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Full Spectrum Cycling
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #125 – Surly’s Paul Zeigle and 2017 Fat Bike Birkie Women’s Champ Leia Schneeberger
Mar 24, 2017
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #125 – Surly’s Paul Zeigle and 2017 Fat Bike Birkie Women’s Champ Leia Schneeberger
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Transcript
0:02
All right, I'm ready. You guys ready? It's the Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 125 for Friday, March 24th, 2017.
0:16
[upbeat rock music] Uh-oh, now you went and did it.
0:36
Here's the Weekly Dose of Fat. This is a big one. I'm dying. You hear that, Elizabeth? We got Sven and Zeo here in the studio. I'm coming to join you, honey. God, you are foxy. [laughs] God, that's hot.
0:50
Is, is it already time for the talking? And, uh, well, uh, welcome to the show. Over in that corner, the, uh, colorful Mr. JK Living. Ah, red. Red. He's re- That's his color... [laughs] he's red today. Red.
1:04
You, sir, are a legend. I thought he was foxy. Weekly Dose of Fat is brought to you today by Big Fat Dummy. Learn more about fat and dummies at surlybikes.com. Mm, dummy. Hey JK, what's on the show this week?
1:18
Well, we start the show with the event of the week, which yeah, with Surly brand manager, Paul Ziegel, about his Arrowhead 135 experiences and many things Surly. We share links from the internet.
1:30
We check in with the Fatty Farm field report brought to you by One Up USA, and in our special segment, we talk to Fat Bike Bricky Women's Champion, Leah Schneeberger. Leah Schneeberger. Leah.
1:42
See how he just goes from like- I like Schneeberger... entertaining, uh, pitch man to, uh- [laughs]... he's, he's like a professional. It's the big one, Elizabeth. Big one. Which of it? Top, top of the hill.
1:53
Uh, top of the hill, boys. [laughs] Here we go. Oh, game on. [laughs] Cheers. Cheers. Clink. Cheers. Clink. So what, last Friday was the, uh, the traditional St. Paddy's Day shuffle. How'd that go for you?
2:09
[laughs] A, a mini lap, but it was concentrated. Yeah, that was good. It was a mini lap. Well- Yeah... I think we met at Paddy's about 10:30, 11:00. Little further south. Got down to the, uh, Brady Street Nomad zone.
2:23
Yep, yep, yep. And then- Did stop and then that's- Did you guys make it by, uh, the Clare? No. No, we didn't go that far south. I had deliveries by the Nomad and deliveries by the Clare...
2:32
or no, by the Clare and, uh, somewhere else had a tent. It's one of them McBars, you know? A Mc- yeah, a McBar. Yeah. It was like blo- Well, you know-...
2:41
it was block party thing the same way that they do the- We're not Chicago, but we're-... crafts... we're a distant second- Oh, that, that trilogy craft... in the Mc thing.
2:47
La- la- ladies and gentlemen, it- No one fell in the river... uh, it's Travis McBickle. Hi, Travis. Yeah. What's up? [laughs] Hey. What's going on? How's it going, Travis? Well. Good, man. Good.
3:00
Just got back from a, a dog ride. Uh, 31 degrees, sunshine, and we still got a, a lot of base, a lot of snow. It's, uh, fantastic. Nice. Is it still, what's the, what's the daylight like there?
3:15
Is it still daylight there? Oh, it's ramping up. We're, our sun's setting about 8:30, 8:45 now. Whoa. So, you know, night rides, you're not even really starting till 9:00, 9:30. Whoa. Whoa.
3:28
What time is it there right now? Uh, 5:00. Whoa. 5:00 in the PM. Yeah. That's awesome. All right. 8:04 here, and it's, uh- We're from the future... it's dark. It's dark right now. It's dark here in the outside.
3:40
[laughs] Yeah. It's just getting dark. It's dark on the outside and out here at the- What, what, what, uh-... at the 44th parallel... what time zone is that that you're in? Is that, that's, that's not Pacific.
3:50
Uh, it's, uh, it's own. Alaska Standard. All right. All right. Wow. D- is that its own zone? It's a, it's a big place. Yeah. That's pretty cool.
4:00
I know it's a big place, but it's also, like, where it's placed on the planet obviously doesn't have anything else- [laughs]... in the zone. It's right by the- [laughs] It, it, it's right by the black hole, pretty close.
4:10
You know what I'm saying? Yes. So we got an event of the week this week. Yeah. The event of the week is Fatty Fools Day, coming up on April 1st and 2nd at the Maverick Mountain Ski Area in Western Montany.
4:24
That's almost Eastern Idaho there, pretty much. Udaho? U- [laughs] Idaho. What'd you say about my mama? The, uh, the Fatty Fools Day is a festival and fat bike extravaganza.
4:36
It's being held at the, uh, Maverick Mountain Ski Area. They're gonna have demo bikes provided by a handful of their great supporting shops in the area, and fat bike skis.
4:46
I, I didn't know what this was, so I had to look it up. So, and there's a link in the show notes to what it is, but it's a, it's a fat bike, but with a ski, like a ski draw ski on the front of it. Actually, kind of fun.
4:56
I'd rip it. Especially on a downhill. Looked great. I'd rip it. [laughs] So you can demo one of those there, um- But you know what's better than that? No. Having a fucking wheel on front. Wee.
5:04
[laughs] So for all you with wheels on the front, there'll be lift access, so you can go up to the top and ride down without even pedaling.
5:10
Uh, live music, food, beer, hot springs, and an optional group ride, poker run, pub crawl on the part of The Great Divide Cycling Route. Did you rehearse that part? No. You, that flowed pretty well. Right? I like that.
5:22
[laughs] It just, 'cause it kinda bounced right off the tongue. That was, uh- You can learn more about that at skimaverickiceman- [laughs]....com. [laughs] Honorable mention this week. [laughs] That's right.
5:34
That's right, Maverick. I am dangerous. I'm, I am dangerous. [laughs] Uh, the honorable mention for this week's event of the week is the release of the 33 City Tour.
5:46
New Belgian is planning for this year's Tour de Fat, and it's got fat in the title. Yeah. You know, either- Yeah... a lot of people ride fat bikes on the Tour de Fat, you know?
5:55
They, they- No, they, now they're calling it- But, uh-... the Fat Bike T- I saw something today where they s- referred to s- fat bikes. Huh. Yeah. Uh, just on Facebook today. Well, fat tire. Yeah, the fat tire.
6:06
Load in those fat tires Right. Tour de Fat Yeah. So there's 33. We're not in. M- No, again... Milwaukee missed out again. Missed out. Madison is as close as we get here. You know why Milwaukee missed out?
6:15
'Cause we had too much fun here? 'Cause they dropped the fucking ball and didn't show up. It was too hot. It was like 95 degrees the last time they were here, which all right, it's hot, but it's, it... I, I don't know.
6:27
I was really disappointed. I went down to the lakefront and there was nobody there.
6:31
Th- and those, those people, they work really hard and put on a really good show, and the, the bands that they have are world-class, and the entertainers- Yeah, there's like, I, I saw A-... they're A-O-class...
6:41
AWOLNATION is at one of the things. And the, the, the- It's like, wow... beer you drink is awesome. Oh, yeah, like, uh, it- They are a good- Like Chicago- You know what? We should get one of those guys on. I'll, I'll...
6:50
I got a, I got a, I know a couple- Yeah, yeah... of those guys. Well, you know who, you know who's one of their main guys is the- Coleman... the marketing manager is one of the guys that owns Moon Man Bikes.
6:58
So we could talk- Oh... titanium bikes and fat bike. That makes sense. Uh, New Belgium marketing. And New Belgium. Yeah. Yeah. And it felt like, I thought I saw, like, The Roots were Chicago. No. The band?
7:10
I'm thinking something negative. The band? Yeah. That's- Or am I getting my wires crossed? We can do it. We, we, we have- I, I don't know how you got on Chicago or bands. We were talking about- Well, this is the- Yeah...
7:19
because they, because e- Yeah, yeah, yeah, Tour de Fat schedule and bands... yeah, everybody. Oh. So it's like Third Eye Blind is in Asheville, A Thousand Horses, Charlotte, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And there it is.
7:27
Cory Harper, AWOLNATION, Boston, Massachusetts, Skibbity Scoobity Scowbity Skip. I'm missing all this. Yeah, these are the bands that'll be playing. In your, I don't- Are you looking at the website right now?
7:37
I'm sorry, Travis. I don't give a fuck. I don't see any Alaska, uh- [laughs]... stops on the old, uh, Tour de Fat schedule this year. [laughs] You gotta get 'em up there, man. Well, what happened to that? Yeah, right?
7:47
It's missing out. We got Kansas- Yeah... Minnesota, California. They've thrown on a lot of good events. Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Colorado, Arizona.
7:56
Where's our closest Chicago? Uh, Madison. Madison. Madison. Oh, sweet. Or Chicago. We could do both. Yeah, The Roots are in Chicago, Illinois. We could do both. Ding. Yeah, see? He's not as dumb as he looks, folks.
8:10
[laughs] I didn't, I didn't say, uh, what is The Roots? [laughs] Who are- Sorry. [laughs]... who are, who are The Roots? Uh- The Roots are from Chicago, aren't they? I have no idea. Don't know, but they're in Chicago.
8:23
Ah. Hey, speaking of other, uh, past Event of the Week-y things, we've got searchable results from the Fat Bike Birkie. Watchya. There's a link in the show notes.
8:31
Apparently, people did go up there and race, and later in the show we're gonna have Leia talking to us about being the women's bestest. That's gonna be fun. Do we have a Ziegel on the line yet?
8:41
No, no Ziegel on the line yet. I'll shoot him a message. Right on. Well, let's take a short break, and when we return, we'll chat with said special guest, Paul Ziegel. [upbeat music] So I heard you need a fat bike.
8:52
Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois. We have all brands: Trek, Borealis, Salsa, Felt, Surly, and more. Yo, we have all the cold weather gears by 45NRTH and Bontrager.
9:07
Keep those fingers and toes nice and toasty. We fix bikes also, so you have any problem, brakes, gears, suspension, we have the best mechanics in town. So yeah, visit us at zioncyclery.com.
9:26
You are once again listening to Fat Bike Radio. Hey, welcome back to the radio program, ladies and gentlemen.
9:32
Through the magic of the lady in the internet, we've got, uh, Paul Ziegel on the show, Surly brand manager and all around great guy. Welcome, Paul. Thanks for having me. It's that guy. Right on, man.
9:42
It's great to have you on the show. Like we mentioned, uh, Paul is Surly's brand manager, whatever that is, but, uh, he's so much more.
9:50
How about giving our listeners just a bit of a background on what it is you exactly do in this, uh, big bike industry of ours? [laughs] That's a good question. Um, I'm kind of the
10:01
business manager, so do a lot of planning, long-term planning, manage all the staff, uh, our budgets, and then look at, well, where are we going as a brand? What is it that we wanna develop?
10:15
What direction w- do we wanna move in? And just keeping us on track. So you are Surly- That's probably a good overview... in other words. You're, you, you're, you're Surly. He's the brand. [laughs] He's the...
10:25
[laughs] I try to be as Surly as I can, you know, every day.
10:27
[laughs] So, um, one of the reasons we thought it would be cool to have you on the show, besides your Surly connection, is that you participate in the Arrowhead 135 on a regular basis.
10:37
How many times have you actually done that event? Uh, this year was my fifth attempt at the race. I've finished, um, four times and, uh, attempted five times. So participated five times and finished four times.
10:53
Uh, not all, not all those times have been on bike. I've skied, finished on skis once, and I've attempted on foot once, so. Wow. Holy crap. But finished three times on the bike.
11:03
So needless to say, there's some training you put into that, huh? Every year, every time? Yeah. Oh, yeah. There's, there's a lot of prep.
11:11
You know, I've always enjoyed being outside in the winter and exercising and riding all winter long, but also ski in the winter, and I like winter camping.
11:20
So I think a lot of that winter outdoor experience definitely plays into, uh, being able to finish the Arrowhead. Yeah, I think that's a big part of being a Minnesotan. I kind of learned that there.
11:31
They kind of embrace w- winter and, and- Well, you kind of have to... take it on and go... Yeah, exactly. [laughs] Well, or you could be a Milwaukeean and go to the bar. Well, that works. But they do that, too.
11:40
[laughs] That works for us. [laughs] Paul, do you like beer? Oh, yeah. That's, like, my biggest carbo-loading drink that I have. All right, excellent. Black leather. Excellent. Now, what, what kind of setup did you ride?
11:53
What bike were you on for the Arrowhead? And, uh, give us a little lowdown- Uh-... on kinda what, what kinda setup you had. Sure.
12:00
This year, I, uh, this year and the last time I rode the Arrowhead, [door closes] I was on the Truck,
12:06
um, with five-inch tires, the Bud and Lou tires, um- Two years ago I rode with, um, 80 mil rims, and this year I chose to run 100 mil, which
12:17
I kinda prefer the biggest tire and the most aggressive tire just because when you go to the Arrowhead, with all the forecasts and all the snow conditions, you still don't know what you're gonna get, and I like to be over-prepared rather than,
12:30
um, you know, guessing on it's gonna be fast conditions. This year was fast, but they also had forecast a lot of snow, so I was, I wanna be prepared for the worst conditions. I'm not, like, racing.
12:44
I'm mostly just doing it for my own enjoyment and seeing, you know, trying to get to the finish line is just my main goal, so. I, I was talking to Patrick, uh, who's Paul's nephew, and he was...
12:57
I, that's why I had the idea of getting you on the air, is I wanted both of you on the air. The stories he was telling was just enthralling. Were there ever any points a- along your route...
13:06
I, I know it happened, used to happen to me in the Dakota 505, we're like, "What the fuck am I doing? What, what, what, what, what, can, can I just bail out now? Should I just bail out now? What the fuck am I doing?"
13:16
You know? Was, did, did you ever hit any of those moments, or did you just keep chucking on? Oh, yeah. I think those, those happen every year, and I think you have, you kinda have to prepare for those mentally.
13:27
You know, my main goal going into it is to actually enjoy the event as long- Exactly... as possible. Exactly.
13:33
I know there's gonna be a point when all of a sudden you start to have those self-doubts, and you're, you always question, it's like, "Why am I doing this?"
13:40
Because it's such a long and challenging race, but the longer I can have a positive attitude and enjoy it, it just makes that whole event more better. This year I would say I, it was probably my best ride ever.
13:57
I don't think I... Usually it's, like, about halfway or somewhere around halfway it starts to, those questions start to come up. This year I enjoyed myself all the way to the last Surly checkpoint.
14:09
Um- And that shit went downhill [laughs]... and there I was still feeling pretty strong, and, and then actually the, you know, they had Surly beer there. They, they offered me whiskey.
14:18
They're like, "You're the first, first person to take whiskey so far." So that was my, I'd stayed there the longest- That's, that's surprising... and that was kinda my downfall.
14:27
Yeah [laughs] but, uh, I still felt good leaving there, but I would say that last 25 miles, about halfway through there, that's kind of when I hit the wall.
14:36
Um, but that's pretty far for me to get through that race and still feel pretty good. So I, I was, it was about as good as it can get for me at the Arrowhead this year. Yeah? So it was great.
14:44
That was, so was it one of your better times or just one of the better experiences? It was both. My best time prior to this year was 29 hours, and I cut 11 hours, so- Wow...
14:57
I finished in- So it was fast this year then, huh? Yeah. Yeah, it was real-- The first half of the race was very fast.
15:01
It was like usually I take some nice breaks at the first two checkpoints 'cause I like to recover, rehydrate, eat some food.
15:10
You know, just feel like I get, get motivated to go out again, and this year it was like my breaks were really quick. I could, I've ate and drank, and I'm like, "I'm ready to go."
15:18
So the, the, the, I saved a lot of time by stopping less.
15:24
Uh, again, I'm, I'm usually not racing it, so it's more for me to, like, I just wanna feel good and have fun and enjoy it, and this year I was able to just keep moving and enjoy the race.
15:34
So I took advantage of that and just kept moving. Um- So you, you'd- Paul...
15:39
mentioned that you've done this several times now, and I can imagine that the conditions vary from year to year quite a bit, uh, so you don't necessarily know what you're gonna get into before you get there.
15:50
Um, if you were gonna share a tip for some new folks who are interested in doing a race like the Arrowhead 135, you know, how would you, how do, how would you suggest they prepare for something like that, not knowing whe- if it's gonna be 30 below or 30 above, and, you know, is it gonna be snow or not?
16:03
How do you just, how do you get into the game and, and actually complete something like this event? Yeah.
16:09
Yeah, it's a, it's a good question because you, you sign up in, you know, October, and you have no idea what it's gonna be like up that time of the year.
16:19
And, and generally it's really cold and snowy, but, you know, as we've seen over the last couple years, weather patterns have changed drastically, so it's even more unpredictable.
16:31
Uh, I would say the best thing is to prepare for all situations, and when you go up there, even, even prepare for variation the night before the race, you know?
16:42
Because this year they had forecasted significant snowfall, and it didn't, didn't really happen.
16:48
I mean, we got the little bit of snow, but you still gotta prepare for that 'cause you're out on the course, and you don't know what the weather's gonna throw you in northern Minnesota, you know? Yeah.
16:57
Um, and some years they have forecasted much snow, and you get a lot of snow. So, you know, you have to be prepared for getting wet. You have to be prepared for subzero.
17:08
Um, you kinda have to know how to handle eating and drinking. So, you know, for me it's always just spending time outdoors, you know? Doing long rides in the winter.
17:20
When it gets really cold out, even though you don't wanna go ride, that's the best time to test gear. That's the best time to test, um, clothing. You know, I always plan to try that.
17:29
And you j- you like doing that anyway, dude. Right, right. You like, I think I've r- oh, dude. I've, yeah, I've seen you ride in some pretty cold weather just for shits and giggles, let alone training. Yeah.
17:40
Kinda what I would recommend. Prepare, you have to pre- prepare for all situations.
17:45
If, if there was one piece of equipment or gear that you had on, on, on, on this year's, 'cause, you know, it, like you said, it changes every year, what, what would you say would be the thing that you maybe even remarked to yourself, "Oh, I'm glad I have that," or, "I'm glad I wore that," or...
18:01
You know, this year was tricky because it was almost ideal conditions. It, the temperature fluctuation was minimal.
18:07
I don't think we've seen temperature fluctuated more than about 10 or 15 degrees, so you really didn't have to change a lot of clothing. I would say one thing is- Uh, gloves.
18:19
You know, things that you get, that get wet, you know, like your gloves and socks. Having those layers that you can change out quickly and not get wet or cold.
18:29
Um, so I had multiple pairs of gloves, and my gloves got wet, and just having an, a change of gloves is pretty key. Um, trying to think.
18:38
There wasn't much this year 'cause it, you know, nothing really froze, food or water. I would say in other years, you know, the year, I did it on foot one year. I think it was, uh,
18:49
2014, and that was the coldest year I've ever done it. It was 35 below temps and- Oh... um, wind chills in 50 below. That year, you know, I had extra clothing, a lot of extra clothing, and I wore it all.
19:04
I was wearing every single piece of clothing. So- Oh, Jesus... I think thinking about extra clothing and having those critical layers and being able to change out layers is pretty important, I would say.
19:18
And then just knowing what kind of food you can eat, you know? I, I always bring a variety of food because sometimes your stomach tells you you can't eat something, and you wanna be able to pick something else.
19:29
But this year was pretty easy. I don't, I don't know if there was anything that was a shining star this year 'cause I think it was a pretty easy to race to race, and you, it showed up in the results. I mean, people,
19:41
a lot of people broke records. A lot of people broke PRs, you know. It was- Oh, good... it was probably one of the easiest races I've done at the Arrowhead, so.
19:49
Did you ever have to eat your- Not that it was an easy race, but. Did, did you ever have to eat your butter? No, [laughs] I've never had to eat my emergency food.
19:59
[laughs] So with, uh, Paul, with respect to your gear, are you, uh, are you keen on wool or, um, synthetics or a mixture of both? What do you like for, uh, you know, your base and then your outer layers? Yep.
20:12
I'm a big fan of wool. I mean, I've kind of converted to my base layers are almost always wool all the time, but I do like, um, some sy- synthetics- Mm... for insulation and, um, for, like, wind protection.
20:27
So generally I do all wool base layer. Uh, this year I, and I've usually done the, the Craft Storm tights because they got a wind front on the front. God, those, those things are so- But they, they fit pretty good...
20:39
they're the bomb. They are the bomb. Yeah. They're, they're, they're, they're the best tights ever, and I use them for skiing and running and for pretty much all of my winter sports.
20:50
And then I usually use, I like the, uh, Patagonia R1 fleece because it's pretty thin and it, and it sh- and it really wicks moisture really good.
21:00
So I kinda like the wool base layer 'cause it still keeps you warm, but that fleece pulls the moisture away from the wool so it never feels damp.
21:08
If, if I do two layers of wool for that long an event, they kinda get a little heavy and wet, so I kinda like a mix. Yeah. But usually on my head and my neck gaiters, I do wool, so. Right on.
21:22
Zagal, uh, I was just, uh, at s- at, uh, a bar here in Milwaukee the other day and saw some graffiti that Brower and Trevor put on the wall, uh, old friends of ours from Surly.
21:34
Um, any, w- any, any good news around there these days other than the Big Fat Dummy that came out? What's, what's the Dummy all about? Is that something I can mes- messenger on, or
21:43
is that more like going hardcore camping like you nuts? Which bike? I didn't, I di- I didn't catch that. The Big Fat Dummy. Oh, the Big Fat Dummy. Oh, the Big Fat Dummy's awesome.
21:57
I've been kinda riding a prototype since we got our first round of the prototypes, and I actually have mine set up for, uh, with 29 plus. I had two sets of wheels from my ice cream truck.
22:07
I had summer wheels and winter wheels, and my summer wheels were, uh- Life's rough... 29 plus wheels.
22:12
[laughs] So, so I put the 29 plus wheels on my, on my Big Fat Dummy, and my wife and I, Tricia, share that bike so it's, we, we kinda have a, we have a medium and with a dropper post. And so we just kinda...
22:26
And I have, um, open bars on it. So that's our kind of do all bike, but I also use it, I've used it for, uh, off-road camping, and it's great in the winter when the roads are crappy.
22:39
So- Just it's 'cause of the long wheelbase...
22:40
for me it's still that, it's still that, yeah, it's still that utility vehicle for us because it's, it keeps us from getting in the car all the time, but it's great that I can just jump on it and take it off-road and take it camping.
22:52
I mean, it's, it's one thing to pack up your bike for an overnight. You gotta figure out, well, what stuff fits in what bags. Right. Right.
22:59
Big Fat Dummy, you just open the bag, stuff all your stuff in it, and you don't have to worry about will it fit, how much stuff can I carry. Uh, it's so much quicker and easy to do that on, so. That's cool.
23:14
That's, that's kinda how we've been using it, and it works great, so. Cool. I think everybody's gonna find their way to use it, and I think people will use it differently, and that's what's great about that bike.
23:25
You should maybe send one down here. I'd love to take one, uh, ripping on the beaches. We'll give you a little report on it. [laughs] Well, I, I think we can make that happen.
23:34
We, we just, we got one to Spinner for a little while, so I'm sure we can get one in Milwaukee. Yeah. Spinner's- Yeah... a little bit smaller than me. We should probably have a large up here. Yeah.
23:41
Bri- bring your own damn self down, too, and- Yeah... I was just out at Port the other day, and the beaches are actually looking not bad. No. No, no, no. I noticed the river was- They're, they're coming back...
23:49
really high today. Yeah. But, uh, I don't know if that affe- how much that affects the lake.
23:53
I was surprised because we had a southwest wind coming in, which would normally push the water into the shore, and it was like, "Wow, there's more beach here than I thought." Yeah. So. Well, good.
24:02
So yeah, Zagal, get up, get down, over here. Down here, up. Over, up, across. Get on up. Across to here. And bring Trevor Clayton and, uh, Sav. You guys could, like, do a, a company, a outing retreat kinda thing.
24:15
There you go. We've got a large in our demo fleet, so we can, we can drop one off. That would be f- awesome. So you, so you mentioned- That would be awesome. Actually, I could probably come and pick it up.
24:24
Easter's coming. [laughs] And you know, the Easter Bunny's gotta leave, uh, some fireworks at your house for your kids. Oh, yeah. That's, that's a good story.
24:33
Zito, when my, my sons were, like, two and four, he dropped a package off on our porch on Easter, and it was to my two sons, and it was a, uh, a whole brick of Black Cats. [laughs] That's funny because- Easter Bunny...
24:47
because I know you and, uh, the Z-Man have a, have a connection through the Minneapolis, uh, connection up there. And I, I was gonna say, do you have a particularly poignant Zito story for our listener?
24:57
But, uh, sounds like you have more than one. [laughs] Oh, dude. Oh, yeah. And when there's a Wednesday night every week in Minneapolis. Yep.
25:07
We just, we just went to the Sunrise Inn, uh, a week, a week ago Wednesday, 'cause they're shutting it down, Zito. I know. If you don't remember, you guys called. I got an F you call. Yep, that's right.
25:18
We left you a message. Yeah. That's right. So you guys talked a little bit about the Big Fat Dummy yet, Surly. You got anything else happening there?
25:25
Uh, I think C- Zito mentioned that there might be some kind of specials going on on rims and whatnot. Yeah.
25:31
We're, we're kind of, you know, we- we're really early adapters in the fat rims, and so we had a large selection of rims, but now there's so many rims on the market, we're kinda narrowing our selection.
25:42
So we're, we're kinda moving,
25:45
reduced the price of a lot of our, uh, older rim inventory, so if people are looking to build up some extra set of wheels, there's a lot of, uh, our older, like the Large Marge and the Marge Lites and the, um, the, the Daryl's and the Clown Shoes are all on sale right now, so.
26:03
Do you, do you have any- Yeah... 24-inch, uh, Large Marges left? No, we don't.
26:09
[laughs] No, there's- 'Cause I, I know a guy that needs a pair of those, 'cause that was a, that was a great rim at one point back in the- That was a ripper... one by one days. Dude, that was a ripper bike. Yep. Yeah.
26:19
Uh, Z- Yeah, the anniversary bike, one by one equals eleven. Yep. Yeah. I had one for several years. That was a good- I left mine in Australia... an awesome pub crawl bike. I stacked it up on that thing. Yep. High speed.
26:33
High speed. Going down a hill, leaning on that thing going, "Holy shit, I... How... I'm almost..." And I was leaning and I was like, "I can't believe this." And then I hit the paint.
26:42
[laughs] And [laughs] the construction worker's like, "Oh, mate, are you all right? Are you hurt?" And it was all scraped up and beat up, and you went, "Oh, only my pride." Yeah, skin grows back. Yeah, exactly.
26:54
[laughs] What else is going on up there, uh, Paul? Any good fun winter events or cycling stuff people can check out in Minneapolis coming up?
27:03
Well, you know, we've, we've been talking about the MMFSSSS, the Minneapolis Metro Coffee Mug Singlespeed Series, so you might, you might hear about that this summer.
27:13
Um, and, and we've got, we always have some stuff in the works, some, we have some new stuff in the works. Nothing I can share yet, but stuff that I think you, people will get excited about this fall, so. All right.
27:25
Excellent. Excellent. Excellent. You been down to One On One? How's Gene? He's good. Saw him at the Wednesday night ride. He's doing good. Is he... Yeah. Oh, that was at, was that at... I see what, I see what happened.
27:38
You guys did a Wednesday night ride be- in honor of the closing of, of the Sunrise. I get it now. Yes. We did. They, uh, they, uh- I saw the video of the, someone riding down the stairs... that was Gene. Yeah.
27:49
Well, yeah. Gene on the bike. Of course. I wasn't gonna name names. Yep. [laughs] Yep. I miss it every day. I was just gonna give Paul a big hearty thanks for being on the show. Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for calling in.
28:02
Sure. And we'd love to get your nephew on, too. Yeah, thanks for having me, you guys. Yep. You, you rule. Always a pleasure. Hang out if you wanna listen and peep in. [laughs] Yeah. You can, you can be a lurker.
28:12
We're gonna have, uh, the, the women's, uh, Fat Bike Birkie champion, Leah, on here in just a little bit. So, uh- And we got Travis on the air. Uh, Travis is still lurking in the background. Have, have you ever...
28:22
Travis, you don't ride Surlys, do you? Uh, no. I'm not currently a Surly owner. All right. All right. But, uh- You, you two should meet.
28:30
Not that I would, uh- I have a feeling that you two would like one another, you and Paul. Yeah. Tra- Travis is our fat ambassador from Alaska, Paul. He's, uh, he's on the horn. Oh, okay.
28:38
He likes to sit back and just listen. Kind of a lurker. [laughs] Yeah, but he's always giving us the lowdown of all the cool shit going on in Alaska, too. Right on.
28:47
Z- Z- like Ziggle and Gray Boy, those guys get boners on stuff like that, the Arrowhead. "Hey, let's go punish ourselves." [laughs] And, [laughs] "This'll be awesome." Yes. "It's be- I, I might...
28:57
Hey, if I really fuck up, I can die." [laughs] With, with, with bears. [laughs] Yeah. With Bar. Exactly. Z- Ziggle and Paul- Load the van... Paul, are you still there? Yeah, I am.
29:09
Do you remember when, uh, we both were working at, at, at the, at the farm, and, uh, you came up to me one day and said, "Hey, you know, listen, if, if..."
29:16
I think they were starting a new warehouse thing, that you were working on this huge project, and your time was all gone, and you came up to me and said,
29:24
"You know, if, if, if the company paid you and, and you, uh, you know, had the afternoons off and you went and, and w- were the nanny for my kids," how fast did Trish ixnay that when you got home?
29:36
[laughs] I never, it, it never evolved. I know Tr- I'm pretty sure Trish went, "Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. No, no." No, no Zito? No Zito nanny? No Uncle Zito. Unc- [laughs] All righty, Paul.
29:50
Well, hey, thanks again for being on the show. Um, we are gonna take a quick break, and when we come back to the show, we're gonna dive headlong into the Fatty Farm Field Report and a chat with Leah. All right.
30:01
Ziggle, I love you, man. All right. Thanks for having me. Yeah. Thanks for calling in.
30:06
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30:21
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30:33
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30:49
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31:00
We will have a link to our review in the show notes. And just in time, we've got Leah. Welcome to the show, and- Hi, guys... congratulations, uh, to you on your win at the Fat Bike Birkie this year. Thank you very much.
31:15
What a, what a day it was. [laughs] Yeah. Well, I mean, you know, let's just start out and, uh, kinda get an idea of how you got into fat bike racing and what led you to race in that there Fat Bike Birkie. All right.
31:29
Well, I, uh, I got into mountain biking, I don't know, seven, eight years ago just for a, a workout. Um, my main sport was soccer and, uh, I was the gal that was never gonna, never gonna bike in the cold. There's no way.
31:43
Don't even try to ask. Don't go there. Don't invite me. Not gonna happen. Uh, so years and years, I was mountain biking just as a second sport to soccer over the summers, and had a blast with it,
31:59
and then, you know- Start- started kicking ass... it's always about, it's always about the base, isn't it?
32:06
So a guy I was interested in, he asked me to go on a bike ride with him, and that's kind of- There's always a guy... how a cyclist dork says, uh, you know, "Will you go out with me?" That's kinda how they do it, right?
32:22
Yeah. Uh- And so he- I, no, I don't know how- He was signed up for this Huge Ass series going on in Wisconsin, hosted by, uh, Wheel & Sprocket- Right... Bike Shops.
32:33
Yeah, we just had the owner- And they're a fat bike series... of that on a couple weeks ago. Yeah, they're awesome. So he says, "Well, why don't, why don't we meet there?
32:40
And so we'll, we'll go and we'll race, and then we'll go for a, a bike ride on Sunday." All right, sure. So I pull up, I rent a bike from Wheel. I'm in my hiking boots, my sweatpants, a full winter coat.
32:55
I hop on this, you know, 35-pound Badger bike, and I win the race. [laughs] Whoa. And immediately I'm thinking, "This is gonna be a really expensive weekend." [laughs] Wow. [laughs] You know? Yeah.
33:11
So the next day, uh, I've got a Trek store,
33:15
uh, right near my house, so the next day I g- I go over to Trek, 'cause I had already had a r- a Madone on a road bike and a Top Fuel mountain bike, and I'm thinking I'll just go get a, I'll go get a Farley.
33:26
So you're kind of a bike sh- So I go to the store and I order a- So you're kind of a bike shop- I order up a bike that day... you're kind of a bike shop owner's- Hmm?... wet dream, aren't you? Oh, they love me.
33:35
I'm, I'm like on the spot, [laughs] you know? I bet. Just- It sounds like you got some nice bikes, too... it's an instant buy. There's no research. [laughs] You know, I don't, I don't know components.
33:44
I don't know any of this stuff. I just, I see someone on a fast bike, and that's the bike I buy. Nice. Right?
33:52
So I order up a bike, and then I get a call later that day from George Kapet, the owner of Broken Spoke Bikes up in Green Bay. Our buddy, George. And he says, "I thought you don't..." Yeah, old George.
34:04
Everyone knows George. He goes, "I thought you don't do cold." [laughs] Nice. And well, oh, how things change. So he,
34:16
he convinced me to cancel the order and get a Salsa Beargrease through him, and he's gonna give me a great deal if I raced for him over the winter. I said, "Oh, cool. Yeah, all right. Now I got a, a team to be on.
34:30
This is awesome." So in one weekend I quit soccer, I got a new bike, got a new boyfriend- That shit's bad on your knees anyway. [laughs] You know? [laughs] Soccer's rough on your knees... new sport.
34:46
I'm registered for the whole entire series. I mean, I'm riding in the snow constantly. I'm outside all the time, and, uh, won the series, and through that was a free entry to the Birkie.
34:59
So was this, was this- So that's how I wound up at the Birkie last year. Right, right, that was last year, not this one that just happened, right? So you did- Exactly. Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. So my
35:09
first time on a fat bike was last winter. Crazy. And, you know, so last year was my full, first full year of dedicating the time to, to racing, and I went in, and the course last year was fantastic. I mean,
35:27
you know, just snow-covered, gorgeous, wide open, rolling hills. I mean, tons of space.
35:35
You know, you're flying down some of these, these wide open hills, and it, it feels like you're, you're sk- it's like adult sledding. I mean, we're permagrinning.
35:45
It was, I mean, it was hard work, don't get me wrong, but- Well, yeah... I had so much fun doing it. Y- you know what's interesting about the- Yeah...
35:52
the, the Fat Bike Birkie course is when, when we all started mountain biking, you know, 30 years ago, all of our trails were fall line trails like the Birkie course is, but now with, you know, the emphasis on making sure that trails are sustainable and this and that, you don't get those big rolling hills like you used to.
36:09
Everything's all benched in and it's a little bit of different kind of ride.
36:12
It's, you know, obviously makes the trails handle more people and all, but I'll tell you what, that Fat Bike Birkie course, you want an old school fall line rollercoaster, that is one of the coolest things in the world.
36:23
Yeah. Is there a lot of climbing on that? Oh, yeah. That sucks. Yep. There's- Yeah, there was... it, it's very rolly... there was about 2,500 feet of climbing and 28 miles, so it was a wake-up call there, too. All right.
36:33
But you still kicked everyone's ass, right? And momentum is your friend. So yeah, last year, how'd you do on the c- like- Well, my- How did you do on the traditional course last year?
36:41
Well, on the traditional course I, I ended up sixth. I, uh, I had been training pretty decently, but didn't really know what I was into.
36:50
You know, a lot of these single track races I was in were, you know, it's only 10 miles, and there's no climbing, and it's just fun- Only 10... weaving in and out of the trees.
36:59
[laughs] So this is, uh, a welcome to, you know, all out power. Um, and I, and I, you know, I got these knee problems, and I was getting these shots in my knee, and I had this- That, that's from soccer...
37:10
fricking allergic reaction couple days before the race, and had a hard time even bending it. And I, I was freaking out.
37:19
I was so mad and thinking, "I, I don't even know if I can race this thing" and just, just went for it. And, you know, once you're in the middle of it, you don't feel any pain. You just go.
37:31
And had a, had a blast and thought, "Okay, we're going for it next year." Fast-forward to this year.
37:37
I mean, obviously, uh, the conditions weren't what traditional Fat Bike Birkie people are looking for, but they made an accommodation for it and they turned it into a four-lap, uh, a race that were approximately, what are they, like a little over 10K per lap maybe.
37:52
And, uh, so i- I think it changed the character of the race. What did you think between last year and this year when you crushed the competition this year, you know? [laughs] It was a completely different race.
38:04
We went out to pre-ride, and it was a six-mile lap, and we're knowing that we're gonna have to do five miles, and the ground was so hard and frozen. There was hardly any snow, maybe a couple patches.
38:15
So was it icy- And then there were definitely-... or was it icy or j- or just dirt? There was ice everywhere. There- Awesome... there was ice everywhere. And I gotta g- hand it to them, you know?
38:24
They had to go to a six-mile loop because they've got all this heavy equipment out there trying to chop up the ice, and there's no way they could do that on 28 miles. Right. Right.
38:33
I mean, I saw the sections where they hadn't chopped it off, and it was sheet ice. Wow. Did you go down at all? Just ice skating rink. It...
38:39
Uh, I, I went down once, but the thing is, I had, I've got the head wheels with, uh- Oh, they're too light... the, the, uh, the Dillinger, um- Studs... studs. Yeah. Right? Yeah, yeah.
38:52
And so I took my pressure down to only five PSI even though it was a hard ground- Right... knowing that I'm gonna wanna grip that ice when I need to.
39:00
And so going in, I'm thinking, "This is gonna be survival of the bike and the person," because you go down on ice, there's no give. I mean, that, it will knock the soul right out of you. You can see it flying away.
39:12
Right. Was it cooler this year with, with- It, it's so painful... with the course being shorter? Were there more spectators withou- within, within the race?
39:19
I didn't really notice, uh, that many because it was only four degrees outside. Oh, shit. So there wasn't a lot of people [laughs] out there wanting to watch the race this year.
39:27
I didn't realize it was that cold up there. I thought it was nicer. Yeah, did, did it... So no one saw you go down- Oh, no... right? It was, it was cold. Did, did anyone see you go down when you went down?
39:39
I don't think so. I mean, I was in- Oh... a, a, just a flat section, and it was just a dumb mistake. You take your mind off for one second, and you're down. You were thinking about that boyfriend- And-... weren't you?
39:51
You gotta... Yeah, [laughs] I wanted to win. I was just thinking about that win, you know? [laughs] Just go, go, go. But you go down, and, and you, you only have seconds to assess the damage. "All right, I'm fine.
40:03
Like, I don't have time to recover. I just have to get back on the bike. Okay, the bike is fine. Let's go." So I, I didn't even probably lose a minute.
40:10
I probably lost less than a minute, but then it's the recovery 'cause the wind gets knocked out of you. So as you're biking, I had to slow the pace so I could get my, my breath back. Right.
40:21
But I wasn't so concerned about me going down. I was concerned about everybody else going down in front of me because I've been in these mass start races before.
40:29
And you, you hug some wheels too tightly, and they go down, you're down with them. Yeah. And I knew that there was gonna be people falling left and right during this race.
40:39
There's no way very many of us were getting out with at least one crash. Oh. Not with that, not with that ice.
40:45
And then there was a lot where, sections where there was ice and it was a downhill, and then leading into a curve. Oh, yeah. That's hot. I mean, prime for a wipeout. [laughs] That's hot action. Yeah.
40:56
I mean- That's, that's one foot down- It-... just slide... Oh, yeah. And, and so right, right out the gates, the pace, you know, it's fast and you're trying to shimmy, and I got, you know, a girl in sight.
41:10
But I, I'm wanting to back off. I'm not wanting to hug anyone too tight. I'm playing pretty defensively because I've lost races at the beginning, but never won. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, sure. Sure.
41:22
Yeah, you should, you should, you could- You can lose a race at the beginning of it. You could teach those NASCAR guys a trick or two. So I- Yeah. [laughs] It's not won in the first- Yeah, teach them a lesson...
41:28
it's not won in the first corner there, sir. [laughs] Yeah, you're not gonna win it there.
41:34
So I was playing it defensively, not trying to get too close to anybody, and sure enough, that strategy worked in my favor because we weren't even out of the prologue till a dude spilled it right in front of me on a downhill, and I gotta maneuver around him.
41:49
Yeah. And then another five minutes later, same thing happens. Guy goes down, and fortunately, I was able to, to react because I had that five yards to work with, whereas if I was hugging wheel, I'm going down, too.
42:02
And then- You know what they do in Minneapolis when someone goes down?... uh, the girl that I was, the girl I was going, you know, racing with, she ended up doing the same thing.
42:11
I'm, I'm, we're, I'm on her wheel, and a guy out of a, a wave passes us. She hops on his wheel, I'm on hers, and we get to a downhill, and I'm thinking, "Mm-mm. I'm not liking this. I'm not liking it. I don't know him.
42:25
I don't trust him. I trust her. I don't trust him." [laughs] Sure enough, they both go down. You know what they do in Minneapolis when they go down in front of you? And I'm able to get around.
42:34
Is they, they go, they just ride over [laughs] either you or, and/or your bike. Yeah, they're wide open. Especially and that's like, "Oh, bike down. Bike down." There's guardrail all over the entire course.
42:43
"He hit the bike down." Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. That's, that's fun. So- I mean, I'm in the trees trying to get by. [laughs] So, uh, you know, the men's race was decided by, like, three seconds.
42:52
You were over a minute ahead of your closest rival. Was it this crashing business that gave you that gap, or are you just that powerful? I don't know what, um, happened with the girls behind me. I never even saw them.
43:06
And that's, you know, in a one minute- Oh, you shit talker [laughs]... lead is super dangerous. It's super dangerous. You make one mistake and they're gonna catch you. Oh, yeah.
43:17
You start slowing the pace and they're speeding up the pace, they're in striking distance.
43:22
And then the problem is you never, but you never know that they're there, because one minute back is far enough away that you don't even see them. Was Lindsay Creeth there? The entire race, I'm... Hmm?
43:32
Was, was Lindsay Creeth there? Say what? Uh, she wasn't at this race. Ah. She, uh, she likes the road. She's a, she, she does a lot of road, and she does a couple- Yeah... mountain bike races a year. Yeah.
43:41
She, she's, uh, she, um, I, I throw a little race down here in Milwaukee, the Urban Jungle Cross, and she pretty much killed it, uh, on a fat bike- Oh, she's a beast... against cross bi- Oh, yeah. She's, she's a machine.
43:53
I'd, I, I would say she's a machine. [laughs] Hey, what, oh my God. Yeah. Oh, my God. She is a machine. I've, I've had my fill of her in a couple [laughs] of mountain bike races this summer. [laughs] Yeah.
44:05
She's a tough o- she's a tough cookie. Yeah. [laughs] Tough, definitely. Right on. Yeah. Yeah, well, you should come down. Uh, Zito's- Good... gonna run another Urban Jungle Cross down here. Yeah.
44:16
Uh- Patrick, Patrick Ziegel, the nephew of Paul, and I were, uh, just out there about three weeks ago, kind of scouting out a new, a totally new course. We're gonna take it into the, by the river.
44:24
Do you have a date, do you have a date yet for it? No. I gotta look at the schedule. It's gonna be early spring. Yeah, early spring. Or, well, that's now, so late spring. May. [laughs] It'll be May.
44:34
Maybe the second week of May. Maybe the second week of May. [laughs] No, it's gonna be October. Make a trip over here. Oh, maybe January. Leah- No, it'll be May...
44:40
make, make a trip over here and do the Urban Jungle Cross. The- I, I'm gonna try and get as many in as I can before they shut it down on us.
44:45
[laughs] Yeah, the thing is, this place we do this at is, uh, it's in, it's, it's in danger of being, uh, swallowed up by development and while we still have it, it's definitely worth doing a race at.
44:54
While, while it's still a toxic brown zone. While it's still a Superfund site. [laughs] Yeah, I mean, if it's an open weekend, I'd love to. It's always open. I, I love racing.
45:02
And we're gonna try and get some good prizes. I'll race every day. Atta girl. [laughs] Right on, Leah. Well, you know, thanks for being on the show.
45:10
I think, uh- Leah, you, wait, wait, do you ever do any f- any, uh, fat time, uh, fat bike time on the beach?
45:16
Uh, not yet, but considering how crappy this winter was and how cold the, some of the days were, [laughs] I, I'm, I'm considering it. [laughs] Yeah, you should come over to Milwaukee sometime- You know...
45:27
and we'll put you on, we'll, you know, take you for a little rip down, uh, one of the beaches. Maybe go up to Port Washington or something. It'd be fun to have you out for a fatbike.com, uh, photo shoot.
45:36
Not, not for a race, though. No, it's not a race, dude. [laughs] It's a race to the next beer stop. That's about it. But it will be a race.
45:42
I mean- Well, if you, it's, it's pretty much a straight line unless you stop and, and make jumps and have fun and cross the creek. Do derbies and- Derbies, yeah.
45:50
And- Well, as long as someone makes a Strava segment out of it, we can turn it into a race. [laughs] Okay. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] Strava, destroying every recovery ride. Leah, Leah, do you take the pot?
46:02
The death of recovery rides. Do you take the pot? Hmm? Do you take the pot? Do I take the pot? Yeah. Like, as do I smoke weed? Yeah. It's- Uh, w- I don't know if I can answer that. You know my boss. No comment.
46:14
[laughs] No comment, dude. Sent to him. No comment. [laughs] Then, uh, now that you bring up your boss, we won't even ask you where you worked. All right.
46:21
I, I just wanted to take, that's kinda- But Milwaukee is in my backyard... that's kinda what the beach rides are. It, it is, right there. Yeah. No, we're, we're, we're, we're far enough away where they'll never smell it.
46:30
Do you know Patrick Ziegel? [laughs] They'll never know. He's a- That's why I usually go to the Dells. No one'll ever know. Yeah, exactly. Las Vegas of the Midwest. [laughs] All right, lady. Yeah. Well, thanks, guys.
46:42
Thank you very much for being on the show. I, I appreciate. Yeah. Yeah, it was fun. It was fun. You're, you're a great guest. Thanks for letting me tell my story. [laughs] Anytime.
46:51
We're, uh, we're here sometimes, and other times we're not, but, uh- And you're, wait, are you s-... you're always welcome when we are. Are you still with that guy? All right. Yes, I am. [laughs] His name is Ryan.
47:01
All right. I- I had to plug his name so he knows he got added to the storyline. [laughs] All right. Do, do you love him? [laughs] It's your Uncle Zito. Yeah. He's in Green Bay, though. Oh.
47:12
Uh, uh, i- is he bigger than me? I mean, like, can he beat me up? I don't think so. He's pretty fast, too. All right. Does he have- He's a cyclist... does he have a gun? [laughs] He can, yeah, he's got a couple rifles.
47:24
All right. Yeah. All right. I better not piss him off. I don't know if you're faster than a bullet. [laughs] Yeah, you have to be real sneaky. I'm not, I'm not fast. [laughs] All righty then.
47:33
He will catch you, and he's got aim. [laughs] All right. Well, hey, thanks for coming on the show. It was great to talk to you. Yeah, you too, and, uh, I'm excited to hear it, and the best of luck, you guys.
47:46
Yeah, you too. We'll talk to you again. Thanks, Leah. Yep, bye. Cheers. Keep on killing it. Um, can I have a beer, please? Beer? Yeah. Could you turn up the track a little bit, please?
47:58
What do we got next on this, uh- Beer? [laughs] I don't know. What, what's this spring- She seemed like a pretty kick-ass chick. I think- Yeah. Absolutely... I think she would enjoy the beach ride.
48:05
She could be like, uh, who is it? Who's that limey kid? Uh, Adrian. Oh, Adrian. Adrian who said, "Oh, uh, w- were we lined up? All right. Uh, la- next, uh, last one to Claude Park loses." And he, he beat us all.
48:19
Showed up at the bar two days later and, "Oh, Adrian was in here saying he kicked all your asses the other day on the beach." [laughs] And I was like, "Yeah, he kicked our asses, all right."
48:27
Yeah, he kicked the shit out of our asses, all right. We missed about three derbies and six beer stops. [laughs] Couple of beer stops and, uh... [laughs] There was, uh, some bonfires. Mm-hmm.
48:38
What's this spring 2017 pop quiz? Which one, did you- Where? Did one of you guys put it in? No. [laughs] I don't think I did. Maybe it was a, this was a, a, a Phantom Gomez thing maybe. [laughs] So here's the pop quiz.
48:51
Uh, Travis, you're still with us, buddy, right? Yeah, yeah. All right. Oh, yeah. So here, so here's the pop quiz.
48:57
Don't know where it came from, but, uh, do you hang up the fatty and ride something completely different in the spring? No Okay. Do you throw 27.5 or 29+ wheels on your fat bike?
49:09
I will be trying that [clears throat] for the first time, uh, this year once the snow melts, yeah. Right on. Question C, kind of- Going 27, uh, 27.5+ Cool. Yeah, good call.
49:20
Uh, question C, kind of the same thing, so I'm gonna skip over that one. I'm gonna skip over that one. And, um... Oh, all of the above or none of the above. All right. [laughs] Apparently I did that wrong.
49:29
But, um, basically I think the whole gist of this thing is, is do you ride fat all year or are you gonna go to a plus bike wheel in the summer now on your primary fat bike rig?
49:39
Doesn't mean you don't already own a plus bike, which many of us do, but, you know. What's a plus bike? A Krampus. Oh, yeah. Or, uh, any other 27 or 29 plus three-inch size tire, wheelie, wheelie tire bike.
49:53
Yeah, yeah, I wasn't sure what you were referring to. Is a 29 plus or- It's, it, it's the other bike that you have plus the other one that you have. Right. [laughs] All right, I'm back. All right.
50:02
So you, I know you have a... Zito has a Krampus as well as a Mooney. It's, it's my... I, I, and I, you know, I have a, a Cross Check and a Bianchi track bike with drop bars, one of those Pistas they put out. And
50:17
I work on my, on my cross bike and on the fixed gear, but my, the bike that I really have fallen in love with is that Krampus. It's, it's the most forgiving bike I've ever r- I don't, I can't recall crashing.
50:32
I can't recall crashing that bike. Uh, I, I just, t- it's, you know, and every- I c- I crash every bike I have. [laughs] I mean, but I just, it's so forgiving that it, it's, it's remarkable what a great bike it is.
50:49
And it's so much fun. It's just, it's braptacular. It's effin' braptacular. Yeah, I think if I were as tall as you, I'd be on the 29 plus thing.
50:57
I definitely like the 27 plus thing, and my big problem with my main 27 plus bike is it, I left it in Las Vegas last time [laughs] I was out there. Oh.
51:06
Fortunately, I'm going out there in a week again for five weeks, so- All right... I'm gonna be able to take on the, uh, the wide open, uh, Las Vegas wilderness on a plus bike. Ugh. Ah.
51:17
And that sound means that it's time to wrap this show up. [laughs] Uh, hold on. I wanna talk about the Krampus a little more. [laughs] I wanna talk about the Krampus a little bit, really. And it is, uh, uh, just...
51:31
It, it, you gotta ride it like a single speed. It, it's... Oh, someone said, "Oh, it's really heavy."
51:36
And I was like, "Well, it's heavy, yeah, but once you get that momentum rolling and you just keep the cadence going, you ride it like a single speed. It's like a, a single speed with gears.
51:46
I mean, you can draft a bus going 25, 30 or you can, you know, go up and down stairs handily. Oh, yeah. Yeah. For sure. Handily. It's just a really a great all-around bike. You can ride those...
52:00
Well, I, I found the cannards were the best, where you pump them up to a high pressure and they, uh, they roll just almost as well as a slick. And, uh- [laughs] Cannard. [laughs] Cannard. You know. Cannard.
52:12
Into cannards. Anyway, that's, it's a great bike. You know, it's, uh, it, I can't say enough about it. You have said enough about it. [laughs] All right. Well, I could say a little bit more. Little bit more. It's green.
52:24
My, my rear wheel got backed into by a delivery truck the other day. Oh, yeah, you talked about that a, a little bit earlier. And, uh- What the hell?... yeah, it sucked. He just tagged it. I saw him.
52:32
I was sitting in the window doing the Times Crossword. Look at me. All right, he bumped it, no big deal. Sunday morning, I'm not gonna hassle this guy in a delivery truck or the server that...
52:40
And, uh, I went outside and, uh, he more than bumped it. Bummer. We'll have to, uh, figure out a way to get you a new wheel. Yeah, I might have to... [laughs] Hey, Paul. Yeah, Paul's not still listening, is he? Nope.
52:52
He cl- hung out. He's got kids and shit. His kids are driving and shit. Oh. I remember when they were little kids. Nice family, that Ziegel family. Is anybody still there? Travis, you there? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
53:05
[laughs] Welcome back. Oh. [laughs] Yeah, sorry, I, I didn't mean to wake you up, Travis. Dulcet tones, yeah. [laughs] Hold on. [phone rings] Beer o'clock. All right, folks. It's that time again. Wrap it up.
53:20
Our show this evening has been brought to you by the bikes, parts, and chaos of Surly Bikes. Learn more at surlybikes.com. [sighs] Rubber side down.
53:30
Call 818-918-2453 anytime day or night and leave us a message, you know. Till then. Till then. Till then. Tallyho. Bye, Travis. Tallyho. All right, guys. Catch up with you next time. Thanks, brother. Have a good one.
53:47
Yeah, man, take care up there. All right. We still wanna see you down here. Will do, man. Yeah, yeah, we, uh, we just changed the tickets, man, so we're just postponing the trip for a year. All right.
53:58
But, uh, we'll get down that part. Actually, I wanna come, uh, up there too. Yep. We'll count the days. I can, uh, completely hook you up with that. Right on.
54:07
[laughs] And I highly recommend if you wanna ride Alaska on snow, come in March. It's the most epic month. Sounds good. All right, man. Next week. All right. Or next ti- next time. All right. [laughs] Okay, bye.
54:21
Can we do a remote show from Surly? All right. Later, guys. [upbeat music] And we're out of here. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat.
54:40
Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
54:48
[upbeat music]
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