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Full Spectrum Cycling
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #94 – Special Guest Women’s Fat-bike World Champion Amy Beisel
Feb 19, 2016
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #94 – Special Guest Women’s Fat-bike World Champion Amy Beisel
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0:00
Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 94 for Friday, February 19th, 2016.
0:05
[gentle music] Welcome one, welcome all to the fantasmable show of shows.
0:21
It's the Weekly Dose of Fat with your ringmaster, Svenn Gomez. Yeah, yeah. Thanks for that greeting. Greetings, earthlings. Our show today is recorded with experimental gnome technology.
0:34
This week's show is optimized for humans that ride bicycles. Please welcome to the show, Mr. JK Livin. I'm a real boy. [laughs] Fat Bike Radio and the Weekly Dose of Fat is sponsored by Surly Bikes.
0:47
Learn more at surlybikes.com. Right on, JK. What do we have on the show this week? We start the show with the event of the week. We welcome Women's Fat Bike World Champion, Amy Beazley. We kick it real funky.
1:01
We get in with the Fatty Farm field report brought to you by the Winter Rush Fat Bike Series, the Michigan State Fat Bike Championships, and the 2017 USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships. [laughs] Shit.
1:21
We'll t- One, one minute into the show [laughs] That's a lot of words. [laughs] We'll talk with Ryan about m- uh, mountain bike vermont [laughs] and about w- [laughs]
1:38
And Fat Chisel. And in this evening's special segment, we talk to Jake from Freewheel Bike about the Fat Thursday Night Crit Series. We reveal who will be taking over the Instagram
1:57
feed this- Weekend... weekend. Yo, man, improv. And now [laughs] It's time for the Fat Bike Event of the Week.
2:11
And to help us figure out what that Fat Bike Event of the Week is, we'll talk to Steve. Steve Knows, the Sweaty Yeti himself. Hi, Steve. Greetings. [laughs] Greetings, earthlings.
2:26
So yeah, the event of the week this week is the Sweaty Yeti. Uh- How, how sweaty is the Yeti? Right? Uh, gonna be pretty sweaty I think. [laughs] Well, if it were held this weekend, but I think we'll be fine.
2:42
Oh, was there a problem? Well, I think it'll be cooled down by the time, uh, the Sweaty Yeti rolls around, so we should be in good shape for, uh, the 27th. For the Sweaty Yeti? Are you gonna shave- Yep... the Yeti?
2:56
Are you gonna antiperspirant the Yeti? Are you gonna build a- Taunt... build a sauna for the- [laughs]... for, for the Yeti? What the hell is, what the hell is this, this thing all about, Steve?
3:07
Is this, is this the same old song and dance that you line up, you ride, and the racers win, or is this some sort of other thing?
3:18
Well, I don't know if it's, uh, where riders ride and racers win, but, uh, that's certainly part of it. Um, I think we, we've strived to try to keep as much fun involved in it like the early days of fat bike racing
3:33
in the enduro formats, so that's a big part of it. Um, I don't want to be a real big race. I don't want it to be wars or whims or some monstrous type of thing.
3:44
I wanna keep it fun and, uh, plug all the door prizes more into the participants than into the, the top tier of, of riders therein. I just think that's more fun than- Uh-oh. Your, your audio's going janky there, Steve.
3:58
Let me just interrupt- Oh... as I'm good at, and say you don't want it to be monstrous, and yet you named it after a monster. I like this plan. [laughs] So yeah, it, it is actually the...
4:12
It's the last weekend of the month. I have put together, el equipo de sueño, nombres locos. Uh, Chewy, Zito, and Gomez are going to team up and vie for DFL Most Team Fun
4:31
in the gnome transgendered division, which you told me there was one. I don't really... Can you be more than... Can we be polygendered perhaps? I don't know. Pangendered. Pangendered.
4:46
[laughs] This year, this year I know that the, the solos- This, this year- Oh... is brought to you by all. [laughs] All is all. All sex, all the time.
4:56
[laughs] So the, the solos are gonna do on a, uh, they're, they're going out on Swamp Cut, and Yellow Jacket, and the Secret Trail, and Wolf Run, and then Lower Hermosa.
5:08
So it's like seven miles, six miles, something like that. But the team- Yep... the teams are doing the more traditional- Yes... um, just basically down to the merry-go-round and back, three-mile loops.
5:22
There's gonna be beer. Yes. There's gonna be s- Oh, beer? Hands up. There's, there's gonna be snacks. [laughs] Top of the hill. Uh-oh. [laughs] Good, good call, JK. [laughs] Jake is, Jake is jumping the gun.
5:34
Mother Superior jumped the gun. No, I'm- No... adjusting the gun. [laughs] Did you, did you get an autograph on your gun like, uh, like Jeb did? Jeb? Jeb Bush got the old, uh- Hey... engraving on his gun.
5:48
He put it right onto Twitter there. Really? Yeah, he did. Wow. Oh, he's doing fun things. Did he get it, did he get it engraved by, uh, former Vice President Dick Cheney? I don't think so. No? He's still got a face.
6:01
Donald Trump bought jebbush.com 'cause jebbush.com, they didn't-[laughs] Re-up Right? It's awesome. So Steve, can you do, do you do a Yeti imitation?
6:16
Uh, no, but, uh, he made an appearance the first year we had the race, about four years ago. But, uh, no, um, I just try to keep a lid on things as much as I can and make sure everybody has fun. All right.
6:29
Well- So, so this is at Levis? It's the 27th? Yep, Levis Mountain Trail. Right? And then it's the 27th- 27th. Correct... and you're gonna have a race out there? What time, what time do we start? 11:00 AM. 11:00 AM.
6:43
And are you, are you allowing people to make blanket forts and stay in the chalet? Or as you might call it, the chalet, you, you international house of- Well-... Frenchmen. Oh-ho, oh... not officially.
6:56
I cannot condone any such behavior, but- Uh-oh... I've heard that's going to happen. Not officially. I asked, I asked the wrong question. I asked the question wrong. I've got a question.
7:05
Yeah, no, that, I think that was correct. How you- Um, Steve, have you been, uh, around Sunnyvale at all this, this winter? How's that, uh, do you know how that trail is there in, in War- The trail, not the-... Warsaw?
7:14
Not the trailer park. Not the, yeah, not the, not the- Yes, up by Owasso. Right, right. Yeah, I've been up there, uh, a couple times.
7:21
Once it was early and pretty drifted in the open areas, but, uh, now things have settled down. We've had some warm weather, and it's packed, and, um, the last time it was real good. Good.
7:31
Well, I'm gonna be motoring past there on the way up to the Birkie, so I need a break halfway to, uh, northern Wisconsin. I think we finally found something that Steve's not good at. He's not a very good radio guest.
7:43
[laughs] Hey, speaking of good radio guests. [laughs] May- maybe we- He's a, he's a honey dripper, I tell you, man.
7:53
[laughs] [laughs] Uh, maybe we ought to take a break and, uh, come on back to the show here and talk to fat bike world champion, Amy Bisel. All right. Sounds good. Thanks a lot for calling in, Steve. See you, Steve.
8:04
I'll see you in a while and stuff. Yep, no problem. See you. All right, bye. Bye. Take care.
8:08
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8:24
Learn more about Chumba's American-made Ursa Major at chumbausa.com. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Hey, welcome back to the show, everybody.
8:42
We've got women's fat bike world champion, Amy Bisel, on the line. Welcome to the show, Amy. Thank you so much. How are you guys? Oh, awesome. Thanks for calling in. Congratulations- Yeah, you're welcome...
8:55
on glorious victory at Fat Bike Worlds, Amy. [laughs] Yeah. Pretty exciting. Yeah, that was- I'm the fat bike world champion... yeah, it's like the- So... is, is gotta be an awesome privilege.
9:08
Um, you did have home court advantage there at Worlds. You are a local there, is that right? Uh, yes.
9:16
I wasn't born and raised, um, but I did go to college there, at Western State College, which is now called Western State Colorado University. Right on.
9:23
Back in 2002, and I lived there until about two months ago, so I lived there for about 13 years. So I, I definitely knew my surroundings, so that made it a lot less stressful.
9:35
I just hung out with friends, and I had a, you know, I stayed at a friend's house, so it was very relaxed, and I wasn't stressed at all about finding the venue or anything. So
9:46
knowing that just gave me a huge advantage for sure. Very cool. So, uh, maybe can you share with our listeners how you got into fat biking? Yes. I actually don't really fat bike. Um, [laughs] So you just got into it?
10:01
Isn't it kind of odd? I bor- [laughs]
10:03
Yeah, I borrowed, I borrowed a fat bike from Borealis, like, I just emailed them a month previously and just told them my story and sent them my race resume, and they were like, "Cool, you can have a top-of-the-line Cresta when you're racing."
10:17
And I was like, "Awesome." So- I see. Okay. Yeah, that was really nice of them to do that. And, um, so yeah, I don't really fat bike.
10:24
I've ridden a fat bike maybe five times, and I did, like, five local races last year at CD, um- Mm-hmm... and in Gunnison just for some training. But yeah, I don't really fat bike very much.
10:36
I'm more of a- But you are, you, you are a bike racer-... regular... though, right? Yeah, yeah. I'm definitely a bike racer, yeah.
10:43
I've, um, got into mountain biking about eight years ago, and I got my professional license back in 2012, so yeah. I think this is kind of an interesting thing here.
10:53
Both Robby and Amy are not really fat bikers, yet they're both fat bike world champions. I know. [laughs] Yeah.
11:01
It's very- The, the, the influx of other disciplines of cycling are starting to make their stamp upon our fun little fat bike, uh, area.
11:08
Yeah, and every, every fat biker and Alaskan is sitting up there cleaning a m- like sharpening- [laughs]... a machete, "These goddamn people. Why did they steal our stuff?" It's a fairly, it's a fairly new, new-ish...
11:22
It's starting to just get really big, just starting to get big, I think, so I think- I know. That's what-... I think more people will get into it. [laughs] I remember when I was- Oh, guys. Dang it. [yawns] Yeah.
11:35
So- Yeah... so we did interview- Yeah... Mr. Robby Squire about his championship run. He seemed quite impressed with Bee Girl, and Kilt Guy, and, and, uh, Lieutenant Dangle. [laughs] So- Yeah... yeah.
11:46
So can you give us a rundown of how the race played out, the, the tactics, any disco dancing that took place? Maybe a little about the style of, uh, of the race Bee Girl ran? Yeah. Um, well, I...
11:59
To be quite honest, I, I honestly didn't think I was gonna win. There was, you know, pretty, some, some stiff competition there, so I was like, you know, I thought I'd be battling, for sure, you know, top three.
12:10
Um, but I've been doing my training, and, you know, I've been riding hard, and so I was prepared to fight.
12:15
And, um- But yeah, from, from the gun, this girl, Alexa, she, she's from Grand Junction, and I, we, we were together battling first lap, and it was actually pretty funny because, um, like she would crash, and then I'd pass her, and then I would crash, and then she would pass me, and we were both kinda like giggling at each other, like making sure we were okay, and it was pretty, pretty comical.
12:37
We were having... Just laughing and having a good time. Um, then the second lap, I just kinda pulled away from her. I don't know what happened, but I just got a gap and I went with it, so, um.
12:49
Cool, and then five laps out in front by yourself, where you didn't know if she was out there? Yeah, yeah.
12:56
Yeah, so that, you know, I think that was actually an advantage because, you know, like if you start looking for people in front of you and with the snow and the ruts, you, you know, if you look up too far, you can lose balance and crash.
13:08
Mm-hmm. So I didn't have to worry about, like, who was in front of me. I just concentrated on, you know, where I was at that moment. Mm-hmm. And, um,
13:16
so yeah, like the first part of the course was pretty hard, so I tried to put in as much power as I could, but when you started getting into the hills, it got really, like, mashed potatoes, and it got really rutted.
13:26
Right. And that's kinda where, you know, like, um, slow is smooth and smooth is, is fast came into play. You just wanted to make the least amount of mistakes through that little section. Mm-hmm.
13:37
And then the last part of the course was pretty hard packed, too, like the last mile, so again, that's where I just tried to put as much power in my pedals as I could and just kind of worked out.
13:49
So I would go hard, easy, take my time, try and make less mistakes, and then hammer again at, at the end of the course and, I don't know, it just worked out. It was great. Did you, uh, did you have- It was awesome.
14:00
[laughs] Did you have anybody telling you what the gap was when you came through on the, on the laps or anything? No, no one told me the exact, the exact time, but they were saying that I had a big gap. Hmm.
14:13
They said I had a pretty decent sized gap, so I was like, "Cool," but, you know, you just never know. I, I was always still racing scared. I just, you know, you never know what, you know, what could happen, so.
14:24
So you- Yeah... you mentioned that, uh, Borealis was, uh, kind enough to slap you a, a good bike there to, to do this deed on.
14:31
Um, with your lack of fat bike experience, how did you go about getting the thing set up so that it would, uh, it'd work well for you, or at least well enough for you to, uh, beat everybody else in the field?
14:42
Uh, yeah, so I, I got up there, you know, the day before and, uh, met up with them and, you know, I kinda know my measurements, you know, as far as, like, a regular bike goes. Mm-hmm. So I kinda went with that.
14:54
Um, the, the bottom bracket on fat bikes is actually a little wider, and so your, so your legs are a little more spread out, so I lowered my saddle maybe, like, a centimeter and that,
15:04
and I just got it, I don't know, I just got it dialed enough to where- Mm-hmm... I felt comfortable, and I, um, just, just worked and went with that, so. Cool.
15:13
It was, like, nice and tuned and yeah, they, it was, it was an awesome bike, so. Yeah, I'm, I'm currently riding the exact bike that you won on. I'm testing that bike- Nice... with those wheels. Yeah.
15:24
So I'm gonna try and channel some of, uh, your girl power this weekend when I race it. [laughs] So if you, if you feel a waiver in the force, you know, it could be me, or it could just be- Awesome...
15:38
a bad burrito that you had or something. [laughs] I don't know. [laughs] Well, if I feel something in the aura around me, I'll, this weekend, I'll, I'll just think it's, think of you.
15:51
So you won the world championship and then Les Zeppelin played. Oh, yeah. [laughs] That was neat. He's a badass. [laughs] Playing the Zeppelin. Dave Hoppen was very happy about that. Cool.
16:07
Well, uh, what's next for you, Amy? Are you headed to the Nats in Ogden or maybe the, uh, the Gathering in Buena Vista?
16:15
Um, well, I was planning on heading to Nationals, but actually on my way to Fat Bike Worlds, my car broke down. Uh-oh. And it's actually currently still in Gunnison, and I'm working on trying to get it fixed. So if I...
16:31
I was gonna just give a shout-out to Borealis right now, actually, and ask if I can maybe hitch a ride with them- Oh, cool... in the RV to Ogden. If they're listening, hey, can I get a ride?
16:41
[laughs] Hey, that's a big RV, fa- that's for sure. Hey. Yeah, I bet you... Steve S- I can put in a good word for you with Steve and the boys, so, uh. Oh. Yeah, that'd be great.
16:52
You know, he is, he is from Wisconsin, after all. Yes. We gotta stick together. Absolutely. [laughs] Yeah. So yeah. Oh, cool.
17:01
Um, if that doesn't work out, then I'll definitely, my first race will be at US Pro Cup, California, um, in Vanelli Park, so. And you are- That's a real mountain bike race, not a fat bike race. Oh.
17:13
Oh, she went and said real mountain bike race. [laughs] Mm-hmm. Yep. Hey, speaking of, of, of real mountain bike riders riding fat bikes. Yeah. That, uh, we saw the, the pre-cut of that, uh, that video in Moab. Mm-hmm.
17:28
Where the, our test rider's just doing some amazing stuff on a fat bike. Oh, yeah. Right. Uh-huh. So y- y- you can do it on the big fat tires. Indeed.
17:37
And it's like if you're winning all the time by too much, you should probably just go with a fat bike and see if you can stomp on everybody still in those big fancy mountain bike races. Yeah.
17:46
Give, give some of those other girls a chance. [laughs] Yeah, right. I mean, they, I'll be racing against the top, top girls in the world. I'll, I'll get right on that real quick.
17:56
[laughs] Wow, that was like the worst, like, Jedi mind shit ever. [laughs] "Oh, yes."
18:04
So, uh- But I really think that, like some people are saying that you might have an advantage with the bigger wheels, the fatter tires than, so I don't know, maybe fat biking will become like just the-...
18:18
an, an everyday bike where- It'll just be biking... and, you know. You can leave the fat part of it off. Yeah, it'll just be biking. Right. That's kind of what I'm doing. Exa- It's, uh- Yeah. Who knows?
18:26
It's an interesting time for, for mountain biking. Y- So it's, uh- Yeah. Yeah, fat bikes are just mountain bikes- Yeah... that are just, uh- Yeah... you know, have wider tires. Yeah. I, I do- And, and stuff...
18:37
I do have- They're a little more- And-... spectacle right now. Yeah. [laughs] Right. But that's about it. And cooler people, and, uh- [laughs] No.
18:44
[laughs] So we really appreci- No, totally We really appreciate you being on the show, Amy, amigo, amiaba. Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. Every Amy- Yeah... I have ever met- [laughs]...
18:56
is just the nicest person. Women's fat bike world- Uh-... champion, straight out of Crested Butte, Colorado. Yeah, yeah. Thanks again, Amy. Thanks, Amy. Thank you. Thank you. See ya. Bye.
19:13
Bye. Hey, everybody. Bye. [laughs] Oh, do I nee- do I need to hang up now? You don't have to. You can listen to us ramble on if you want. You don't have to, you can stay on. But, uh, you do need to shh.
19:26
But we're gonna h- but we're gonna- [laughs] Or be o- very opportunistic when you wanna speak. Yeah. But- But you know... have at it. Yeah. You never know who might call.
19:35
You might make some friends on the show here, but, uh- Indeed... we are going to take a break here. Yeah, this is like the 900 number for bike. Break. [laughs] We're taking a break. Welcome to Fat Bike- Party line...
19:45
Fat Bike Chat Line. [laughs] I'm here with my wispy hair. [laughs] All righty. All right. Thanks again. Okay, bye. All right, we'll see ya. Bye for real. Bye for real. [laughs] Thanks. Thanks again. See ya.
20:01
All right, I guess we get to take a break for real now. [laughs] Indeed. Thanks to Amy, we had an extended segment there. Yeah. All right, we'll be right back after this thing right now.
20:18
[upbeat music] Whether you carry your bikes on your roof or with a hitch, the best way to get your fat bike to the trail is with a rack from 1UP USA.
20:30
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20:42
Visit 1upusa.com for more information on the fastest loading, highest quality rack solutions. [upbeat music] You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Hey.
21:00
Welcome back to the radio program, everybody. It's time for this week's Fatty Farm Field Report. This week's Fatty Farm Field Report is presented by the Winter Rush Fat Bike Series.
21:13
Winter Rush is the home of the Michigan State Fat Bike Championships and will be your host of the 2017 USA Cycling Fat Bike National Championships.
21:24
For more information, click the Winter Rush banner or visit winterrush.com..com..com. So we got a, we got a friel this week. Yeah. Friel? You know, we, we get, we get lots of, uh, uh- Not yogurty...
21:42
news releases. And, uh, Stan's, our friends at Stan's, I like Stan's sealant. It's delicious. Mix it with some real milk, some whole milk, and it's a delicious thing. They came out with some new race sealant.
21:58
They got some new labels. They got a little more glitter. Glitter. Says it right in there. It says right [laughs] in the news release, "Same latex sealant, we just put more glitter in there. Now it's race."
22:08
And now I saw on Facebook somebody put the news release up there, and people are posting, "Oh, this stuff looks fucking great." So my idea is that we take Sven, we start calling him Race Sven. Race Sven.
22:24
And people will be on Facebook, bunch of Facebookers- [laughs] Which we should take this moment- That's the F word. You said the F word...
22:31
we should take this moment to say Facebook is the new Facebook, or Face- [laughs] Facebook is the new- Faceplace is the old-... is the new-... MySpace, and CompuServe.com is bringing the show part to you.
22:45
[laughs] Facebook is the new F word, so you could be like, "Hey, take two steps back and Facebook off." [laughs] I use it exactly how it needs to be used. [laughs] F- f- f- F- Hey. What's going on- So, yeah...
23:00
around the world? Boom. I know. By the way, Stan's is sending us some bottles [laughs] of that stuff to test.
23:06
And so do they think that people are just gonna be like, "Oh, I'm gonna race, so I'm gonna put this sealant in, then I'm gonna suck that stuff out, and then I'm gonna put the regular stuff in"?
23:14
So do they have training sealant as well? I don't know. They got the regular sealant. They got the race sealant. So does the glitter look like the stuff that, uh, Walter White adds when he's making his mix?
23:23
[laughs] That glittery stuff? Yes. Yes. It is crystal meth. Right. That's what it is. No, that's the aluminum that goes into the meth mix. Oh. It looks like glitter, is all I'm saying. Looks like glitter.
23:33
So yeah, we'll be testing that, and we'll be sure to get back to you and tell you Facebookers out there. That's right, I said you Facebookers. Yeah, and you're looking at me- [laughs]... 'cause I am a Faceplacer, man.
23:45
I am. And we'll be telling y'all- I don't have time for any other things... how it, uh, cajules, how it mixes and, uh, all that stuff. And you know what that trips us sliding sideways- [laughs]...
23:57
right up, right, right over into the- Stumble... Lengse... stumbling right into. Yeah. Anything you'd like to say? Where'd we stumble? Into the Lengse. Into the linky dinks. Oh. [laughs] Lengse, link.
24:10
I guess, oh, we can, we can talk about what we're doing after Lengse. Got the Siusita 100 just went off there, uh, last week, and there's a report and there's some results. Our buddy Tim Berntson won, man. Yeah.
24:21
And Will Ross came in second. Always the bridesmaid that Will Rose. Not always, yo. He won Birkie last year. That's true. He is fast and, you know? He's got some tough competition out there.
24:34
J- just think about, j- just think about this, man. That guy is so young. Girls, girls, girls. [laughs] He's gonna be around for 20 years. He could win 16 ITIs or Sustina 100s or whatever he wants.
24:46
Speaking of ITIs- Yeah... uh, Jill did a nice story on packing up her, uh, her bike for the ITI. Jill's outside. And what is she going to put on that thing and... I thought it was a, it was a pretty good article.
24:58
If you wanna know what is required- Oh, yeah... to take on your bike for doing these long races, that's, uh- It was detailed as hell... detailed. Wow, uh-huh. Nice. And then, uh- I gotta wrap my head-...
25:09
Daniel Musso has the double header. She's writing again. Writing and racing, racing and writing. T- two in a row, two in two days. Twins. Working. Cayuna and somewhere in Minnesota.
25:20
I thought about doing the, uh, winter, Winter Bike Fest and then going up and doing the crit there in, uh, Madison. I kinda blew... I think I, I definitely beat some girls in that crit. Um, I don't know.
25:35
I, I'm- I think-... I'm sure I was not dead last. It's really, you'd- I think Lum-... you'd have to quit to be dead last... I think Lums went and did it. He was there. He was there. He, he- Did it?...
25:42
he showed up a half hour after the race was over. [laughs] Yeah, he didn't actually- [snorts] He didn't turn a pedal in anger. [laughs] No, I'm just gonna ride over this. But- What? What? What?
25:54
But, but he and Lisa- What? What do you mean I can't ride it? He and Lisa had matching little costumes. I wore the pope hat, and, uh, and they were the devil and an angel, and I was the pope. It was weird. Right on.
26:08
So Urban Beardsmen has a podcast. Right. And apparently we're not in the top 10 beards in cycling. Well, that's, yeah, kinda two different things. There was a- No? There was a- What? Yeah. [laughs] It's a beard thing.
26:22
This is kinda hearkening back to our Beards and Beer report. I see. Yes. And- And where did that get us? Nowhere. Always not on podium for me, I know that. Yeah, well- I've always been the fourth place-er.
26:38
[laughs] Hey, I f- did a solid fourth last year for you. [laughs] Dude. I don't know. The, the Urban- I have some epic shit, though...
26:46
uh, if, if you guys think our podcast is kinda lame, go ahead and listen to the Urban Beardsmen podcast. [laughs] Really? I don't know. They're just talking about beards. I mean, can you do that for a whole 45 minutes?
26:59
No. Do they- Well, you, you'd have to do- Do they have sound effects, like trimmers and something like, "Wrr." I'll tell you this, the, the- Or in- The main, the- I'm just assuming that it'd be like, "Vroom"...
27:08
the main guy sounds just like Ray Romano. Really? Yeah. Hmm. Maybe it is. And they even make, make light of that. Hmm. And maybe it is. I don't think so, though. He was on Shark Tank. Anyway, enough about- What?
27:22
See, that's our Beards and Beer segment for the week, folks. Hey. My beard is ridiculous. Ridonkulous. Sven, Sven S- Sven just keeps his trimmed now. Nah, I've given up on it. JK did a- Except for this-...
27:38
kind of do-over sometime in December or something. [laughs] Except for, except for- I, I, I'm growing the landscape back. This- So this billy goat part's getting kinda long, but it keeps just sweeping the...
27:47
It can't do anything with it. Wow. I can't, I, I can't go Lemmy right away because I'll look like this, I'll just look like I have a, like a something, um, like strapped to my face [laughs]
28:02
That doesn't look like- A chin strap. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, like, "Oh, he's a good simple boy." Yeah. And, you know, it's just like, "No, no, it's actually- No, it's like-... hair."
28:11
Hey, speaking of interesting stuff- Yeah... how about we welcome, uh, Ryan from Mountain Bike Vermont to the radio show. Ryan from Mountain Bike Vermont. Welcome. Gentlemen, how you doing tonight? Doing good.
28:23
Did you set your alarm? So I- I did indeed. I actually set, I set two alarms, and they were both an hour early. [laughs] Forgot about that CST thing, huh? Oh, damn. Yeah, totally. Totally.
28:36
How, how is it an hour in the, in the future? Or the past, I suppose. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah. Uh, you know- I did fuck it up. I, I- If we, if we could have a do-over, I'd take it.
28:44
[laughs] I personally have never, I never knew I could be this happy [laughs] in the future and past. [laughs] That's me, though. No doubt. So Ryan, you're here in Fat Bike Chat Room to talk to us about, uh, fat bikes.
29:03
In Vermont. In Vermont. This is, this is- Yeah, uh-... Sven's statement, Sven's segment, so I'm just messing with Sven now. [laughs] No, no, yeah, he's got the...
29:15
He's, well, we, we s- we did the thing with the typing and the deal and the whatnot- Uh-huh...
29:19
and he's got this event with, uh, you're gonna get hundreds and hundreds of people there in Vermont riding the fat bike thing.
29:25
Just, uh, wanted to get a heads-up on what you got going there and how fat bikes fit into the, uh, the milk and cow, uh, state there. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.
29:35
So, uh, yeah, we, uh, coming up on March 5th, we have Winter Bike. Mm-hmm. This is our fifth year running. Oh.
29:42
And, uh, compared to the, to out in the Midwest there, fat biking's kind of a new phenomenon here in the East.
29:47
Uh, I think a lot of folks have been privy to, to what's happening in fat biking for a long time, but it didn't catch on till rather, uh, recent times. Mm.
29:56
And this, honestly, in my opinion, this year is the first year ever where it feels like a, a vindicated and validated sport. We've had a whole season where you could fat bike from, uh, November until today.
30:10
So it's finally caught on. The industry has caught on here, and, uh, there's been a lot of grooming, a lot of, um, sort of grassroots efforts in, in all the different towns that have mountain biking this summer.
30:21
And, uh, you know, Vermont seems to be catching up quickly as far, as far as I know. Um- Winter Bike, the event that we started five years ago, had eight fat bikers and 70 participants back in the day. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
30:37
Uh, all, all we wanted to do was basically simulate cycling in the winter.
30:42
Um, I was actually, like, after talking to you guys, I was looking through some old emails trying to, uh, look at the roots of the event, how it got started, and we didn't, we were calling them, uh, winter bikes.
30:53
We didn't have terminology down at that point. We didn't even call them fat bikes. Um, and, uh, this year we expect probably about 500 folks to come from as far as Philadelphia.
31:04
We got a family coming down from Ottawa and, uh, tons of folks from Quebec, um, which is our biggest fan. It's Connecticut and, uh, it's probably further flung on the Eastern Seaboard.
31:16
So things seem to be, uh, picking up pace quickly. So, uh, you, you mentioned the winter portion of the fat bike thing there in Vermont.
31:24
Uh, are you noticing people riding year-round in Vermont, or is this, is this still something even newer than riding these fancy fat bikes on snow? Oh, no, absolutely.
31:34
Um, uh, well, so to, to, to backtrack a little bit, last winter a lot of us, um, rode bikes all winter, and then come springtime, then people just didn't put them away.
31:46
And so at all the local trail networks throughout the summer, you'd see a few, you know, according to the general public, like, oddball folks out there riding their fat bikes.
31:55
But then, uh, with the mid-fat coming into play, it didn't seem quite as far-fetched, and, uh, I think that, you know, it, it basically proves that fat bikes are a totally viable tool year-round.
32:07
Um, I got a buddy from Quebec that rides in Vermont often, and he dusts most of our community out there on his, his full fatty.
32:19
You know, basically like 100 millimeter rims, five-inch tires, studded, in the summertime, uh, and crawling around in all the granite that we have out here, rocks and roots, and, uh, smoking people.
32:30
So basically it's, I think a lot of people, uh, people's eyes are open to fat bikes and, um, yeah, I think, uh, absolutely. Um, there's still a lot of naysayers. It's interesting.
32:43
We have a really deep-rooted ski culture here in Vermont, obviously. It's one of the birthplaces of skiing in North America, and you still hear a lot of folks say, "Uh, you know, skiing, uh, you know, winters are skiing.
32:54
That's, that's what I want to do." But the good news is that with our event series that we've been pushing to everybody, um, we kind of, it, it's a good segue into, into the fat bike experience.
33:06
We have folks come out, ply them with some local booze and, and beer, and, uh, before long, they're, they're full-blown fat bikers. So it's, the scene is exploding, to say the least. Right on. Um, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
33:20
So one of the, one of the coolest things about your event, I think, is the, is the poster that you did, that you sent the, uh, the art for it. Are you, like, a graphic designer or something?
33:29
'Cause I looked back through your site and saw some of your other event posters, and they're really cool. They got kind of a nice feel to them and, uh, they're cohesive and whatnot. Yeah. [laughs] Uh, I appreciate that.
33:40
Yeah, that's exactly right. My day job is in design and a lot of my work has been invested in the local, uh, bike industry. And again, like, Vermont is super grassroots, right?
33:49
Like, um, the, the, the woodwork is deep over here, so I have opportunities to work for the local bike shops and trail, uh, networks and communities, and that's where our events are born out of, was all these folks looking to sort of stimulate interest in their little towns and hamlets, if you will, up in the hills.
34:07
Um, and, uh, yeah, that's, that's right. I, I appreciate that.
34:11
I mean, it's funny, uh, not to, not to say that the mountain bike scene is sort of superficial over here, but, you know, we make a cool poster, we make it look like it's gonna be an interesting event, and, uh, folks start coming out in droves right from the get-go.
34:24
Um, one of the things that we do, and this, this is not on the back of blood, but we've been doing limited posters for every event, and folks start to collect them.
34:32
So, you know, you start to collect these things like baseball cards, and it gives us a little subculture here and something that people glom onto. And, uh, I don't know, it seems to be, it seems to be working so far.
34:43
But the, beyond that, um, the fat biking is, has been phenomenal.
34:49
Like, we have, in my little town, I live in Stowe, Vermont, which is north, uh, north central Vermont, um, better known for skiing, and we have a little grassroots scene.
34:58
All of our trails are groomed with, by snowshoers. We're lucky. We have an army of people that come flock to town on the weekends.
35:06
Um, not all of them are here for the ski scene, and so the hotels will actually give, uh, all of the tourists snowshoes. Say, "Hey, go out in the backyard." [laughs] We've got a few miles of trail network.
35:16
These guys are out there. You know, you run into five, six folks from New Jersey. They're out there just packing trail for us. Do they, like, go, "Oh, we oh, we ohhh oh."
35:25
No, they go [laughs] Oh, they gotta start singing songs and waving their hands and, yeah. Yeah. And making trails for fat bikers. No, most, most, no, mostly they're lost, actually.
35:35
[laughs] They're, they're lost and looking terrible. Yeah, it's like, how lost are you? Okay, well, go this direction. That's the best way. These, these are the trails that we need groomed, so go home that way. Yeah.
35:46
At, at the peak of this winter in January when the weather was, uh, in our favor, we had 23 miles groomed, uh, by foot. Nice. We call them foot groomers. Wow. We don't call them snowshoes anymore. Wow.
35:56
We just call them foot groomers. Foot groomers. Yeah. That's- That's pretty good, right? Yeah. I mean, I know, I know it's apples, oranges, but that, for us, that's great. No, no. That's a new term, foot groomer. Yeah.
36:04
I like it. [laughs] Foot groomer. All right. Bring the foot groomers. Well, thanks for calling in, Ryan.
36:08
Uh, just, uh, fill us in again with the date and, uh, time of the event, and, uh, we'll have a link in the show notes for folks to, uh- March 5th... clickety click on. And, uh, enjoy- Is your na- Excuse me, sir.
36:19
Enjoy- Excuse me, sir. Is your name Ryan, sir? [laughs] No, he's gonna give me a hard time back. [laughs] Let me just tell you. Indeed. Indeed it is. Ryan? Ryan Thibeault. That's right. Ryan? Yes.
36:29
Enjoy these next few years, these grassroot years when everything's all, you know, chewy granola and everybody's really having fun- I know, man... 'cause the fuckers in Lycra are coming in like 2020. It'll change.
36:46
Listen, I- Race days- I can still identify, I can still identify my friends by their tread pattern from cyclocross gear. Yeah, yeah. I still have a list- You know? That's how-...
36:55
of the first race I did six years ago, of all the people I knew who had fat bikes, 'cause, uh- Yeah... you know, it, it was a very short list. Yeah. And now- Used to be that you, you knew everybody that rode them. Right.
37:07
Not anymore around here. Not anymore. So the- No, that, that is the way it is here, but it's- So embrace these times... which I appreciate. Take some, take some, uh- I do, indeed...
37:15
take some Polaroid pictures and- For a special time... make it Suntory time. [laughs] Indeed. Yeah, I will. I'll fly, I'll fly them over to you guys for review. You sound like, uh, it, it's reminiscent of the old times.
37:27
Yeah. All right. Well, one man's- And, uh, yeah... one man's older times is another man's newer times. We already have kits in carbon here and str- people are- Oh, boy... stravving, blah, blah, blah.
37:38
So anyway- Thanks for calling, brother... I think that maybe I'll come to Vermont and- Oh, maybe you'll get a Gomez visit... and, uh, you can- Oh, man, listen, you guys hit me up. I, I'll, I'll hook you up.
37:48
I'll roll out the, the green carpet sit over here. Right on, man. Thanks again for calling in. All right, dude. Thanks for calling. Bye, Ryan. Appreciate it. Peace.
37:58
Hey, Ryan from Stowe, Vermont there talking about the winter. Stowe, man. Stuff. Brooding it in Stowe for the weekends. Good to be back, you love. From Vermont, from Vermont. You understand it's from Vermont.
38:11
[laughs] I have to speak on my hands. Are you, are you trying to do Bernie? Yeah. Sanders? So when he, uh, when he mentioned Polaroid, you know what I thought about? What? Instagram.
38:20
[laughs] Since you can make that crap look like Instagram. Right. Yeah, yeah. And I mean, I mean, Instagram- I mean, you're the, what, you're the Instagrammer. What do you know about it? Well- It's-...
38:28
this week's Instagram takeover is going to be [drums] 907 pro wrestler, Will Ross. For those, uh, for those of me that don't know what a Instagram takeover is, what, what does that actually entail?
38:45
Uh, Will is going to, uh, get a login, so we'll give him a password, and he can post right to our Instagram. Uh, so we're gonna, like he's gonna show you what it's like, what the fastest- To be him?
38:58
The fastest fat bike rakers, racers on the planet. You're gonna get to see what he sees. Right.
39:03
You're gonna basically- We're- We're gonna take you, we're gonna put you right behind his retinas with a little peek between the Venetian blinds, and you're gonna be able to look and see. It's gonna be like that.
39:14
Excellent. Oh, my God. [laughs] That's, that's, that's this weekend on our Instagram feed, fatbike.com. And this is- All spelled out like that. Yeah.
39:24
We'll have a link in the show notes, but this is something that, uh, that I kinda came up with and, and we're gonna be doing, uh, in my spare time.
39:33
We're gonna have, uh, you know, celebrity cool cats that come on, and maybe we'll just have like, uh, regular people do it. We cool for cats. Da, da, da, da, da. We cool for cats.
39:45
So, um, in our, uh, later on we're gonna be in a special segment time, but I think we should probably take a break. We can do that. Let's take a break until Jake calls from- How about if we take a break, everybody?
40:01
Hey, this is Kevin Biting Back from Fairbanks, Alaska. I ride Fat Fat, and I listen to Fat Bike Radio with Sven and Gomez. Hey. Welcome back to the show, everybody.
40:12
What do we got going on in our special segment this evening? Jake from Freewheel Bikes up there in Minneapolis is gonna call in and talk about the Fat Thursday Crit Series. He's gonna call in? Hello?
40:23
He's called in already. Yeah, I'm on the phone. There he is. There you go. There he is. Welcome to the show. Yeah. Jake, how are you? I'm all right. How are you guys? Oh, we're doing, we're doing our radio thing here.
40:34
Indeed. Doing fine. Okay. So you- Excellent... have started a weekly Thursday night crit series. Where, where in Minneapolis are you running these things? You know, it's, it's in one of the exurbs, kind of.
40:47
It's, uh, one of our tony suburbs that's got a whole bunch of lakes and a bunch of mansions and docks and boats and, um, it's, it's kind of out there, but, uh,
40:57
enough people are able to get there after their workday that, uh- Oh, cool... it's been successful. It's pretty cool. Nice. So where, where, where... I mean, like, where is that?
41:07
Oh, it's in, Lake Minnetonka is the lake, and I think they call it Spring Park or something. Gotcha. It's out there. The town's kind of separated in tiny little,
41:16
uh, hamlets, but it's a place called Lord Fletcher's, which is like in the summer it's just packed with boats. It's the kind of place where, like, people take their boats and walk across the boats- Mm-hmm...
41:25
and they don't even bother going up to dock. So they go rafting. So, but now in the wintertime it's... Yeah, rafting, uh, it's not really my scene, but, you know- Uh-... uh, it looks like a lot of fun.
41:34
That's ti- that's tying all your big fancy 40-footers together. They call that rafting. They have slips for 40-footers and, and plus. It's, it's kind of insane.
41:43
It's, but in the winter it's filled with snowmobiles until we show up- Mm... and kind of ruin the party, and, um- [laughs]... it's a good time. So you guys do this on Thursday nights at what time?
41:53
Uh, race goes off at 6:30. Uh, registration is like 5:45 or whenever we kinda decide to open it, but, um, 6:30 seems to be late enough that people can get there.
42:03
We could move it back, but right now we're sticking to 6:30. Cool. And it is a, uh, s- it's a straight crit? It's not like a figure eight death race or, or anything like that? [laughs] Hey, look out for this guy. Yeah.
42:18
[laughs] We, this week actually we were talking about doing a crazy eight because we cross the bay where there's snowmobiles coming across- Mm-hmm... and they don't always see the bikers too, so definitely dangerous.
42:27
But, um, we cross the bay, we go in, like- Oh, that would definitely be your- [laughs] That'll be your Uncle Larry there. [laughs] Yeah. No kidding.
42:35
So, uh, if, if- Yeah, we try to flag it down, but we don't promise anything, so. [laughs] Right. What's the, uh, what's the, what do, what do people need to know if they're gonna come out and participate?
42:47
So you gotta bring a light, 'cause it's dark. Gotcha. And you could bring studs, but if you don't have to, you know. L- like what we tell everybody at the start of every race is, uh, it's dangerous.
42:57
You know, we're riding fat bikes in the middle of the night or in the dark on a lake. Riding on the lake is dangerous. Riding fat bikes in the winter in the dark is dangerous, sorta.
43:07
You know, it's your own problem if you get hurt, if you get, if you get something damaged or if you get killed. Just don't blame us is the thing. You- We do our best to, like, make a course...
43:15
or Freewheel either But, uh, well, absolutely don't blame Freewheel, yeah. [laughs] I'll blame Freewheel, but don't blame me. Uh, yeah, that's the most important thing. Um, we don't really groom the course.
43:25
We kinda cut it and we stomp it down and we, uh... Our grooming consists of, like, me hauling Mario around in a big, fat sled.
43:33
[laughs] Um, it- we're not gonna go out there and make this thing a, a road for you to ride on your fat bike. It's, it's, you have fat tires. You can ride over stuff. Right. Oh, yeah. Like, let's do it.
43:42
And we stomp stuff down. We make things kind of... We mark it. It's, it's, it's a legit race. It is, honestly. You got a number on, you know, there's people sweating and spitting boogers.
43:52
[laughs] But there's also people just out there having fun and, and drinking a beer afterwards, so. Oh, cool. Well, it sounds like, uh, it sounds like you are just
44:02
staying true to the Minneapolis bike culture, uh, that, that I know very little about, but, uh, look fondly
44:12
to, uh, many people that, that we know live up there and, uh, and talk that, and say, like Chris Zito for instance says Minneapolis just blows- Yeah... Milwaukee away on the whole bike culture.
44:25
I, I agree on bike- Yeah, he says Australia blows Min- Milwaukee away too, though. [laughs] [laughs] That's my teammate now for this, uh- All right. We won't-...
44:34
well, two weekends from now, so [laughs] We won't razz him until after next weekend... we can, we can take him on our team. [laughs] Well, cool.
44:39
So that's Thursday nights at 6:30 out there on Lake Minnetonka, and, uh, Jake's gonna give me a link or something to their Facebook page, so I'll- Yeah, you can find it on Facebook Oh, you said the F word again...
44:50
at Freewheelbikes.com. Facebook. The F word, yep, mm-hmm. Oh, Jake heard us. The F word. Dang. We're gonna, uh, we're gonna make T-shirts. We're gonna have the, I don't know. [laughs] I don't know what- I don't either...
45:06
uh, we're gonna, we're gonna turn new phrases and yeah, it's gonna be great. Oh, it's gonna be a merry time. [laughs] Indeed. [laughs] So if you, uh, if you wanna go race in the dark and be dangerous, Jake's your man.
45:20
Uh, look up- If Jake can't do it, no one can. That's right. That's true, yeah. It's good talking with you again, Jake.
45:26
Jake and, uh, Jake and fatbike.com go way the hell back to the very, very beginning, like five years ago. Has it been that long? Really? Been a long time, yeah.
45:36
[laughs] Jake- Yeah, you guys have, you guys have been supporting the site for a long time... I just appeared for a while. [laughs] Yeah, Jake, it's like you- Yeah...
45:42
you, you'd, like, died and were reincarnated and are coming back, so it's like- That seems to be what happened, yeah. Yeah. Somehow. Hopefully it's a good thing. [laughs] All right, my man. Am I an eagle this time?
45:55
I always wanted to be an eagle. [laughs] No, you're s- [laughs] You're stuck being one of the great apes again. If you live in Denmark- Oh, there's a-... and you're an eagle- Ah...
46:04
they can use you to go grab drones out of the sky. Oh, yes. No. Yeah, I would do that. [laughs] Totally. Totally do that. But they're not as tasty as fish. All right, fellas. Thank you for your time. All right, Jake.
46:16
Thanks, Jake. Take care, man. Bye. Take care. That was Jake from State Farm. No, from Freewheel Bikes. Where's State Farm based? Bloomington, Illinois. Oh, there you go. So- Don't know... maybe he's not from State Farm.
46:31
No, he's not from State Farm. [laughs] That's from that silly commercial. Who are you talking to? Yes, I know. Jake from State Farm. That's not Jake. What are you wearing, Jake? Khakis.
46:40
I, I don't watch, I don't watch n- television with commercials, man. I hadn't, I had- [laughs] Didn't know your preference. [laughs] I had, I had no idea. You just had to ask. And you know what? Well.
46:57
That means it's time to say- Thanks again to Surly for sponsoring the radio portion of today's broadcast. Surly bikes are sold at better bike retailers across the galaxy. Learn more at surlybikes.com.
47:11
Surly bikes, parts, chaos. Hey, you know what we want you to do, all you two listeners out there? Call us and tell us what you think about the show. Do you think this microphone makes me sound silly?
47:26
'Cause all, it's between that and the three messages of heaving weird words coming out in the background that I heard on the message board. Yeah.
47:42
You can call 818-918-2453 anytime, day or night. Breathe heavy, leave us a message, whatever.
47:50
Join us next week when the vice rear admiral of the Birkenbinder Ski Foundation, Ben Popp, will be joining us to give us the final update before the Flat Bay Birkie. Vice rear admiral.
48:02
This is the show for the experimental gnome technology. Director du sportif. Oh, hey, good luck up there in Marquette this weekend too there, Gomey.
48:16
If you're, [laughs] you're headed to the, uh, 906 Polar Roll, you might just see Uncle Gomez up there. [laughs] Yeah, especially if you're near the back of the pack.
48:26
The, uh, Reno Sports Book has me as a three to one favorite for DFL. Remember, kids, experimental gnome technology has several rare but serious side effects.
48:38
Side effects include butterflies, frequent urination, dizziness, euphoria, amnesia, Dave Lonze, The Dreps, SpongeBob SquarePants, priapism, type of rash, the heebie-jeebies, skull tattoos, virginity, selfie deficit syndrome,
48:58
polar bears on gold leashes, '80s techno, not like New Order, but kind of like Art of Noise in order craftwork karma chameleons, poison oak, poison apple, poison.
49:11
If you've been diagnosed with allergies to fun, elation, or joy, do not listen to the Weekly Dose of Fat, as you could have a serious allergic reaction.
49:23
[outro music] You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's Weekly Dose of Fat. Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio. We'll see you next time.
49:37
[outro music]
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