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Full Spectrum Cycling
Weekly Dose of Fat – Happy New Year Edition – Show #37 – 1-2-15
Jan 2, 2015
Weekly Dose of Fat – Happy New Year Edition – Show #37 – 1-2-15
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0:00
Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 37 for January 2nd, 2015.
0:07
[upbeat music] From the Nut Factory Studios, awaking from our holiday slumber just long enough to give you this show,
0:31
it's the Weekly Dose of Fat. Welcome to the show everybody. This is Sven wishing you all a Happy New Year. Hope you got out on the 1st and got in a ride to start the fresh year off correctly on your fat bike.
0:48
This is the second show in our holiday hiatus edition. We're gonna have an interview, uh, recap with Ned Overend here in just a bit, but first wanna give thanks to Surly for helping sponsor the show.
1:03
Here's hoping that the new year brings a little Surly goodness into your life. You can check them out at surlybikes.com.
1:13
As usual, we've got a list of links in the show notes, including a look back on 2014 from the Coast Kid, a report on the December Fat Bike Randonee on the Wasatch Front, a global Fat Bike Day report from Newfoundland,
1:28
and several other links from our fat bike friends around the world. So without further ado, here's a recap of our interview with Ned Overend. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
1:45
Welcome to the show, Ned. Howdy, guys. Good to be here.
1:49
Hey, so Ned, uh, the last time we saw each other we were sitting in the River's Edge Eatery up there in Cable, Wisconsin, and, uh, you had just won the US National Fat Bike Championship at the Fat Bike Birkie.
2:02
Uh, like, uh, we talked to all the other racers up there, but we just kind of had a little conversation friendly and we never really talked about the race and the tactics and, and what happened.
2:13
Uh, uh, can you give us a little play-by-play how the, how the race panned out from, you know, the attacks and this and that? Yeah, sure. You bet. And first of all, you know, that was, uh, racing in a field like that.
2:26
I, I've raced in some smaller races in Colorado and, uh, you know, where there's only been a, a handful of competitive guys, you know, like Travis and Travis Brown and some of the other local riders who are strong here.
2:40
But I've never been... You know, I think we started with like 500 racers and, uh, clearly there was an elite group of probably 15 guys who were in that main pack. Right. And, uh, so, so I wasn't sure what to expect.
2:55
You know? I, I'd heard several of those names, obviously, uh, you know, Jesse and then also that, uh, Jordan Wakeley.
3:03
I think Jesse, Jesse Lalonde, but I know also that Jordan Wakeley has been, uh, has several wins and maybe, maybe even considered like the dominant rider in, in the Midwest, you know? He's a, he's a lumberjack, so.
3:15
[laughs] I think it's much more... Yeah, much more competitive than, uh, than the Colorado series. You know? They have bigger races out there.
3:22
Anyway, so, so the first part was kind of about feeling it out and, uh, I think the, the pace was going pretty good up some of the longer hills on the, in the first, oh, couple miles of the race.
3:35
And that's when it kind of got down to, uh, in the, well, probably about 12, 12 riders I think at that point.
3:43
And then heading out to the, to the turnaround, you know, there were some guys who would throw in some attacks, both Jordan and Jesse. And, uh, they would, they would surge and then the, the group would catch up to them.
3:58
But there, there wasn't several attacks so that people were recovering and, and getting back, uh, getting back on essentially. It was kind of hard to tell how strong the riders were, you know?
4:11
Whether everyone was just kind of playing a waiting game or whether, uh, a lot of those riders were only strong enough to kind of follow those attacks and not counter. But, uh, I- That's it.
4:21
That's interesting because I know from Jordan and from Jesse that they went out in that first half and they put the pedal to the metal and they wanted to like kind of assert their local dominance on that elite group.
4:38
And during that, during that time, that first half of the race, one of the Alaskans, Jamie Stull, when I talked to him he s- he told me that they were talking about themselves. They're like, "What's up with Ned?
4:50
He's, he's squirrely and all over the place," because you were sliding and all over the place. So do you think that...
4:56
Were you, were you playing with those guys or was that because it was a little harder conditions and you had shaved off all those knobs off your front tire? Well, I, I wasn't playing with the guys.
5:08
[laughs] But, uh, it's interesting. I thought a bunch of guys were, were sliding around a little bit. I was kind of... Part of that was that I was kind of trying to learn about the track, right?
5:20
Before, uh, before I really started, you know, hanging it out- Mm-hmm... and attacking I was trying to figure out where the traction was, 'cause I, I thought those conditions...
5:30
Well, first of all, you know, I've done some fat bike racing, but not near as much as, as those other guys in that pack, right? Who are from, you know, Minnesota and Wisconsin and, and, uh, Alaska. Sure.
5:43
And the conditions that I've raced up here locally are, are much different than out there. So in, for instance, I got there Thursday night, rode the course and it was, it was fast and, uh, and pretty predictable.
5:58
Good traction. On Friday it was frozen rain and it was, it was almost unreliable. I mean, just going up the hills it was like a, a half an inch of ice on the track. Yeah, it was pretty challenging.
6:09
And then Saturday morning, you know, it was pretty good traction, but, but hard to read 'cause there was a couple inches of snow. It had been freshly
6:18
I'm kinda searching for traction on different parts of the course, and you're kind of experimenting with how much, uh, how fast are you gonna wanna turn and stuff.
6:26
So I, I was definitely sliding around a little bit at times, but trying to get comfortable with it. Right on. So then after, after the turnaround at Double O,
6:35
Jordan and, uh, and Jesse kinda sat up, and that's when you started attacking, right? Yeah. I figured after the turnaround, there was too many guys in that lead group for me.
6:48
You know, I'm, I'm, uh, fitness is my strong point, and, uh, I'm... I don't have a lot of power at the end of the race. I don't have a lot of speed, so g- generally I'm a pretty weak finisher.
7:01
So for sure, having that many guys still in the race was, uh, was not a good situation for me.
7:08
So once we got, you know, where I c- I could kinda predict how long it would take to get to the finish, I wanted to kinda thin that pack out. So, uh, I started attacking.
7:19
I mean, I figured it would get down to maybe three, three or four guys working in a, in a group together, kinda drafting off each other.
7:28
That, that was kinda my goal at the time, but when I, I attacked pretty hard, the, the pack started to come apart after, after repeated attacks. And then there was some guys in that were going with me,
7:42
but they didn't seem like they had the strength to, like, pull through. And I think it was a hard course to draft off of anyway. Sure. It's not a- So I- It's not a road race.
7:50
[laughs] Yeah, well, there's s- there's so much turning and, and it's up and down, and, you know, you carry different momentum down the hills than the other guys, so, you know, gaps would open up just when the speed guys were going downhill.
8:04
So it seemed to me since guys weren't organizing much of an, a, a group to chase me behind, that I would just try and just solo and see where it went from there.
8:16
And, and it's one reason I kept looking back, 'cause if, if it was a concerted chase, and it looked like those guys were just gonna run me down, then I, I probably would've sat up and, and ridden with the other guys in the break.
8:27
But it, it didn't seem like they had an organized chase. Yeah, both Jordan and Jesse said that they, they worked too hard on the first half of the race, and they didn't, they couldn't answer the attacks.
8:38
The Alaskans seemed to group together, and they protected one rider that ended up coming in third. Uh, so it was really an interesting tactical race. Yeah.
8:50
It's, it's also too bad that Travis had some technical issues, 'cause it would've been cool to see him, uh, be able to help out in that, that front of that group. Could've been the Colorado group. Yeah. [laughs] Yeah.
9:02
No, I, I expected Travis to be up there, and I, I'm not sure what happened with Travis. You know, he...
9:07
I think he either started with, uh, with too low of pressure in his, in his tire, or he may have been, the tire may have been leaking.
9:16
He had, he had some, he had some issues where he went, he went flat, so he lost air during the race. Yeah. So the, uh- And o- once you have to get up and, and put air in it, you can't...
9:26
That pack was going too fast to- Right... to kind of regain it. It had too much of a mound. So it looks like all indications are that the US National Championship race will again be at the Fat Bike Birkie this year.
9:42
No official announcement as of, as of now, but I've been pestering them to make o- an official- Amy. Amy. [laughs] Amy. I'm calling Amy. Poking Amy.
9:51
And they have, and they have a new race director, but, uh, will you be back this year, do you think, to, uh, defend the crown? Well, probably. [laughs] Okay. It's, you know, it's interesting.
10:03
I have a different situation with, you know, my job with Specialized say, compared to those other racers. Sure.
10:09
Those other guys who are, are sponsored racers, I mean, in, you know, I doubt they have other jobs or stuff like that. You know, for sure they're gonna, they're gonna attempt to be at the most important race of the year.
10:21
My job with Specialized is not as a racer. It's in product development and, and sports marketing. Sure.
10:29
But I'm in, in this Fat Bike Advisory Group, and those guys, you know, had said, "Well, Meg, you know, on this, on the high-performance end of fat bikes, we'd love you to do some racing."
10:40
And, uh, so I looked at, on the calendar, and, you know, what are the biggest races that get the most press in the most important areas in the fat bike market? And clearly that was, that was the Birkie.
10:51
I mean, it was obvious that that was gonna be a, a huge event. So, uh, you know, we will be there. Specialized will definitely be there in some capacity, but since I'm not...
11:01
My job with them is not to race, I don't have to commit to saying, "Yes, I will be that race." [laughs] And- Okay... 'cause there's, you know, there's a lot that goes into that. I mean, I trained all winter.
11:11
I really keyed on that race, and, uh, and my, my training went perfectly. I couldn't ask for, you know, a better training situation. The weather here in Durango was right. I c- I could ride the road down in town. Yeah.
11:23
And I could drive 45 minutes to the ski area and practice on fat bike stuff. So it, that's a big combination of, uh, fat bike technique and working on, like, road bike fitness down here.
11:35
Well, from a fan standpoint- But it's a long way off. It's four months off, so that's a definite maybe. [laughs] From a sta- from a fan standpoint, we'd love to see you race again, so in, in Wisconsin. Absolutely.
11:47
I read a little bit about you and Travis racing fatties in Colorado. I know there's, uh, quite a few series out there. Do you and Travis get out and ride much? Yeah. You know, we don't.
11:58
Travis and I are buddies, you know, and, and, uh, we're friends, and we definitely, we run into each other and have a few beers downtown for sure, and we end up seeing each other at, at a lot of trail functions.
12:09
You know, his wife is, Mary Monroe, is the manager of Trails 2000, which is our trails group. So I do a bunch of functions with them and, uh-
12:20
I see Travis very often, but we do a lot of our training by ourselves, you know?
12:25
And, uh, and we both end up riding a lot of, uh, prototype equipment that, uh, we don't necessarily want the other guy to be- [laughs] Sure... taking too close a look at. [laughs] Understandable. Understandable.
12:38
Sometimes we'll see each other on the trail, and if someone's riding something they don't want the other guy to be taking too close a look at, they just... We just have to keep going.
12:45
[laughs] Do you have any favorite, uh, Rocky Mountain fat bike races or festivals out that way that our listeners should put on their calendars? Well, there's some in- there's some interesting stuff going on.
12:57
There is a, uh, the Fat Bike Summit, which was in, uh, I think it was in Ogden last year. Yep. It's going to be in Jackson Hole this year. Oh, yeah. So I know that- Spends a fair place...
13:11
that's gonna be a big deal because they have, uh, they have races there along with, uh, you know, all kinds of manufacturers and, and test bikes and stuff like that.
13:20
So I th- I think that's gonna be a pretty interesting event. I've never actually been to Jackson Hole and- Oh, it's an awesome place... in all of my racing and traveling, so, uh, that would be...
13:28
That sounds like it's gonna be a cool event. That's a great town. Yep, definitely fun, as long as Dick Cheney's out of town. [laughs] Well, muchisimas gracias for joining us on the show, Ned. We really appreciate it.
13:41
Yeah. So honestly, uh, you know, the reason why we didn't ask you, why I didn't interview you after the race was I was kind of starstruck, so it's- I was sitting next to him having a beer. I love Ned.
13:51
[laughs] From, from a fan standpoint, I'm just, uh, I'm in, I'm in heaven here, so thanks. Yeah. Well, I'll tell you, I'm, I'm excited to be part of this whole fat bike movement, you know?
14:03
And, and I think at that race, you know, and, and afterward at the, the restaurant and the, uh, the award ceremony and stuff, you, you could tell the, the vibe reminds me of mountain biking, you know?
14:15
A very core group of cyclists that are, that are all about having fun, and they got a great attitude. And, uh, I'm excited by it. I'm excited to see the sport grow and continue to be part of it. Oh, very cool.
14:27
Very, yeah. Awesome. Well, thanks again, Ned. Great to have you on the show. Yeah. Good talking to you guys. Take care, now. Hi, this is Eric from Surly.
14:35
Uh, every time I'm looking for the preferred nomenclature, I listen in to Gomez and Sven on Fat Bike Radio. Nomenclature. Man, it sure is great having a guy like Ned join us on the show.
14:47
Next week, we'll be back with our regularly scheduled programming, so stay tuned. We've got more fat goodness for you coming up. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat.
15:03
Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
15:12
[upbeat rock music]
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