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Full Spectrum Cycling
Weekly Dose of Fat Radio – 10-17-14 – with Ben & Tyler from SURLY – Show #26
Oct 17, 2014
Weekly Dose of Fat Radio – 10-17-14 – with Ben & Tyler from SURLY – Show #26
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0:00
Weekly Dose of Fat for Friday, October 17th, 2014. Show number 26. That's six months. That's our half birthday.
0:10
[upbeat music] From just south of the fabulous WTMJ television station in our very own Riverwest Studios, Fatbike.com brings you the Weekly Dose of Fat with your hosts, Sven and Gomez.
0:39
Did you know that the Eurasian bearcat is neither a bear or a cat? Is it merely a cat? [laughs] No. And that gnomes prize their dangly bits- Ooh... for sliced lunch meat.
0:55
Well, Sven's here too, and we've got- [laughs]... JK Livitt. [upbeat music] And our studio band, Chris Daisy of the Zion Cyclist Cyclery Orchestra. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Daisy. Hey, guys.
1:11
[siren blares] Zion Orchestra, or The Orchestra. Marcus, the Marcus-tra. [laughs] The show is sponsored by The Surly. They make bikes and pants and light bondage equipment. Learn more at surlybikes.com.
1:28
Guys, have you noticed that it's fall pledge time on the TV and radio stations here in our fair city? Like public television pledge? Well, you know, people that need money that's not ad-supported. Wait a second.
1:40
You're gonna- [laughs] Snuffleupagus... Snuffleupagus. [laughs] Well, I just wanted our listeners to know that we appreciate your continued support.
1:48
If you haven't yet made a donation to help us keep you in your ear hole [laughs] With professional broadcasting like this- Yes, you're gonna- How can you resist sending us money?
1:59
[laughs] We bring you great interviews with legends like Ned Overend. We, we like doing the show and stuff, but it sure would be nice if we had a little cheese.
2:08
I need a new, I need a new Audi S3, and I certainly can't do it on the one listener we have. Yeah, my Beamer needs a new [foreign] exhaust pipe. [laughs] Oh, this isn't, uh, Guys and Cars, it's actually Fat Bike Radio.
2:21
[laughs] So, my fat bike needs new carbon rims, folks. [laughs] Go ahead and send some money today. On this week's show, members of the Surly cult are here to melt your minds. Ooh. We celebrate our show's- [laughs]...
2:36
six-month half birthday-hee-hee-hee day-hee-hee. Happy birthday to us. We ride on a bus. [laughs] The weekly dose of internet splatter. We got, got some local flavor, and we save the river bottoms.
2:53
We personally save the river bottoms. Damn straight. Got Big Red RV on my chest. [laughs] That's pretty good. That was an improv right there. [laughs] So let's bust out the birthday beers.
3:07
Uh- We did not- Would you like to play, Mellet? Uh, yeah. And I'll, and I'll, I'll read more of this year's script. Are you, are you sure we didn't already bust out these beers?
3:16
[laughs] [bottles clattering] So- That's the sound of industry. [tapping bottle] The sound of industry. Our special birthday beer is the Ballast Point Brewing Sculpin IPA. This thing's a bad mamma jamma right here.
3:27
I was led to believe that I would have a bottle opener in my presents. [laughs] One of the best beers in America. Yeah, that's what they say.
3:35
And you know I go to the Beer Advocates and I look up these beers, and I like it. When they have it on the, on the grocery shelf, they got the little number there. This one's is 98. Wow.
3:47
Which seems like- Out of, like, 100, right? 100. Not 1,000 or something- Right... 'cause that wouldn't be as good. Exactly. So this is better than 98% of the beers out there, or- 10-4, good buddy... it's more of a, uh,
3:59
rating system- Do you have-... where it, it checks all the boxes of flavor and balance and all that good kind of stuff This is average of over 200 reviews from tongues across the world.
4:09
So people rate it 100%, and some guy rates it 80%, and suddenly you're at 98%- Yeah... which means most people dig the shit out of this stuff. Yeah. It's called Sculpin. It's got a big, ugly fish on it.
4:19
What kind of fish? That's a lionfish. I don't think you wanna step on one of those things. They're poisonous, ladies and gentlemen. I think this is actually a sculpin. Okay, it looks like a lionfish- [laughs]...
4:28
is what I said. I didn't say it was a lionfish. I don't know. I- Lionfish, ugh. Lionfish, ooh. Lionfish, ar. Lionfish, ur. [laughs] Oh no, I've got a cramp. Beer cramp.
4:40
[laughs] I don't think they'll put that in the positive review section. Oh. So this is, uh, what they call a West Coast, or more specifically, a San Diego IPA. You know, Stone Brewing is out there.
4:54
And, uh, they're known for their balanced, not super hoppy- Yeah, that's true... hopalicious. That it's, that it's a balance of the citrus and the bitterness. What kind of citrus is that? Uh.
5:07
And apricot is not- And apricot. [laughs]... is not citrus. JK said apricot. You know, aft- when it's, when he doesn't have the pressure of a contest, he comes up with some pretty good ones.
5:17
[laughs] I said grapefruit, and I was, as usual- Yeah... on a contest or not, you know, I'm just, like, wrong. I just flunk out on beer.
5:27
So and then you know, since you already know you're wrong, then you're like, "I know this is gonna be the wrong answer," so you give a different answer, and you're still wrong. [laughs] Still wrong.
5:35
[laughs] It's got 7% alcohoozy, so it's- That would, that would explain a lot, since we tested one out just while we were getting the show together. [laughs] It's full strength, full bore IPA, and I'm digging it.
5:45
I, I- I could drink another one of these... I had to go all the hell the way to Illinois to buy this, 'cause you can't buy it in Wisconsin. What? Uh. Really. Did you see Julio while you were down there?
5:55
I called Julio to find out where I could buy it down there. [laughs] 'Cause he's our internet guru. He knows- Yeah, why isn't he on the show talking about beer? 'Cause he's as nerdy about that as he is about bikes.
6:04
I don't know. 'Cause he's gotta watch Miles. [laughs] That's his boy, Miles. Thanks, Coltrane. I love you, boy. Well, we'll be back with Los Hombres de Surly right after a word from Free Wheelbike.
6:24
Does the idea of getting back on a treadmill this winter make you nauseous? Do you love the chill of the autumn air? Are you still aching to ride your bike? Sounds like you got fat bike fever.
6:35
Oh, but d- don't, don't, don't worry, we have the cure. Free Wheelbike is presenting the fourth annual Winter Bike Expo, Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th of December.
6:46
They feature calming clinics, exhilarating test rides, hot deals, thrilling raffles, and bike loads of family-friendly fun. Check out winterbikeexpo.com for more ways to stay healthy this winter.
7:00
Yeah, that's a, that's a rad sale. Back when, back when- You, you were up there last year, weren't you? I, the- You went to the-... the last two years, actually. Yeah. Oh.
7:07
And back when you couldn't find fat bikes, and it was like, "Oh, who has what?" Yeah. I went to that sale, and they had everything that a fat biker wanted in those days.
7:18
I think it was Hooskerdus, first run of Wolfhammers. They, yeah, they ordered, they made sure they had a lot of stock on hand for people. Yeah.
7:26
I don't, I don't think stock's gonna be as big a deal this year, but they put on, um, demos and they have interesting events. Like what was the little race thing you did that- Yeah, they do the U-race thing.
7:36
Like a, yeah, it's like a- The other thing that they have is-... sort of a cyclo-crossy thing... their clinics are really good.
7:40
Guys who have done the Arrowhead will, uh, if you're interested in, in exploring that, uh, death march, then, uh- [laughs]... they, uh, they can, uh, put you on that road.
7:53
Hey, uh, Jordan Wakely do an Arrowhead 135 for the first time. The lumberjack. You'll just...
8:00
It, I, that's why I could never race one of those, 'cause a guy like Jordan Wakely would just take his lightsaber, split me open, and camp inside me. [laughs] Taung-taung. And you thought they smelled bad on the outside.
8:12
[laughs] Wow, commercial turned into a segue to a little comedy bit there. [laughs] You're listening to Fat Back Radio.
8:27
Now, don't you have a pile of Gomezs to go pet? So next up on the radio program, we talk to the guys from Surly. Not exactly sure who are gonna get on the horn yet, but, uh- It's Ben-... let's give those guys a call.
8:42
It's Ben and Tyler. We know. Oh, is that who we... It could be Ben and Jerry. Well- 'Cause they make that awesome ice cream up there, too, don't they, in New Hampshire? Yeah, whatever.
8:50
[laughs] It, it's Ben and Tyler, and they've braided their beards together. [laughs] All right. Well, let's, let's give those guys a call, 'cause I'm pretty sure we have some questions for them. We do. Probing questions.
9:02
[laughs] So, hey, welcome to the show. We have Tyler- Thank you. We have Tyler and Ben from the Surly home office. It's in their luxury conference room on the QBP mothership up there in sunny Bloomington, Minnesota.
9:18
We combed through the catacombs to come up with some poignant and rather intellectually stimulating questions for you guys. Nice. Yeah. Are you ready for this? We're super ready.
9:29
I- I love poignant and intellectual questions. Well, n- I don't know what any of that means. Yeah, me either. [laughs] Right? Well, what- We're just parroting what they're saying. Very true.
9:38
And, you know- Luckily, everything you're saying is coming through. It's coming through in text for us as well, so we can read the words phonetically.
9:44
[laughs] Yeah, buddy, 'cause, you know, we're talking about questions from the unwashed masses here, not from professionals like ourselves. Or, you know- Um, fat, uh, unwashed professionals like yourselves?
9:54
[laughs] Right. [laughs] I, I'm, certain parts of me are washed, like my hands. He kind of smells good today, actually. So Homie Fall Fest just announced their, their date, man.
10:06
Uh, have either of you gone to Homie Fall Fest there in the, uh, Twin Cities? Been many times. Yeah, Ben's been many times. I've been, uh, twice.
10:15
I also have been twice, before they, before they kind of vanquished all outsiders, which I think is a good idea, especially in my case. So, uh, Ben, you've been many times. Uh, yeah, I have.
10:28
Can you, can you explain Homie Fall Fest to our listeners? Um, Homie Fall Fest is a fall festival where upon a lot of people show up- Who are homies... where a lot of homies- [laughs]...
10:43
congregate at a bar and proceed to ride their bicycles around the city of Minneapolis, uh, and try not to get arrested. And there, there are feats of strength. Yeah. They- And there's, you know, like, they're stopping to
11:00
make a fire or do some, uh, superhuman tricks, or feats of strength, or they have a derby. It's, uh, it's about friendship in, in a, in a nutshell. That's why it's not really for me. [laughs] Yeah, that's true.
11:15
'Cause I, 'cause I don't have any of those. Ha- hashtag Xeno. [laughs] So- Yeah. [laughs] So this week, this week, we asked some of our listeners to come up with good questions, and we got- Wow... we got one.
11:30
[laughs] We had, we had several people reply, but- Oh, we got more than one listener? No. Wow. Really? Uh, but only one that had a good question, and that question- Only one good question.
11:39
That listener had one good question, and then all the other listeners... He also had a whole bunch of bad questions. No, no, no.
11:45
They all asked, they all asked what I told them would get them, like, you know, a big pile of shit on their doorstep. [laughs] Right, right. They all asked all, all the stupid- You just, yeah-...
11:56
stupid- Just read the questions. There, there's no such thing as a stupid question. [laughs] Just stupid people asking stupid questions. [laughs] Well said. But- Thank you...
12:06
hey, David Drewman from Ottawa, Canada, that's up there in Canadia- Hey... uh, he asked, "Have any of the Surly guys on the show ever eaten Coaster Brake Bacon?"
12:20
Well, I feel like that's, that's potentially a Canadian euphemism for something. [laughs] I'm comfortable admitting out loud that I don't really get Canadian humor. I don't get it.
12:33
So, you know, that, that was just the word I had. Ben, have you ever had ghost freak bacon? I, I- You're from Michigan. You're practically a Canadian. I grew up very near the border.
12:42
Um, I don't know what that is, so I'm gonna say yes. So you probably had it. I, I think I had it this morning. Well, there's all kinds of things that we feed you when you're passed out, you know? Yeah.
12:53
Well- That might have been one of them. I'm just gonna say yes, I've had a lot of your shit. Well, the correct answer was, are you talking about Canadian bacon or an American bacon?
13:02
And then David Drummand gets, poom, shot into the abyss. So our, our second question is from Sam Delvecchio from Topeka, Kansas. I actually just made up that name, and this is my question.
13:15
What's the new secret message on the big fat nard? Um, I just mounted one of those up, uh, yesterday. So you know the answer to this question. I think I do. Um, I don't remember exactly. I think it- Wait a minute.
13:30
I would like to stop, Ben, right now and remind all of your listeners- Yeah... that, that- [laughs]... um, if we tell you what the secret fucking message is, then it sort of stops being a secret.
13:48
So denied. [laughs] It sounded like, it sounded like a Sovereign quote, though. [laughs] Sovereign. So, you know, like everything is Sov- Lava lamps, beanbag chairs, quintos... cool, so.
14:03
So there's, there's like the Tao of Sov on the side. See, you could have just been elusive and not had to swear so much. So bachelor number two, what- Do you have to beep out the swearings? No. On podcast? No, fuck no.
14:17
Not until, not until, uh, Apple tells us that we, that the- Beep, bleep, beep, beep, beep. [laughs] Uh, not until Apple tells us we have to. Yeah, it's more Apple.
14:25
And I also, I wanna, like I have behaved like this, a lot of people say that, say that I behave like this because I hate our customers. I behave like this because I love them too much.
14:35
[laughs] That's why I behave like this. That's the truth. Not- That's the truth, too. That's not some, you know, saying- I think-... that I thought would make me sound nice.
14:44
And by your customers, do you mean the bike shops that put your bikes in or the end result customer? Which one is this? Are you talking about the filthy, unwashed consumers? No, no, no, no, no, I mean bike shops.
14:53
I think our end customers are pretty sweet. Just kidding, bike shops. You're great. [laughs] I like bike shops. I don't hate anyone or anything. Because, because if you work in one, you probably hate yourself.
15:03
[laughs] I'm filled with love for both bike shops and for people who ride bicycles, all of them, every one of them. I worked in a bike shop for a long time, so I'm personally offended.
15:11
But I said that, that I'm full of love. I also said I don't have any friends, so- There you go... maybe that's why, because of my loving too much.
15:19
[laughs] Every, every bike shop should know that yesterday was National Grouch Day. [laughs] That's all I have to say about our friends- That would explain a lot... at local bike shops. Although bike shops are awesome.
15:34
So bachelor number two, what is your favorite part of riding bikes? That's for either of you. [laughs] What my favorite part of riding bikes? Yeah. Uh, I like it when card talk at me,
15:52
and they mean things. What's your favorite part about riding bikes? That's- Yeah, bachelor- My favorite? Bachelor- I don't know. I like to be alone in the woods. Oh, that's a good answer.
16:02
I like to be alone, but I like to, you know, like it's fun to ride with people sometimes, with acquaintances or, uh, colleagues, but, uh, I like to be by myself and in the woods.
16:13
And I think it's fun to see animals that I don't normally see. Like when I ride past a snake, that's pretty cool, or a polar bear. Um, that's never happened, but I imagine it would be something I never forgot. Yeah.
16:28
Ben, Ben has ridden past several bears. I have ridden past some bears. I've never ridden past a bear. I almost got hit by a deer. A skunk almost squirted me once. That would've been really horrible.
16:38
I'd rather get mauled by a beer, bear, I think. I- Deer, because I call them beers. Beer. You mauled beers. I mauled beers. That's unfair. Sometimes you drink the beer, and, well, sometimes the beer drinks you. Indeed.
16:52
So, uh, I'm, I'm with Tyler. I'm, I'm kind of... I'm, I'm a bike explorer. It takes me to places that I wouldn't, you know, run to. [laughs] Like the uptowner. Yeah. Or w- or w- or walk to.
17:06
[laughs] Well, frankly, they're too slow to drive, but way too far to walk. [laughs] Exactly. The perfect middle distance. [laughs] It's craziness. That's why I ride bikes. So are you guys- To explore...
17:22
are you guys aware that there's a, uh, that there's a Save the River Bottoms program going on right now? Yeah. Yeah. So we're gonna talk to somebody from MORC later in the show about Save the River Bottoms. Oh, wow.
17:35
Um- So we should, we should try to find a way to, uh, to help that out, eh? Since that's where... That's like your testing grounds. That's, that's like hallowed fat bike grounds. Yeah.
17:46
That, that's sacred ground right there that they're gonna pave over. Yeah, and all the best parts though, they're not gonna pave over. That's what I keep saying to myself.
17:53
Like, like I see, I understand people wanting to save it, but a lot of places that we ride, w- but we probably shouldn't be riding and, you know, uh, but a lot of those places, they're not gonna pave over 'cause they're hard to get to.
18:04
Yeah. Well, I mean- They're not gonna, they're not gonna put any shopping malls in down there. They're just gonna put in a paved path for people to use on sunny days. So you'll have to deal with those people like,
18:14
you know, 12 days a year. It'll be horrible. And then, you know, it'll get cold, and all those people will go hide. Sure. And then you'll have it to, uh, all to yourself again.
18:24
Well, I think- It's that progress, man, but it does suck[laughs] Well, I think it could coexist, but it just doesn't make sense to me to build anything in a floodplain, 'cause it's just gonna get fucked up.
18:37
That's crazy talk. That's crazy talk. What they ought to do is build a retirement home down there. Yeah. [laughs] And then when all those old folks die, then they'll see what a bad idea it was.
18:45
Well, building in a floodplain is, is insane. But that's the thing, when you're talking to people, if the proposal is crazy, if the proposal is illogical, you can't fight illogic with logic.
18:56
Those people don't understand that, you know? I gotcha. So maybe, maybe- That's like someone trying to explain to me how, you know, I don't know, Susan works. [laughs] Like, I don't even, I don't even think that's real.
19:11
I don't think it's a real thing. You, you, you can explain it all you want, but you're basically, you know, it's like somebody who knows a lot about Middle-earth.
19:19
[laughs] You know, like, you can tell me all about Middle-earth, but I don't, I'm pretty sure it's not a real place there, Tolkien. [laughs] Oh.
19:29
Well, that's about, that about, that about sums up Surly and bicycles and fat bikes and, and everything. Middle-earth, kids, it's not real. It's not real. [laughs] All right.
19:42
So it's like trying to fight, trying to fight their crazy talk with...
19:46
That's the other thing too, is they'll build it, and once it floods out and they, and they're unable to repair it, then they'll go, you know, two years later it'll be back to everybody's old river bottom.
19:54
It'll be a sweet ruin. Yeah. It'll be- Yeah... an amazing place to camp. Yeah.
19:58
[laughs] Hey, they, they've done that here in Milwaukee already to give access to people to places where they have to roll into on their non-bicycle oriented wheeled vehicles. And s- Mm-hmm...
20:08
and a year later it's already being washed out and rutted because they didn't build it very well, and, uh, you know, they didn't follow IMBA's trail practices. [laughs] Yeah.
20:20
So there's just ruts and, and, and washouts and all sorts of stuff where you can't get your wheeled vehicles except for bicycles down there anyway, so you're right. Right.
20:28
Give it a year and it'll be back to where it was, and they'll have spent money. Yeah. Yeah. It's the spending money that's the drag, but I'm not sure I even believe money's real, so. It's not. [laughs] See? There we go.
20:41
[laughs] It's just a way of keeping us all tied down to something. Yeah. I buy that. We sell bicycles. Yeah.
20:49
And everyone who's listening who doesn't have one should buy three of them, and everyone who's listening who does have one of them already should buy four of them.
20:57
[laughs] Not only do they sell bicycles, they sell woolens and light bondage gear. You take one of those junk straps, put your, put your partner in a pair of bondage mittens, they ain't getting out of that shit.
21:10
So till you're ready to let them go. I wondered where my cue ball went. [laughs] All right. The junk, the junk straps have many uses. Indeed, and they kick ass. Uh, yeah, they're, they're, they're great.
21:24
It's the most useful tool I've ever carried with me. [laughs] I'm not... Didn't mean that to be funny. [laughs] Stop laughing. All right. Well, thank you. Are you having a heart attack over there? [laughs] Some
21:42
sort of like blood havoc? I think I just might have had a skull seizure. [laughs] I don't know.
21:51
I go into the show every time saying I'm not gonna do that, but then they give me beer and I start talking to funny people, and... What kind of, what kind of beer are you guys drinking today?
22:01
Uh, we have the, uh, what is it? The, uh- Ballast... Ballast Point Sculpin IPA. Yeah, buddy. Nice. Yeah. It's, it's got a sex tint on it. [laughs] It's, uh, it's the show's half birthday, so, uh, we, we splurged.
22:20
Happy, happy half birthday. Yeah. [laughs] Whatever that means. Yeah. What does it mean, a half birthday? That means that it's the 26th show, you know? Like, a one-month anniversary.
22:30
Like, clearly there are words in that sentence that you don't really fully understand the meaning of. [laughs] It got me a six-pack of really fancy beer. [laughs] 7, 7% ABV. All right.
22:44
You've been manipulated into that, but it was a pretty sweet lie, but... All right, guys. Well, you guys go sell some bikes, and we're gonna continue to, well, do our radio circle jerk that we do.
22:55
Torture people's eardrums. Yeah. Talk to the MORC guys. They're... You know, they make a lot of sense, it's just- I know it makes sense. They'll have a lot, like, more intelligent stuff to say, I bet. About everything.
23:07
Probably if you ask them all the same questions you ask us, [laughs] you would find that they have much clearer questions than us all around. All right. That'll, that'll take place in about 15 minutes, guys.
23:19
[laughs] Please. So we'll have... Well, right in the same show people will be able to make that determination. Yeah. And maybe, you know, we'll make a poll out of it. Yeah.
23:26
Hey, ask them about the, uh, the coaster hub question. All right. I will. Thanks very much. We're out, Surly. Yeah. Thank you, guys. Yeah. See you going. We'll see ya. Yo, this is Surly Bike Radio.
23:43
Welcome back to the radio program. We're about to save the river bottoms. We're gonna call up, uh, I think Dennis from MORC, right? Right. Dennis Porter from MORC, the Minnesota Off-Road Ciclistas.
23:57
That's morc.com or morc.org. I think it's org. Org, yeah, 'cause they've been around for a long time. IMBA affiliate. Anyway, let's get Dennis on the phone. We have on the radio program
24:12
Dennis Porter from MORC, and he is leading the charge to save the river bottoms in Bloomington, Minnesota. Welcome to the radio program. Thank you. Glad to be here.
24:27
So tell us a little bit about the river bottoms, and tell us how they're being threatened and why they need to be saved. To ask me to. The, uh, river bottoms in Bloomington, um, have existed for, uh, I don't...
24:42
Many hundreds of years, but, uh, let's just say about 30 some years ago with the advent of, of mountain bikes, people started riding in this area. More of an abandoned flood plain.
24:54
Uh, used to be used by farmers back in the day to grow various things because of the great soils from the river flooding and things like that.
25:02
Um, eventually those areas got abandoned, and a lot of mountain bikers started riding trails down there. We try to, you know, primarily keep them on a single track trail.
25:13
Um, over the last 25 years the mountain bikers have done a great job of doing a lot of volunteer maintenance and, uh, really kind of, uh, just fixing the trail after the flooding, typically in the spring and things like that.
25:27
Um, many people have also enjoyed the trail for trail running and, and natural hiking and things like that.
25:33
Um, about 30 some years ago, the Minnesota DNR along with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, um, drew up a plan for the river valley to, uh, kind of get more access for people down there.
25:48
The plan was to put a paved trail that would run along that same corridor. Um, obviously back then mountain bikes weren't really there.
25:57
Uh, Minnesota's a very big trail-friendly state, and they thought this would be a great idea.
26:03
Um, the problem that we see as mountain bikers is this area, after all the years we've been doing maintenance and things like that, is so prone to flooding that a, a paved trail is just quite honestly not sustainable.
26:16
And what we're trying to tell the DNR is, "Hey, we've got something really good here. We've got a, an, a trail that hasn't cost taxpayers a lot of money, or any money for that matter." Right.
26:27
Um, people are really enjoying it. It's a huge destination, and why not look at it being a natural trail surface that is still managed by the DNR, but does have access.
26:37
But instead of going in and carving out a 20-foot wide swath and putting a pavement trail through there, a natural trail that is managed and costs of, you know, a fraction of whatever a paved trail system would cost.
26:52
So for 30 years people have been riding down there and I think, uh, people come from a long ways away to hang out in that area and ride with people who live there.
27:02
I think it's been helping the local economy for a long time. Is, is part of their argument that this new trail would, would improve that?
27:10
Or, you know, what, what's the reasoning behind putting in this paved trail where it's already been used by user groups for years? That's a great question. Um,
27:23
I would actually argue that the majority of land officials really don't know the popularity of it. Um, and I'll give you an example.
27:31
I had a conversation with, uh, one of the city planners for the city of Bloomington, and this...
27:36
The city of Bloomington obviously is involved as being the landowner, but it's really up to the DNR jurisdiction because they can actually condemn the property and take it anyways.
27:47
Um, but, uh, this planner said, you know, "This, this would be a great destination trail to have this paved trail through here. It would provide so much access for so many people."
27:56
And I said to her, "Do you realize how many people are using it now?" And she said, "Well, you know, it would still be more people." And I said, "Well, you don't know that." She said, "Well, you don't know that."
28:06
And I basically said, "Well, why don't you send somebody down there on peak times and actually do a physical count and a survey? Talk to those people. Find out what they're saying.
28:16
Find out what they like about it, etc., etc." And the comment I got back was, "There's no budget to do that." Ah.
28:24
So there's a budget to put in millions of dollars of paved trail that, you know, let's be honest, it's developing a natural area, which basically means taking out a lot of trees, putting in a lot of things, and putting in a, like some kind of surface path.
28:39
But they don't have money to pay somebody to actually do a count. So, so to be clear- To find out whether... Uh, to, to find out whether it is a destination trail or not. Sure.
28:49
So to be clear about the area we're talking about, this thing floods almost every single year, if not every year, right? The river rises- Correct... in the spring and it gets covered by water. Sometimes tens...
29:01
I've seen, I've seen pictures of it where it's m- m- many feet deep, and then it, it recedes and it, and it pulls out, um... It would pull out any kind of, uh, paved trail, I think, after not too long a period of time.
29:16
It just doesn't... I don't know. Sorry, it doesn't make sense to me folks. Yeah. I think we should save the river bottoms. That is correct.
29:21
And you know, there's a couple examples here, guys, that I think is really important. There are sections of the trail that have been built already.
29:29
Um, a couple cities a little farther west that run along the Minnesota River that, you know, they claim would be a link. In Savage and Shakopee there is pavement there.
29:38
The problem is it's been so damaged and so, I guess, laid over by sediments and silt that they're unusable. Those trails are closed currently.
29:48
And then we have another example right across the river that you can actually see from the trail in Bloomington of this road called Black Dog Road that leads to the Black Dog Power Plant.
29:57
Um, the city of Burnsville, which is a city just south of Bloomington, basically abandoned this road because it cost too much money for them to maintain it.
30:07
So they actually had the power plant build another road that comes down the bluff at a different angle so they don't have to continue fixing this road that continues to flood, and it's not just the flood.
30:19
There's one other big aspect to this whole thing. The soil down there is a soil that's actually very prone to holding water as well.
30:27
So what happens in the wintertime, um, there's water pockets underneath this road surface. So it freezes, pushes the road up-... through the ice, and in the spring it thaws out and it drops back down again.
30:42
So it's like having a hard frosting over a soft cake that's always expanding and contracting. So it sounds like you have some good ammunition to, uh, to talk to the DNR about.
30:53
How can our listeners help out your effort to save the river bottoms? Well, the best way they can really help is, one, to contact the DNR.
31:03
Um, unfortunately the DNR is, um, uh, I would argue, unwilling to listen to our side of the argument, so we have had to kind of move to where the money is, and that money is, is the legislators and senators that have appropriated the funding.
31:20
And why it's a crit- critical point that listeners need to know, um, the funding has already been authorized for Bloomington, so that basically means that the funding that started portion of the trail is now, the DNR has survey markers going on down there currently.
31:37
Um, the funding will only cover a short portion of the DNR being kind of smart and actually being pushed by groups that I'm sure are standing to make a fair amount of money behind this, you know, want to start this section.
31:51
As soon as they kind of knock out the, uh, you know, again, this is my own words, but they kind of knock out the opposition, then they'll be able to rely on, get more authorizations, more funding to continue the other sections from there.
32:05
So I was looking more for here's the emails, here's, here's the link. [laughs] Here's the link to my organization. So why don't you just, uh, supply us with those in the, so we can put them in the show notes- Yeah...
32:18
so that, uh- Yeah, absolutely... you know, we can, we can provide you with- One of the groups right now, we have a current Facebook page called Save the Minnesota River Bottom, on Facebook.
32:28
Um, they can always go to the Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists, uh, into the forums, and then the Minnesota River Trail that's in the forums for updated information. Cool.
32:39
And we'll put those- And from there, we'll be able to direct them to people within, uh, you know, legislators or whoever they can write to, including the Bloomington City Council. Perfect. Right on. All right.
32:50
Thank you, Dennis. Hope you stay warm, man. Thank you guys. Thanks for being on the show. Appreciate the time, and, uh, you know, let's spread the word.
32:56
Uh, this is one of those things where, as a, as a Minnesota Off-Road Cyclists member, what I pointed out to them that, you know, the IMBA can't really control this trail or anything like that because it's not a sanctioned trail, but this is a fight about trail access for mountain bikers.
33:13
If we can win this and we can convince people that there is a place for natural trails, for people to ride their bikes or whatever, I think we can get a lot more for ourselves in the future as well. Right on, man.
33:26
We'll talk to you. All right. Thanks a lot. Have a good one. Good luck. Thanks, guys. Have a good day. All right. Bye-bye. Bye. [whistles] This is your weekly dose of fat. So local flavor, flavor, flavor, flavor, flavor.
33:42
Yeah, you know, I like to kinda add the little section every once in a while about stuff we do locally, 'cause, you know, actually do ride our bikes now and again.
33:51
Uh, so JK and I did a, uh, it's been going on for a long time, BikeToberFest- Yeah... down in, uh, Bay View, which is south of where we live in our fair city by a pretty good, like, 12, seven, eight miles away. Yeah.
34:05
It's a long ways down there when you're, when you're a local liver.
34:07
[laughs] Um, so we don't normally see a lot of people down there, but there were like 250 people on this ride, and, uh, a- at least a handful of fat bikes.
34:16
It was p- I think people going into BikeToberFest know it's gonna be like 30, 35 miles. Yeah. Yeah. And seven bar stops probably.
34:24
[laughs] So it's perfect fat bike, you know, friendly bike riding, 'cause you don't really go more than five or six miles- Yeah... at a time. You stop at a bar. Yeah, it's a little padding of, you know, 20, 30-ish.
34:35
Lily pad. Yep. Yeah. Uh, you know, I- Must refuel. You know you have to refuel. [laughs] Our buddy, uh, Mike from Zuzu Pedals, uh, we ride with those guys a lot up in Port Washington on the beach.
34:46
He's a drummer in a band that played. Yeah, yeah. They were- Playing loud... I tell you what, they didn't suck. [laughs] No, not at all. They were... Motorhead shirt represented. Right, right.
34:55
I, I took some- Bass drum, bass drum kit was flipping me off, all kinds of things going on. Yeah, there was a turkey chicken finger thing. Yeah, turkey chicken. Chicken finger. [laughs] Yeah.
35:03
Um, I know that Gomez can bring us up to date on trail work they're doing down at a, uh, a trail system in Kenosha County, which is- Right. Western Kenosha County... the far southern Wisconsin. Mm-hmm.
35:15
Near Chicago-ish, right? Yeah, we're kind of located just over the border, right between Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago. Gotcha.
35:25
Uh, we're building 12 to 14 miles of single track in a county park that is right around 350 acres, lots of topography, has a beach, and it is the trail that
35:40
I started, uh, grooming with a cross-country groomer and a snowmobile last year, and we're looking for ways to groom our single track.
35:50
So if you're out there and you, uh, and you have some clues on what, what you're doing to groom single track, please contact me. You know, it's
[email protected]
.
36:00
And, uh, the next two Sundays we're having work days from 9:00 to noon, a bike ride, and, uh, a little lunch provided after each one of those work days. Come out, we...
36:12
It's all marked, and we hack our way about a mile a work day into, uh, the Wisconsin jungle and make new trail. How- It obviously has to be burned or- Su- sure... burned and, uh- Yeah...
36:24
and benched after we, we cut it through, but, uh, we're trying to get three and a half miles of expert trail done over the month of October, and that'll get us up to right around eight miles of trail that can be ridden by fat bikes, certainly- Yeah...
36:40
'cause it's unbenched and pretty raw, uh, that we're hoping to- Groom all of that single track this winter, so.
36:48
And I know that, uh, you talked to somebody about some trails in Trempealeau County, which is over by La Crosse, right?
36:54
Yeah, it's, uh, it's sort of in one of those middle areas too, like we were talking about Kenosha, where you are.
37:00
It's, it's in between Minnesota, like Twin Cities, and La Crosse, and it, it's just kind of deer hunting territory. [laughs] The twat.
37:08
[laughs] So, um, Travis, I actually met him originally at, uh, Punxsy Worlds last year, and he was, I think it was the first time he was ever on a fat bike, and he had a blast, and he got this idea in his head that Trempealeau County pretty much shuts down after deer hunting season, that he wanted to figure out a way to get fat biking going as a, a- and make it a destination spot.
37:30
And he's put a lot of energy into it, and they raised 30,000 bucks to kinda get the idea going. Wow.
37:36
Build trails that are gonna be multi, uh, use, like, uh, mountain bikes and such, but they're also talking about a fat bike, um, specific trail area, like in the river bottoms like they do in Wausau and Green Bay, that are temporary trails made specifically for fat bikes in the winter on the snow,
37:55
which I think is a great idea. Yeah. They're, they're using land that you can't even, um, build a proper trail in the summer because they're so wet.
38:03
So once they freeze, they make a temporary trail system that's pretty kickass. So we're gonna try and get up there in maybe late January and check out what he's doing. Cool.
38:13
Well, next up we have the links that don't stink. [laughs] Yeah, there's a lot of these in the show notes. I, you know, with our, our couple interviewees on, we probably can't get totally into depth on these, but, uh,
38:27
there's a, a nice brief about the new Turner King Khan. Yeah. Yeah, there's- Turner King Khan. King Khan. King Khan. That's a good name. [laughs] And it's not just King Kong, it's like King Khan!
38:42
Like with- Botany Bay, oh no. No. [laughs] Or Mandal- that's why I always say Mandalay Bay all, "Oh no," when we're playing the air bike. I have to go to the next link. I'm like, "Mandalay Bay, oh no." [laughs] Oh, no.
38:55
I don't- Check out, shut up, check up. Shut up. [laughs] Yeah, there's a nice link, uh, right outside Carson City. I was checking out some of, some of the snaps of, uh, that Buckland Station Loop. Buckland Station Loop.
39:07
It just looks- Yeah... so much land- Yeah... that is out there, that you go out west and you say, "Well, well, why aren't people riding their bikes out here?"
39:15
Well, fat bikes open up all of that BLM lands, and this cat, uh, this cat went out and went- Yeah... places where you wouldn't walk to. Right. [laughs] Sorry, flashing back to earlier in the show.
39:32
Salsa has been doing this thing about a blog post for a day for 30 days. This is part of that. It's a, it's an adventure and, and do you say archipelago or archipelago or... [laughs] Archipelago. Archipelago-pelago.
39:46
Archipelago. So- We'll call it a group of islands. I'll tell you this, it's fat, it's fat bikes on, on sand and whatnot, so- Cool... it's, it's cool.
39:53
Well, there's a very epic post by Bruce at Coast Kid, Epic Coast Ride one and two, and one for Big Swells. He says epic a lot. [laughs] Bruce- So-... are you coming on the show?
40:04
[laughs] We're all, we're all here, uh, we're actually gonna get down on our knees now and beg you to come on the show, Bruce. I don't think Bruce listens to the show. Really?
40:14
D- does, it's like, that's why he's not coming on, 'cause he doesn't listen. Oh. Or does he listen and go, "F- f-"... [laughs] What are those- There, there, there was a head shake- Yeah, what is-... left and right.
40:26
[laughs] If you could tell that, I'll paint the word picture. What are those- The word video. [laughs] What are those idiots doing now? [laughs] Those damn Yanks.
40:36
[laughs] I think it's all of our horrible Scottish accents- [laughs]... which none of us have done quite yet, but you know it's coming. [laughs] If it's not Scottish, it's crap.
40:48
[laughs] So Bruce- Hard to do that when you're laughing... we're, like, good guys and stuff. Yeah, he does, he, he does fat biking a great service, by the way. Come on, we only make fun of you a wee bit. [laughs] Oh. Oh.
41:04
All right then. Cripes. Thanks again to Surly for joining us on the show today, and for sponsoring the radio portion of today's broadcast. Have you ever wondered what the radio portion of today's show consists of?
41:17
Yeah, every morsel of today's deliciously prepared show was sponsored by Surly Bikes. Even the silent parts? Yeah, even the quietness. The space between- 'Cause Surly is like the yin and the yang, and the bang bang.
41:32
The dang dang. [laughs] That's all we have for you all this week. We'll see you next time. Fair Mama Sierra said that with nipples. Mm-hmm. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat.
41:48
Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
41:56
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