santa.
36:37
[upbeat music]
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