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Full Spectrum Cycling
Full Spectrum Show #94 – “Seeley” Dave Schlabowske CAMBA Executive Director
Jan 8, 2021
Full Spectrum Show #94 – “Seeley” Dave Schlabowske CAMBA Executive Director
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Transcript
0:00
[upbeat rock music] Good evening, everybody, Full Spectrum Cycling.
0:21
Show number 94 coming at you. 94. Yeah, Happy New Year again. Yeah, I forgot we did that- Yeah... last week already. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, this is kind of a, to, this is, like, the, uh, uh, what? Addendum.
0:34
The re- the recap of the havoc- Re- yes, yes, yes... of New Year's Day. Yes. We- Yes... we get into a bit of the minutia, broad strokes last week. I believe it's also the 12th day of Christmas, if you follow such things.
0:46
Huh? There's 12 days of Christmas, apparently, and this is the Ascension or the, I don't know- Oh, yeah... one of those guys. Oh. Yeah. What is it? No, that's not the right word, but- Oh, man...
0:55
it is the 12th day of Christmas, and that's- Right... I was wondering why there's still a freaking tree up in our house at home, but apparently- Oh...
1:00
it's coming down this weekend, 'cause it had to wait until today to be- Because Santa died for our sins. So Santa- She gone... he's, he was a, actually a- [laughs]... he was a Christmas tree farmer. Yeah. Well.
1:10
And, uh, you know, our fake plastic Christmas tree came right from- Oh... North Pole. Perilously close to Radiohead there. [laughs] I, I, I came home from work and- << Christmas tree >>... noticed that she gone. Yeah.
1:22
Oh, yeah. Gone. All right. On the porch. On the porch. Oh, there was, a couple years ago, I had a... It w- our tree was, like, dead on arrival. Yeah. And so it was like as soon as people left that night of Christmas,
1:36
out. [laughs] That was the best. I was like, "Oh my God." Yeah. It was like 11:00 at night and gone. Christmas was done for. Did you have a funeral pyre? No. No. It was just- Maybe-...
1:45
get the hell out of here 'Cause they burn real good. There was a- Oh, yes... there was one year when I was a kid where my, um, dad decided to stuff the entire tree up the chimney in our fireplace. Oh, very Grinch.
1:56
[laughs] And he lit it on fire, and was just, like, watching TV, and someone knocked on the door and said, "Sir, there's flames shooting out of your chimney."
2:06
[laughs] And my dad literally, like, in his bathrobe walked out to the end of our yard and looked up, and he's like, "Oh, yeah." And then turned around and walked back in the house.
2:14
And all his kids are like, "The house is gonna burn down. You know, something's gonna happen." And nope, that tree went up so fast, you know, within three minutes there was no more flames.
2:23
[laughs] Well, chimney fires are no joke a lot of times. Yeah. No, they'll usually do a lot of destruction. But that was a- Get a lot of soot in there and whatnot...
2:28
my parents actually installed that fireplace in that house, so it had this huge flue, and it was pretty modern
2:36
for- Speaking of fireplaces, I don't know if we talked about this yet, but there's that 80-foot tall chimney at the new place that was for the boiler of the- Yeah... original heater. Yeah.
2:45
Well, the CBD guy that's in there decided to clean it out, because it had poop in it. Uh-oh. [laughs] It was about nine feet deep- [laughs]... and approximately six feet square. He, he found over, like, 100 bird,
3:02
you know, rib cages and just- Holy shit... and he's going to use it for his- Kill the floor now... his cannabis growing business as, uh, fertilizer. Mm. Somehow. Mm-hmm. 'Cause it's, it's pigeon poop and- Mm-hmm...
3:14
probably bat guano and other- Uh-huh... tasty treats for your- Major bat guano... your CBD flower business. Yeah. Yeah. I guess, huh? Yeah. Interesting. That's weird. Yeah.
3:23
So, um, I, I wish they would've done that before we cleaned everything and- Yeah... 'cause it filled the whole entire 40,000 square feet with dust, but- Oh. [laughs] Which by the way is poop dust, but- Poop dust. Yeah.
3:35
What's wrong with a little poop dust? Yeah. Nothing wrong with a little poop dust there. Apparently. Yeah. But it is, uh, now it's done, and, uh- It's duty... kinda been- Duty... kinda been a little slow on the
3:46
work over there over the holiday recess. Yeah. Yeah. As every- as everyone is wont to do. Yeah. It's time to- Oh, and I-... kick it into gear again, though... I busted ass every day. [laughs] Yeah.
3:55
Well, you, you- Other than the ride day for- You, you picked it up for the rest of us. Yeah. [laughs] Other than the ride day, I got a lot done. 'Cause everybody waited that amount of time to
4:05
open and dump all of the work from the time- Yeah... when everyone was going, so yes, I've been- I had a lot of vacations... I've been swimming in my own nine feet of shit. [laughs] Yeah. Completely.
4:15
[laughs] So we got that, uh, special ed over there with the, the studded tire conversion, uh- Love that one... which it, he, where he's hoping to do Bike Across Bago.
4:25
Actually was gonna talk about that a little later, but- Oh... it's under the Shit Worth Doing column. That- And-... I forgot to look at today, but you know what? I don't think they're gonna, unless
4:36
stuff changes real quick. Well, they said the ice is coming in good, but it's, um, the Walk Across Bago has been canceled, and that was the logistics for the Bike Across. Right.
4:48
So there's still a movement afoot to go out there if there's enough ice to go on the 13th of February. So keep your eyes peeled- All right...
4:55
on the Bike Across Bago page if you feel like riding across a big- So is that a-... 20 mile frozen chunk of lake. Is that special ed a 29er with- Uh-huh... fat slicks on it now? It's got thick slicks on it.
5:07
Or thick slicks. Sorry. Fat slicks. Yep. I'm gonna come out with a competing tire. I'm gonna call it Fat Slick. [laughs] Fat slicks for Fatburger. Yeah. [laughs] Fat bikes only. I'm, I'm looking at the Speedster again.
5:20
I think, uh, Vee Tire kinda changed the profile of it, so it looks more balloonish. Mm. That may be a good fat bike slick type tire. I hope. I hope. Their other one was terrible. Yeah.
5:31
It didn't, I didn't really care for it. It had a weird edge on it. Yeah. Yeah. It, no, it, that was not the bike tire to put on the bike for the Riverwest 24, that's for sure. No. That's it.
5:40
Bring back the Black Floyd, I say. I totally get behind that. I would not have ridden it on New Year's Day this year, though. That would've been quite slick. [laughs] Especially after the snow started.
5:52
[laughs] Yeah, exactly. You know, I just gotta say anybody that doesn't like an electric bike did not see you doing some of the shit you were doing on that [laughs] electric fat bike. 'Cause it was badass cool.
6:04
Well, I, we did the, kind of the, the early Um, urban assault version of a story on that Boar 604 not that long ago on the site, and John said, "Well, just keep it and ride it in the snow too." And I said, "Okay."
6:18
[laughs] So, um, it is a riot in the snow, especially, you know, six-inch to 12-inch deep snow that has some firmness under it. What a, what a blast [laughs]. It, yeah, it's, it's a tank.
6:33
It really- It motors through stuff a lot better than you'd think. Yeah, it does. Yeah. Um, the, the geometry is good. It doesn't get bogged down in it, and, uh, and it does donuts real cool-like. Oh, yeah.
6:43
[laughs] I bet it does. I bet it does. I have this audience of a couple of those. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And they're like, "Ah, yeah." It's kinda like the, the Mad Max, you know, put your foot on the ground- Yeah...
6:51
and do the, do the donut thing. By the way, Mad Max was, uh, set in 2021. [gasps] That's right. Oh, for real? Damn. So, so we can all dress like Toecutter and [sighs]... Nice. [laughs] Let's start working on that now.
7:04
We remember you, Brahms. [laughs] We know who you are. Oh. Johnny, Johnny, Johnny. [laughs] I gotta watch that when I get home. Yeah, no kidding.
7:16
I watched it a couple months ago, but like- I think the, I think the actor, the Toecutter actor, d- passed not that long ago, like in 2020. I don't remember exactly, but- I think you're right. Yeah.
7:25
And he played the Immortan Joe in the s- in the Fury Road one with Tom Hardy. So he was the heavy baddie- Oh... in both of those. That was, uh- Nice little trivia tidbits.
7:37
Yeah, that's tr- it's trivia here- Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da... at the Full Spectrum Cycling Trivia Show. There's my jingle.
7:42
[laughs] I was, I was surprised to see how many people went to the non-event of the Polar Bear Plunge. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It was canceled, and 1,000 people showed up or something. Yeah. I didn't even know it was canceled.
7:53
Oh, yeah. Well, you got this thing going on. People didn't know. Yeah, so did they not have any paramedics and stuff there?
7:58
I don't know that they could have not had people there, but it was- I don't think they had the force of which they normally did. Yeah.
8:05
'Cause normally it was like, you know, a big truck and a few, you know, ambulances and guys in there. And those guys just floating around in the water in those big suits- Yeah... that just kinda like- Like, wow...
8:15
"Oh, it's like nice in here. It's like a hot tub." Yeah. [laughs] And I'm in, you know, 30-degree water. Well, all my riding was white-knuckling, just simply out of [sighs]... It's your day. It's my day, you know?
8:25
And- I-... I was like, "Oh, da, da, da, da. Oh, w- oh, heading to the door. I will meet you there." [laughs] I, uh- Like wherever [laughs], wherever, wherever the destination was, I will meet you- Meet you there...
8:36
there. I will take my own way, which worked out famously, 'cause I was behind with, uh, Dave.
8:43
And so he is trying to take the sidewalk, and there are people walking back and forth, and forth and back, and it just is a hassle. And they, excuse me. And then, uh,
8:53
I notice that the, you know, c- police have kinda held back traffic a bit here, and we're doing a little bit of that. So I just jumped on the damn, uh, Lake Memorial
9:03
and just tore ass all the way from Bradford to Michigan. [laughs] Nice. I'm just like, I was like, "Hell, I'm never gonna get a chance to do this without-" Why was Dave-... Mor-" Why was Dave hag- hanging back?
9:14
Yep, yep, yep. Oh, yappy yep. Yeah. 'Cause he went to Shell Track the next day, I believe. Yeah, he did. Wasn't it the same day as Frost Bike? I'm pretty sure. Isn't it always the same day as Frost Bike?
9:22
Shh, shh, Frost Bike is not hap- it's a virtual Frost Bike this year. Yeah? [sniffs] Um, I, yeah, I- Yeah, he- I wanna see the, the picture of the guy that says he embodies fat bike racing.
9:34
I thought that was a pretty funny post. [laughs] Were d- the, any casualties of the day? No, it sounded like it was pretty- For Shell Track or for- For- Other... yeah. [laughs] New Year's Day. New Year's Day.
9:47
New Year's Day? Yeah, yeah. I didn't have any. Well, let me spin you a little yarn here. Uh-oh. Okay. After we had left, uh, Brady, Nomad, and it was like, "Oh, next stop..." You know, you guys tore off.
10:00
We left a little early, yep. And I saw the, I saw the video of you enduring the switchback. That looked painful. Um [laughs] or- It was not fun. No, exactly. I mean, I w- and I had my own.
10:11
It was like, "Okay, next stop Champions. Okay, I'll meet you there." Even with a follow-up, um, "Champions?" You know, it was- Yeah, well, I got there s- swiftly. I know. Well, yeah, with the damn, yeah, yeah.
10:22
And I only, I ate it once, but it was a poofy, you know, slow poof into that. So maybe your curse is broken. Exactly, but I get there, relax and have a couple beers, [smacks lips]
10:34
always thinking, "Ugh, this is gonna be a pain in the ass getting home. Pain in the ass getting home. Pain the ass getting home."
10:40
So the combination of riding and walking and sliding and walking and trying to coast and whatever, it was getting late, I mean, depending on the start. Getting home, realizing I left my backpack at, uh, Champions.
10:55
On the backpack are my house keys. Oh. [laughs] Nobody in the house. Gave a call. Oh. Kim was, "Oh, oh, I'm on my way." Oh, man. And, uh, well, I m- and I was equipped.
11:10
I mean, it was snowing and cold and whatever, but I'd been out all... And I was good. I was layered enough. [clears throat] You think we should, uh- And then hour number three occurred.
11:21
Waiting, waiting- Give me those things... waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. You're kidding me. It was about four hours before- Kim showed up at home. Yeah. [laughs] Wow.
11:33
I mean, if I would've known, I would've just walked the hell back to freaking- Champions... Champions and got my damn keys. But she was on her way. Ah. So that's, my wits were my casualty of New Year's Day.
11:44
Well- Damn, dude, you should sit next year out. [laughs] Hey, let's, let's not make, uh, let's not make Dave wait another [laughs] 15 minutes this week. Hey, another thing I- Welcome to the radio program.
11:55
Caller, who do we have on the line? I'm on my Jewish show, or my [laughs] Irish soapbox. [laughs] Dave? Hello? Hey, am I on? You're [laughs] on. Yeah. Am I there? Am I there? You're there, man. Yeah. You got me?
12:09
I gotcha. [laughs] Great. We, or we gotcha. Happy New Year. Hey, thanks for hanging out last week for 15 minutes and, uh- You, you got hidden behind another browser window- [laughs]... so I didn't know you were there.
12:19
[laughs] [laughs] It's horribly... Sorry, sorry about that. Oh, boy, just reliving our, uh, our New Year's- Oh, God... our New year's Day. How was your New Year's? Did you go for a ride?
12:29
Uh, yeah, it was, uh, pretty, pretty cas' up here. Um, we actually only just closed on our property this morning, so- Hmm. Oh...
12:40
uh, we've kinda been living in a little bit of a limbo for a while, and it, just mentally it's been sorta hard to, to completely settle in, knowing that we're just renting and we didn't really own it yet.
12:53
But so today we opened up a little bottle of champagne and- Nice... that's all gone, so I've got a- [laughs]...
12:59
I don't know if you wanna ring the bell, but I got a Angry Minnow IPA, a Big Brook IPA that I'm, I'm on now, so. [bell rings] Well, we can do Top of the Hill since you just got here. Yeah. We're, uh...
13:09
I like Angry Minnow. It's a good place up there. Folks, this is, uh, Dave Sobieski- Yeah... by the way, in case you didn't recognize the voice.
13:15
He's the, uh- A- A- AK- AKA Seely Dave now that I'm doing my little trail reports on Facebook- Oh, right on... because our trails up here, so. Seely Dave? Is that your... Is that part of the CAMBA thing- Yeah...
13:27
or do you have a, a separate Seely Dave page? No, there's no separate Seely Dave page. I just put it on the CAMBA page. Um, I, I, um, I've been doing trail reports, video trail reports when I go out and ride. And, uh,
13:42
I started doing them before I actually was officially in the job, so I couldn't really say, "Oh, I'm the executive director of CAMBA," um, 'cause I wasn't. [laughs] So I was like, "Well, what am I?"
13:53
Well, I'm a, I'm a guy named Dave who lives in Seely, Wisconsin, so I'm Seely Dave, I guess. Do you, do you have a hat to match that or a, or a, some garb that makes you, um, more recognizable?
14:02
Yeah, there's get- m- merc- merchandise to follow. Yeah. That'd be fun. S- get somebody to do a little caricature of you. That would be great. Yeah. Yeah. So- So, uh- When did you- But, hey, I, I will give your...
14:16
I'll, I'll give your listeners a, a, a trail report.
14:18
Um, so up here we've had, uh, a few snowstorms of, you know, six inches or so of snow, and then a couple of, uh, a few others of, you know, an inch or two that have dropped.
14:31
So it's not really ideal yet, um, but we do have a small base on all the trails. So, um, we don't make snow on CAMBA trails.
14:42
Bookees b- had to, was forced to make snow where they can on their, their cer- They got a small loop, kinda like they have at Lapham Peak, you know, um, to make snow for when we don't have snow.
14:54
But Bookees grooming their whole trail. On CAMBA trails we're grooming most of our, our winter trails as well. And, um, the warm weather does kinda mess it up a little bit in the afternoon.
15:06
I've found, though, our groomers typically go out at the end of the day, um, or in the night because it, nobody's riding then, that, and the trails need to be set up after they go through with the groomer.
15:18
But, um, I found... I've been trying to go out, like, first thing in the morning and do a little trail ride every day and, and ride some of the new trails after they get groomed.
15:27
And they've been set up really well in the morning, 'cause, you know, it's 15 or, or 20 degrees outside, so, um, they've had a little time to sit and harden up. And it's, it's... Dude, it's just amazing up here.
15:40
I rode Esker the other day. I did a little online trail report. And, um, that's just such a beautiful trail, and it was groomed perfectly.
15:47
You know, I'm running low PSI that you gotta do, and, and I just floated acr- It was like crust riding, you know? It was just amazing.
15:55
Is, uh, is, is Esker one of the ones that's, it's, uh, like a ridgeline trail on the top? Yeah, exactly. And, and- Yeah... yeah, that's what an esker is.
16:04
You know, it's a pile of gravel left behind by some glacier that retreated. And, uh... I don't know. Is that me crinkling? Should I get off my earbuds maybe? Um, I, I don't know.
16:15
I'm gonna- We, we're not real- I'm gonna try that. I'm gonna try to get- We're not real, we're not real big on, uh, sound quality here that much. [laughs] I always sound quality. Yeah. Tony sounds quality.
16:25
Um- Sounds quality. All right. Did you get some of those new f- But it's still there, the- Did you, did you get some of those fancy new Apple, uh, $550 headphones to talk into? No.
16:38
No, I don't have those, but I, I have, you know, the earbuds, the new, new ones for the iPhone. But I, I got off them, but the, the noise is still there. I hope... It could be my internet is...
16:51
We, we pay a lot of money for 10 megabits per second up here. That's all you can get, so. Wow. So do... Are you using Wi-Fi internet for your phone? Um, no. I, I actually get a, I get a signal up here.
17:10
Huh. Oh. [laughs] Well- Well, you did... Da- Dave ha- [laughs] Wow. Dave had a signal up there. Instant jinx. [laughs] Wow. I can't believe. So probably... [laughs] He'll probably call back shortly.
17:22
Welcome to 2021, and this is what we can do now. [laughs] Oh, boy. If you can will it, it is no dream, Donnie. But, [phone beeps] uh, but by the way, you know- Oh. Yep, Dave's, Dave's- He's back?... having some...
17:37
Oh, you know what? [laughs] Hey, just, just hold on a sec. I hung up on myself, so. [laughs] Oh, boy. Oh, radio listeners. Oh, that's great. I'm just... This is... I'm really good at this. Um- 2021 again.
17:54
Okay, now what am I, what am I gonna end up doing? Okay. Yeah. Hey, Dave, you can, uh, you can hang up and, and I'll reset this thing. I think I, instead of clicking on you, I clicked on me.
18:04
So let's just, uh, let's just take a, a little hiatus here with the boys talking while I redo this thing. It's a tradition. It's a tradition. What's gonna say, uh... Here, wait Oh. Oh, it did. It- Okay.
18:19
Oh, no, that's 'cause I hung up. Dumbass. What a dumbass I am. Dumbass. Right on. It's dumbass. All right. [sniffs] Oh. Jeepers. Uh, coming right back at you pretty quick here. Uh- Indeed, indeed, indeed.
18:34
I, I'm dialing as we speak. All right. So what else is going on, you guys? You gotta keep the thing going while I reconnect with Dave here. The, uh, I, I thought the, uh, New Year's Day ride was actually quite enjoyable.
18:46
Oh, yeah. A lot of fun. Um, okay. Apart from my- Thank you for calling Comms Studio. [laughs] Everything else kind of worked out well. Please enter your show number and press pound.
18:56
I mean, I, I, I didn't really drop the pressure on my tires, but- I forgot to. I kept- Isn't that crazy?... meaning to and then I kinda forgot about it until I got... You know, I don't know.
19:08
[clears throat] I wasn't expecting it to be as snowy as I was gonna be out in it, if that makes any sense. You are now in the host room and you can manage your callers from the calling party web interface.
19:17
I knew it was gonna snow, but I didn't know it was gonna be accumulating as much as it was and- They were back home and- Show recording is on. Dual channel... spun like snow. It was very- Yeah. It was- All right...
19:25
it was very yielding upon- Excellent. Hey, Dave's back. [laughs]... slow falling. [laughs] Am I back? You're back. I, I hung up on me instead of you. I, you... Yeah, you, you, you dropped out and then- Yes.
19:35
Oh, oh, it- Whatever. [laughs] It, it could be our, our... Like I said, you know, I'm, I'm on, I'm on the edge of civiliza- civilization up here, so it, it could be, could be me.
19:45
Um- Do, do, do you have, like, a Pringles can? [laughs] I actually do have decent cell service here, um, but like I said, our internet is, is, you know, you pay $70 a month for 10 megabits per second up here, so...
19:57
And that's your only option, so. Mm-hmm. That's your population density situation. Yeah. Yeah.
20:04
I, somebody told me that they're, they were, like, boring, doing a horizontal boring down our road, uh, the other, last year, but we don't have any fiber yet. I got my fingers crossed. Um,
20:18
I, I'm also talking to the, the owner of the Sawmill Saloon. She's got some empty space over there, about maybe setting up a CAMBA office right there on 63, right in downtown Seely, Wisconsin. Yeah. Um, and, uh, and
20:32
might have better internet service there. There's a different provider that's available on Highway 63 than on Hollywood Lane, where I live. What's, uh, what's the commute, a mile and a half or so?
20:46
Uh, 8/10 of a mile I think- Nice... is what I measured it at. Nice. That's a mile and a half round trip then, just about. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, right. Yeah. So when did you actually start with the- But, uh-...
20:56
the ED position? What was your official beginning date? The, the official start, official start date was, was with the new year, so. Oh, right on. Okay.
21:05
I was up here, I was up here a couple of weeks before that in December. We moved in just because our closing on our house in Milwaukee happened before that, so we had nowhere to live.
21:15
So we rented from the people we're buying the house from, um, and be- And we couldn't get a closing any sooner because everything up here i, is, been, like, selling so fast.
21:26
They're all, all the appraisers, everybody's so backed up. Um, everybody's trying to apparently escape, um, urban population areas and, and have bought up all the property up here.
21:37
So, um, so they're all kind of backed up. So it took longer to close up here than it did in, in Milwaukee and, uh, so we had to rent, but, uh, we finally closed today.
21:48
So I'm now officially a Sawyer County property taxpayer, so. Awesome. So just having started- Yeah, it is awesome...
21:56
just having started the gig, what, what, what are your, uh, did, did you come up with a manifesto or anything yet, or are you just kinda continuing where the- You know, the, the-... the previous guy left off?...
22:05
one of the reasons why I felt,
22:07
one of the reasons why I felt comfortable taking the job was because, uh, the, the CAMBA, um, Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association, um, uh, board of directors did, uh, a, a new strategic plan. [coughs] Excuse me.
22:21
And, um, and they, uh, and I really liked their strategic plan. So CAMBA's been around for, you know, 26 years or something like that. Um, and, and, and God bless, you know, Ron Bergen, who's been here since the start.
22:35
He was the previous executive director and also one of the founders of CAMBA. I mean, we've got 130 miles of incredible single track that gives you a backcountry experience.
22:45
I mean, you can get lost on CAMBA trails, you know? [laughs] Um, you can be out there and like, "Uh-oh, I am in trouble."
22:53
And that happens frequently during the year, and we have EMS meeting tomorrow about how we deal with that sort of stuff because, um, you know, it's hard to find people and, and they don't know where they are.
23:05
And so that sort of backcountry mountain biking experience in the Midwest is pretty unique.
23:12
Um, and we have, CAMBA has also been building some more sort of progressive trails, um, you know, flow trails, machine-built, um, a- with, you know, some options so, you know, people of varying abilities can have fun on the exact same trail.
23:28
But we don't have a lot of that yet. Um, and CAMBA has always really focused on, on the trails and being stewards of the trails up here, so they, they haven't tried to do events and things like that.
23:42
Um, but their new focus is, since they've now got 130 miles of amazing single track, their new focus is to build more of those progressive modern mountain bike trails, um, build a stacked loop system, and then also, um, begin, uh, hosting really great mountain bike events.
24:03
There ar- obviously already are some really great ones up here, the Borah Epic and the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival and, you know, some others. There, the Fat Bike Burki.
24:12
You know, there, there're a bunch, but, um, already. But CAMBA hasn't been involved in any of those, and a lot of that stuff is here because of CAMBA's trails, yet CAMBA doesn't do its own event.
24:23
So- Their new strategic plan said, "Let's build modern progressive mountain bike trails. Let's, let's start, um, trying to build a small portfolio of really high caliber events."
24:37
And, and that sort of new direction in their strategic plan made me interested in, in taking over, um, and applying for the job, uh, after Ron. Um, and I was lucky enough to get it, that job.
24:51
And, um, and I feel really good about the board and, and what they want to do because, you know, that's sort of my background at The Bike Fed too was, you know, starting the ride across Wisconsin and the Tour de Schwamm again and, you know, the Spring Classic rides- Polish Moon Ride...
25:05
and that sort of stuff. [laughs] That... Yeah, the Santa Cycle Rampage- Yep... the Polish Moon Ride, that's sort of the stuff that I really get off on.
25:12
Um, and then personally, I love the whole backcountry thing and, and started, you know, the Tour de Schwamm again for that reason, so.
25:20
Um, and although my wheels tend to stay firmly on the ground at all times if possible, um, having progressive jump lines and things like that, um, I'd love to start, you know, trying to tease my, my, uh, wheels up in the air a little bit, um, and, and learn that.
25:42
Um,
25:43
I, I never did it in Milwaukee when we had RAISE because, like, I would've had to drive really to RAISE 'cause it was kind of a crappy commute from my house, and I was sort of kind of a stickler back then as an urban cyclist of like, "I'm not gonna get in my car to ride my bike."
25:58
Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's, yeah. I, I, all my trails- Mm... you know, a mile and a half from my house. Yeah, you, if you do that- You know what I mean?...
26:05
you may end up having to make your friend drive your car home 'cause you go to the emergency room, [laughs] right, Greg? But, you know, but what I- Hey, Tony...
26:13
what I, what RAISE did do, what I saw in Milwaukee, what RAISE did do is, is RAISE created an entire population of, of riders in Milwaukee that could jump and cross up.
26:26
And, and, you know, when, when The Rock opened and we went out there and I invited a handful of people to do photos and stuff like that, everybody from the couple, like Aris, who I invited, who I knew who could jump, um, and everybody, but all the video people and other people that I invited along, everybody could do it.
26:46
And I was like, "Wait a second. When did everyone learn to get crossed up over tabletops?" And they're like, "Well, we all did it at RAISE. We kept going to RAISE." You know?
26:54
So, um, so if CAMBA ca- and CAMBA has a jump line on one, on our trails, and then, um, the Cable Bike Park has a jump line and, um, so I think that that skillset is gonna grow in the population that visits this area and rides in this area.
27:12
Um, and, and CAMBA needs to grow with it and- Cool... and, you know, build some of those trails.
27:18
Well, so y- in some other places in the state not that far from there, like maybe you're traveling from, uh, I don't know, somewhere south of Wisconsin and you wanna make a stop on the way up in Stevens Point or something, there's several other places that are working on, you know, kind of making that more progressive trail too, but make a great, uh- Oh, yeah...
27:37
circle, circle tour of, uh, Wisconsin. You could totally do that. And, I mean, you could stop in Wausau, you could stop in La Crosse- Wausau... depending on where- Wausau... where you're going. You know?
27:47
[laughs] They've got Sylvan and they've got a new jump line in La Crosse at Jedi.
27:51
Um, and, uh, and Wausau's got, uh, you know, their, uh, Ringle trails, which have got some really nice features on them, and they're very progressive loop system.
28:02
And then you come up here and Win Man has got, you know, really cool stuff. And then, you know, you can bop up to, you know, Duluth and, and their stuff or over to Copper Harbor or Marquette or Isheming.
28:14
And, um, and yeah, there's a lot of stuff going, going in.
28:19
Um, what I think, like I said, that sort of sets CAMBA apart from most of those places, even like Marquette and, and, uh, you know, um, Duluth don't really have kind of this like 130-mile linear sort of like network of trail clusters and stuff like that that we have that where you can get lost in.
28:39
Um, but we don't have that sort of like parking lot culture where like, "Let's go session these loops and, and do this stuff, and then everybody hang in the parking lot and talk, and we see our buds every time we, we go there."
28:53
Um, we don't have that because we have, you know, 25 trailheads and, you know, they're all in different scattered locations. So, um, so we're working on, on building that, um, creating that sort of opportunity here.
29:08
Right on. And I mean, a place like Marquette has been for years exacting some tax on all the rooms that part of that goes into building all those awesome trails over there
29:19
and, uh- You know, uh, yeah, Wisconsin does not have the same funding sources for those, those things that, [coughs] that, um, Minnesota and, and Michigan do.
29:31
We s- we s- we're significantly lacking in, in that in, in we don't have like the legacy fund or we don't have the, you know, the, um, outdoor recreation fund, um, that those guys do. We don't have...
29:43
Michigan's got that, or, or Minnesota's got that whole Iron Range, you know, redev- economic redevelopment, uh, tool that, that those communities are using for, to build trails up by Cuyuna and, and the other spots in Mich- in Minnesota.
29:58
So, um, Wisconsin is a little, if you're a trail builder or a local, you know, community that wants to get something going, it's a little tougher to do here. Um, but it's totally doable.
30:12
And, and CAMBA is, is gonna continue to, to expand that.
30:18
The other partner that, that we have up here that, that, um, we're, we're just in the very early conversations with is the American Birkebeiner, um, Ski Foundation, and- You know, they host the Fat Bike Birkie on, on their trails at the end of the season, um, at the end of their ski season.
30:36
But, um, they're working on purchasing the old Telemark property, which suddenly offers up a whole bunch of opportunities for gravity and, and, you know, uh, progressive trails.
30:51
And, and then, you know, they're also talking about, you know, beer vendors and music vendors and, you know, hotels. And, you know, very, very early days here.
31:01
Um, they haven't even purchased the property yet, but, um, but we have been in some communication with...
31:07
I, I just met with their executive director today, Ben Popp, and, and we were talking about possibilities for, uh, new mountain bike stuff at, at the Birkie, um, Telemark development. Oh, cool.
31:19
So, um, so that ha- is, is really exciting. So I, I know that CAMBA is, is peripherally involved in the Fat Bike Birkie. Um, what, what is the, the latest report on that?
31:30
I, I know it's supposed to happen on March 13th this year, and obviously we're still in a little bit of a weird situation, but is there any news on that front?
31:40
Well, the Birkie is, is, um, working really hard, uh, to, to run their ski event as well, um, and that's in February.
31:51
Um, and what they're doing is they, they've first of all they, they like, uh, got a buddy up here, um, who works for them, and he's been cutting down lots of trees in the start area so that they can spread people out more.
32:07
Um, so what they're doing is they've instead of holding the Birkie on a single day, it's if you wanna race an actual race where you're racing against other skiers, they've s- they've cr- spread the Birkie out over a week.
32:21
So, like, instead of a single start, there's, you know, five starts and, um, to reduce, you know, and social distance, reduce crowds and social distance. Mm-hmm.
32:32
And then you can also ski it virtually as well if you want.
32:35
So I suspect, I haven't heard any announcements about the Fat Bike Birkie, but I suspect they'll do the same thing with that where they'll probably try to, you know, spread out over, over more than just one day.
32:48
So you can actually have that race experience where you're racing against other racers, but it's not quite the crowd that, you know, it was, so it's easier to socially distance and, uh...
32:58
And then there will, uh, undoubtedly be also opportunities to, uh, to, uh, um, you know, do it virtually.
33:07
Yeah, I think if, you know, if I were gonna do it this year, I definitely wouldn't need to do it on the day when all the big guns are there. You know? It's just like- [laughs]...
33:14
I'll go do the trail, and if it's not exactly the same conditions as when the actual race went off, it wouldn't, it, to me it wouldn't matter that much. But- No... um- Right...
33:23
it's, you know, it's being- And so the Huge Ass that... R- right. The Wheel & Sprocket Huge Ass series is, is an example of that, right?
33:30
So they've got, you know, courses around the state, and one of them is in Seely this year. I helped mark that, that course, and there's three Strava segments on it.
33:38
You come up here, you ride the trails, and you Strava your segments, and then they automatically get included in the, in the, you know, competition and, and you can see the leaderboards, and it, it's got some of that same feel.
33:52
We're also talking to, the, CAMBA normally runs a, a fat bike race in the Seely Hills called the, the Seely Big Fat.
34:02
Um, and we decided not to do that this year as a regular standalone race because we couldn't figure out how to do it safely. Um, and it normally draws, you know, 600 people or something like that. So, um,
34:15
but now that I've spent so much time helping Wheel & Sprocket mark their course and we've got that all set up and it's in the same area, um, I was thinking about trying to create a separate registration, and that's, like I said, three Strava segments.
34:30
So, um, it's a six-mile route with three, you know, like three-quarter of a mile Strava segments on it.
34:35
So I was try- thought well, maybe we should give the regular fat bike racers an opportunity to sort of like do sort of the traditional Seely Fat, Big Fat race by ud- utilizing that six-mile loop and saying, "All right.
34:49
We're gonna create a separate registration. Let's say it's $25 instead of, like, some more expensive, you know, um, race. Um, 15 or $25 or something like that.
34:59
And then you can do the, um, the, uh, a one-loop or two-loop or a three-loop, you know, uh, lap, uh, race. And then it also would be a virtual race. And I don't know.
35:12
I was thinking, like, the, um, because it was always called the Seely Big Fat, um, uh, we could call it a Big Fat Huge Ass. [laughs] That's good. On Strava would you- Which-... can you get KO- KOS? King of Seely?
35:28
[laughs] Yeah. They, yeah. You know- No reason... I was, I was kinda curious.
35:35
Uh, I got my, I got my Ride With GPS yearl- yearly recap and, uh, I, I didn't really use it all that much, but I'm curious if you got yours and, and what kind of, uh, kind of information that gave you.
35:49
I, I didn't even look at it yet. I've been so busy unboxing and, you know, starting my new job and everything like that, that I, trying to buy a house, that I haven't really had much time for anything but that.
36:02
I actually haven't even been riding that much. You know, I try to get out every day for, you know, like an hour or two just to, because I, I live right by the trails and, and wanna do that. Um, but...
36:13
And I actually, I've, I just, we just, our neighborhood was one of the f- was one of the first neighborhoods built in Seely, Wisconsin, um, modern neighborhoods built around ski trails.
36:26
Um, so our, the ski trails in our neighborhood came first and then they built-...
36:31
a development around the trails as opposed to, like, a lot of other n- neighborhoods in, in the Cable, uh, Seely, Hayward area, you know, like, oh, on the Birke Trail.
36:42
Well, they build a, they build a development, and then they build a connector to the Birke Trail or to a CAMBA trail or something like that.
36:50
Whereas, like, my neighborhood was ski trails first, so there's, like, 5K, 6K of ski trails here, um, and it's super hilly. Um, and then they did a development around that after the trails were put in.
37:02
So, um, our trails used to always be groomed, and they weren't. And then I just met with the local groomers and stuff and said, "Oh, yeah, I'd love to help, help groom the trails again."
37:14
And, uh, I, I, I'm not a big skier. My wife skis more. I, I'll probably start it up again, but I wanna ride my fat bike around on them. And, uh,
37:23
and they're a little proprietary about giving me their Scandix and their Tidtex and stuff like that right away 'cause they don't know me that well, but they started grooming our trails again.
37:31
So I went out in my backyard yesterday, and I was like, "Hey, the trail's [laughs] groomed in my backyard."
37:38
It just happened like that 'cause I ran into a guy who's one of the groomers while I was out fat biking, and I talked to him, and the next day my trails were groomed, so. Can't beat that. That's- So that's pretty sweet.
37:48
That's Northern Wisconsin friendliness right there. Yeah, yeah. [laughs] All right, dude. Well, I appre- I'm glad we- Well, hey, thank you, guys... I'm glad we...
37:55
Yeah, I'm glad we caught up with you this week and didn't goof it up too much. So, um, you know, feel free to call regularly. Sure.
38:02
I know es- especially as you get going in this thing because I, I know there's a lot of- Yeah... uh, new stuff that's gonna happen, and it would be nice to catch up and- Yeah, all kinds of fun stuff up here.
38:10
So, um, everybody should come on up, though. The trails are freaking dialed. Yeah. Let us know when it, when they're really baked in good, and we'll, we'll make a trip. Thank you. [laughs] All right, cool.
38:21
All right, Dave. Okay, boys. Talk to you soon. Thanks for calling. Let... Yep. Good night, everybody. Bye-bye. Bye. Yep. Bye. Dave Schlabowske, everybody. Homeowner. Homeowner and
38:33
s- well into his sixth day of being executive director of the CAMBA Trail System. KOS. K. King of Seely. Seely Dave. [laughs] Seely Dave. I know CAMBA- Not to be confused with Steely Dan.
38:44
I should try and f- I'll, I'll try and find the CAMBA... There's a Facebook page. Hey. They got, everybody should know about that already. COVID-19. [laughs] Ooh, aah, we can't dance together. Oh, boy. Ooh, yeah.
38:55
Seely Dan. [laughs] Seely Dave. I think Seely Dan needs his own, uh- Seely Dan... needs his own Facebook page. Seely Dave. Seely Dave page. Can I say Seely Dan? Yep. Yeah, but [laughs]
39:08
Do I- Well, there's probably a Seely Dan up there somewhere, God damn it. Yeah, I'm sure there's [laughs] a Seely Dan. All right, for freak's sake.
39:15
Uh, well, thanks, Dave, for helping us, uh, spend more of these fine people's time. Hey. And, uh, I don't know. I- Go ride your bike. Hey, we might even have some stuff to talk about next week we didn't even get to.
39:24
We got electric bike we had that we didn't even talk about. All that kind of stuff. Oh, yeah. We gotta at least mention electric bikes. Electric bikes. Oh, we li- we mentioned them. We did. We did. All right, everybody.
39:32
Baby maker. Bye. We did not mention the baby maker. [laughs] Baby maker. Baby maker.
39:40
[upbeat music]
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