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Full Spectrum Cycling
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #97 – Special Guest Tim Berntson
Mar 11, 2016
Weekly Dose of Fat Show #97 – Special Guest Tim Berntson
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0:01
Weekly Dose of Fat, show number 97 for Friday, March 11th, 2016.
0:07
[upbeat rock music] Welcome back to tonight's show with our guest host, Joan Rivers.
0:27
I'm Cowboy Curtis, and over yonder is Sven. Guten tag, meine fraulein. Mecka lecka hi, mecka hiney ho. Hey, tonight's show is brought to you by The Surly. Bikes.
0:46
Parts. Chaos. Learn more at surlybikes.com. What's on the show this week? We start the show off with Event of the Week. We check in with the Fatty Fat Field Report brought to you by Quiring Cycles.
1:04
Quiring is an award-winning frame maker that builds plus, fat, and monster fat omni-terrain bicycles designed to run up to an unbelievable 5.6-inch tire.
1:21
Visit quiringcycles.net and check out the next level of bicycle exploration. We welcome the 2016 Iditarod Trail Invitational champion, our friend,
1:39
Mr. Tim Berdson. We'll talk about our spring shearing contest- Eh... and drink- [laughs] [laughs] And we'll drink airline bottles of cognac. Classy. For real? Classy. In this evening's special segment, Mr.
1:58
Will Ross is bad ass. To the bone, yo. And now- It's time for the Fat Bike Event of the Week.
2:11
Is there, is there something we should be doing here, or should we talk to maybe Chris Daisy? Uh, cue Chris Daisy on, uh- Cue Chris Daisy on our line one... yes, video line. Chris, Chris Daisy Chris Daisy in three, two
2:25
... Like, 20 seconds ago. [laughs] Sure. [laughs] I've never heard of the guy. He's, I've, I hear he's handsome. He's a very handsome fella. [coughs] That I have heard, yes. Holy crud. How's it going, dude?
2:39
It's going well. Welcome to the Weekly Dose of Fat- Here on- On-... Fat Bike Radio... the Event of the Week. So you're here to talk to us about the Zion Fatty Spring Fling, an event- Mm-hmm...
2:52
for, uh, Chicago fat bikers which I have, I- Do they have to be from Chicago? No, I, I, but- All right, just checking... there are, there's a big group of Chicago fat bikers- True that... that are into it, yo. Yeah.
3:04
But Zi- but Zion's not Chicago. Yeah, but, but there- And that's actually northern Wis- or southern Wisconsin. There's a White Castle on the way, though. True that.
3:11
[laughs] I believe we stopped there twice on our last trip [laughs] down there. Yes. There and back. One, once on the way down and once on the way back. [laughs] Right, so- There Yeah, well-...
3:20
a- about, about Kewashikau, what do they call that place down there? So please- Yeah, Kenosha... please tell us about your event. Yes, you have an event. Yes.
3:29
Well, we're kicking it off from our shop at, uh, high noon, and, uh, looks to be, uh, couple different mileage options.
3:37
Eight-mile southern portion of beach riding, and then a, uh, little longer 20-mile trip, um, to hit the northern section of beach and gravel.
3:47
Um, looks like it's a possible, uh, foul weather situation, so if, uh, things are, you know, on the halfway decent side, I'm sure they'll still continue, but if it's pouring rain, I would check the Facebook page just in case.
3:59
Wait, what? [laughs] Well- You, you guys don't ride in rain? Come on, now. I would, but, I mean, this is what they told me. I'm, uh, not hosting the event myself. [laughs] Oh, I see.
4:09
[laughs] So this is actually the city of Zion, right? This would be the Zion Fairweather Fatty Spring Fling.
4:15
[laughs] [laughs] Yes, um- Well, we're, we should probably get the word out to all those fat bike fender companies, so- It's a- There you go...
4:24
prime opportunity to get your wares out in front of people who actually use it. Yeah. [laughs] Go out there and, uh- I know SKS makes 'em.
4:33
We got Dave- And now we're- We got Dave's Mud Shovels We have, we have a new one in from, uh, Planet Bike that Mr. JK Living over there is gonna- Ooh... test, uh, test fly. He's gonna...
4:45
It's fly-by-wire kinda set up there. You know, heads up display on 'em, and, uh, AM/FM. I get to play in puddle. [laughs] Is that s- [laughs] Is that stereo, is that stereophonic? [laughs] Hey. So nice.
4:59
So, see, we have some other... You know, the reason that we lured you here is not just for the, uh, Event of the Week.
5:06
Really we want to, uh, maybe spill the beans on your mountain bike festival and talk about maybe some of our hijinks for April, riding in, uh, poor Washington. What's...
5:21
There's some sort of big bike sale or something, but, uh- Yeah. We have our 100th show, too, right? You know, the hundredth show? Hundredth show. Hundredth show? Hundredth Chicago. Show a hundredth.
5:33
Oh, yeah, we have the 100th show thing going on too. Hundredth show thing. But, you know, that's, you have to put on your music director hat for that. Yeah.
5:41
Have you picked out a sport jacket for, for your stage presence? Maybe- I've definitely been, uh, putting some thought towards my, uh, stage outfit, yeah. All right. And, uh,
5:53
yeah, you know, if, if you've got any inroads on polar bear costume, you gotta... You're the one that finally, like, got me leaning towards a costume instead of a live polar bear. So, uh- With gold chain.
6:07
I'd check my insurance. [laughs] Yeah, g- Chris is also our insurance guy. He's music, graphics- And con- Bike, bike slinger... and conscience Policy writing. [laughs] And indemnification. [laughs] Wow.
6:25
There's gotta be a, a furry convention rocking around Chicagoland area. Furry? Yeah, the furries. There you go, you know, like maybe- Like, dressed up like, uh, mascots-... polar bear mascot-...
6:38
and you get frisky with each other... or fully bear polar bear furry costume is what I've gotta search. Yeah. [laughs] We're on it. You're gonna have a good time. [laughs] We're on it. [laughs] Holy shit.
6:47
Yeah, get right on it. Let the, let the adventure begin. [laughs] Ladies and gentlemen, that has, uh, Chris Daisy from Zion Cyclery. He's a musician. He is our musical director, and- Yeah...
7:01
he- We're not getting rid of him yet, are we? Uh, we- I don't even think we learned anything from him yet. [laughs] I'm just, I'm- I'll let you guys talk.
7:08
I was just- All right, I was just- No, it's like, I was just fucking Edward Murrow-ing his ass off the show... texting him for doing this next time.
7:14
[laughs] So we can't break the news that he's gonna be up here for our show? Oh, yeah, we can talk about that, sure. Yeah, we have a big party, right?
7:21
Did I, did I, did I, did I break something up we shouldn't be talking about yet? No, no, no, our 100th show. It's gonna be a big celebration.
7:28
We have a, we have a space w- and we're gonna, like, freaking have a- It's a large space... we're gonna have a huge derby- Well, if that's what you're thinking.
7:34
We're gonna hand out our first Black Lab Urban Derby, uh, merit badges at that derby, and we're gonna have a skid contest, we're gonna have a criterium. We're gonna have, uh, what else?
7:47
Uh- I know we got lots of stuff going... a bike race We're gonna have live music with Chris Daisy and the Sha-Daisies. No, no, no, no. Oh, wait, what? Chris who? Smooth Evil. [laughs] Smooth, Smooth Evil. Smooth Evil.
8:00
[laughs] Yeah. Yeah. And we may have a battle of the bands. We might get, uh, Mike and, um, So Far So Bad, we might get those guys showing up, do a battle of the bands with Chris.
8:10
But simultaneously, kegs flowing, rock and roll going, people riding bikes around inside. It's gonna be awesome. And/or outside, depending on the weather. And/or outside, yeah. [laughs] So, uh, yeah,
8:24
that's on April 1st, and you'll see, uh, you'll see an event going down. Chris just did the flyer for it. It has... It- it's, yeah, we gotta... I... W- what do you think about putting black tape over our eyes?
8:36
Yeah, maybe with a cross pattern, like an X. [laughs] Hey, man, I... any tweaks you need. There you go. Look it up. I want, I want an X over my eyes. I don't want anybody to recognize me. [laughs] Yeah.
8:47
We gotta, we gotta have- [laughs] Oh, yeah, yeah, like the Kardashians. [laughs] Oh. Like, over blacks. We should just have Kardashian faces. Redaction eyes. Well, then I'd just put them on my nipples. Oh, yeah.
9:00
All right, Chris, I think- I already blacked out your nipples. Thanks. [laughs] Spank you, Chris. We gotta, we gotta go, and- Yeah, have we learned enough now? [laughs] [laughs] We'll keep the rest a secret. Yeah.
9:14
We're gonna have to go ahead and, uh, we'll let you go, and we're gonna take a break, and, uh, when we come back, we're gonna talk to Mr. Tim Burnston. He just won some fancy race or something up there in Alaska.
9:26
He just won the Super Bowl. There you go. And- We'll talk to him right after this from our fantastic sponsors.
9:33
[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.
9:49
1UP USA uses stainless steel hardware on their all-aluminum racks and come with a lifetime warranty. 1UP USA racks are made in the USA, right in Wisconsin.
10:01
Visit 1upusa.com for more information on the fastest loading, highest quality rack solutions. [upbeat music] You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio.
10:18
Hey, welcome back, uh, ladies and gentlemen. Please welcome to the program Mr. Tim Burnston. Hey, Sven and Gomez, how you doing? Oh, man. Right, uh... it's awesome to have you on the line.
10:30
Hey, congratulations on the big win at the ITI, man. Thanks, thanks. I, uh, was pretty happy about it. Yeah, this has really kind of been your year with wins in the Susitna, now the ITI, some McGrath.
10:44
I mean, you know, this is, like... How are the s- how is the stars aligning to make all this work for you? I don't know. They were, I guess they were, uh, uh, they fit in with what I was doing for the winter, and,
10:58
uh, both... I wa- I wasn't actually sure that I was actually gonna do the Susitna.
11:02
It was only two weeks out from, uh, the ITI, and I was, uh, actually a little bit concerned that I'd be a little bit tired out for the ITI.
11:09
But, um, I guess with, uh, 14 or 15 days between the races and the fact that the Susitna was a, a real fast race this year, I mean, fast as in the conditions were great.
11:21
So, um, had it been a, a slog or a snowstorm in the middle of it, um, I guess the recovery could have been quite different.
11:29
But as it turned out, it was actually probably pretty good, and, uh, I came into the ITI pretty well-rested and feeling pretty good. So the, the Susitna's like a 100-miler, right? It is, yeah.
11:40
And then, and then the ITI was 350, so... And w- I was just talking to Will Ross, who just won the Fatbike Birke, and he did the Arrowhead 135- Yeah...
11:50
and he did a couple other longer races, and he was like, "I don't know if I pushed myself too hard." So, you know, because the Fatbike Birke's only 47K, you know, but it's a fast and rolly, it's a really punchy course.
12:05
How does something like, when you're doing these longer races, how does that, you know, does that affect your, like, ability to do these shorter ones? It probably does a little bit.
12:14
I think my age probably does as much as anything. I, I definitely notice I don't have...
12:19
And whether it's because I've been doing more of the ultra races in the wintertime and, and summertime to a certain respect, um, it's probably, uh, killed a little bit of the s- the speed I felt [laughs] I used to have.
12:31
But, uh, yeah, I mean, but then again, in a, you know, doing those kind of races, um, especially the, you know, Susitna, the 100-miler type ones, you do develop a, a huge bunch of endurance.
12:43
So I know I did the Fatbike Birke a couple years ago, and, uh, I actually didn't feel too bad about two weeks out, um, after the ITI.
12:51
So, uh, I'm sure Will, based, based on how he did in the Birke, uh, his legs must have felt all right. Yeah, I think he did, he did a fantastic job.
13:01
And, and, uh, Brad Bingham, it was his first year there, and boy, he was strong. Um, he's, he's a strong guy.
13:09
So anything- Yeah, they seem to, they seem to be getting new guys, you know, just a, at least a few new people up at the top of that, that group, uh, every year, and, you know, Will keeps on knocking them down.
13:19
[laughs] Yeah. For real. Yeah, yeah. So anything new this year in your training or diet or preparation?
13:27
Because this year you really broke through, and you're a perennial, uh, podium guy previous years, and you were always a threat to win, and you would win, uh, I, I... What's the...
13:38
You've won the Whites a couple of times, right? And Susitna before. Yeah. Um. Yeah, I mean, I felt pretty good the last couple of years.
13:45
I mean, I didn't do the ITI last year, but I, I did end up winning, uh, Susitna and, uh, White Mountains and, you know, was a second in the Arrowhead, so I felt the fitness was pretty much there. Um,
13:57
I, I don't know that I did a whole lot differently. Uh, you know, just put a lot of time in riding.
14:02
Probably put a, maybe a few more multi-day weekend rides in than I have in the past to where, where you can get kind of back-to-back long days, um, riding.
14:14
Uh, other than that, probably pretty similar, and I just think I probably went into it maybe a little bit more motivated than I have in the past. And I don't know, the la- the last two times I did the ITI,
14:25
you know, in 2013, um, there was basically five of us that were riding together, uh, in Nikolai, and we were all pretty trashed when we got there.
14:35
And, and Jay Peterbury, uh, decided to leave when the other four of us decided to rest, and, and, uh, I guess we rested a little bit too long. Mm-hmm. Uh, Jay was able to pull that one out, kind of a cagey move, I guess.
14:49
And then, uh, the next year was, I was with Kevin right back at the, you know, in Nikolai, and we basically left there pretty much together. But he had been...
14:59
I felt like I was probably riding pretty strong most of the race, but I did feel like from probably 30 miles out of Nikolai that, uh, Kevin seemed to have just a bit more in him at that time than I did, and, and that proved true when, when we, you know, went from Nikolai to McGrath.
15:15
Right. And I, I got a question. I definitely, I definitely felt like I was pretty strong this year, so I mean, I felt, I felt really good in both the races that I've done. Right on. I mean, that's fantastic.
15:24
What I'm thinking when you're talking about these, you know, long distances, but lately they've been going really fast. So, you know, in- Yeah...
15:33
maybe in the olden days, you had to be more of a, an adventurer on the trail to, you know, but you still have to know how to stay warm when it's 30 below, just in case it isn't.
15:44
And so how do you prepare for something, you know, like that when you're, you know, you don't know this year if it's gonna be a, a, a 19-hour thing or a, a 40-hour thing. You don't know. So how do you prepare for it?
15:56
Yeah, I mean, it definitely would be, it would definitely get to be a little bit more interesting the longer it went, 'cause then people are gonna have to start figuring out, um, you know, how long they should rest, where they should rest, you know, make sure that you're eating well.
16:10
And I, I think in a year like it has been the last basically three years, um, you can kind of put a little, some of that aside and just work off of, I don't know, adrenaline or- Body fat maybe... whatnot for a few days.
16:24
What, what with your 6% or- Well, yeah, well, yeah, I mean-... 6% or whatever you have. [laughs] Any of those things.
16:28
Yeah, I mean, I, I, I definitely think that, I know I talked to John Lackey about this last year, and him and I, I kind of agreed that if we thought it was gonna be a two-ish day race, that you probably really don't need to sleep.
16:41
So, um, you need to rest. Mm-hmm. You need to take a break at the, the checkpoints and whatnot, but I don't know that you necessarily need sleep.
16:49
It's probably different for each and every person, but I do know that the year before, or in 2000, I guess it would be 13, uh, when we got to Nikolai, we were two and a half days in,
17:03
and I think I was probably to the point where, uh, I needed to actually sleep. Mm-hmm.
17:09
So, where this year, and the last time I did it, we were, we finished before that two and a half day mark, and, uh, probably didn't need to sleep as much.
17:19
But that probably is pretty dependent on the, the person that's out there, and it definitely helps to, to have done it and gone longer so you have an idea how your body reacts- Hmm... in those, uh, times, I guess.
17:31
That's just amazing. I- is- isn't, isn't it interesting to talk to a guy who actually does this stuff? Absolutely. 'Cause this is like- And [laughs]...
17:37
nobody, nobody else anywhere can get this kind of like preparation knowledge from somebody that's actually been out there and done it.
17:44
And we, we, we get to talk to, we talked to Jay before the ITI, between the Arrowhead, and he was all kind of hyped up.
17:53
He's like, "Yeah, I kinda can't wait to get out there and really put it, put the pace to the lead group, to the elite group, and- Yes... see what they can handle for the run to McGrath."
18:06
And, uh, yeah, it, it, it, we really do get to, the, it's really, uh, um- A privilege to, to talk to you guys that- Absolutely... that do this thing.
18:17
Uh, and if you could, share with our, with our listener at home, uh, maybe how the race shook out this year, maybe some of the details of, uh, the tactics and how you managed to ride [laughs] 350 miles in two days.
18:33
Yeah, I mean, it was, it, we, we were kind of expecting, I guess, kind of what we got, in that it was gonna be fast up until
18:42
maybe 120, 130 miles in, and then it was gonna start to slow down a bit, and then hopefully, I guess, it would pick back up for the last 100 and, you know, 20 miles or so.
18:54
And that's essentially what it did, but it was really fast that first, uh, I guess, through the Yetna Station checkpoint, through Skwentna, and then pretty much past Shell Lake Lodge is 15 miles out of Skwentna.
19:08
And somewhere outside of Shell Lake Lodge, the conditions started to kind of deteriorate a little bit.
19:13
But I do think that the, the speed, um, of the beginning of the race kind of messed with all of us a little bit in that we weren't totally expecting [laughs] it to be that fast for that long.
19:26
And even coming into Skwentna, which is about or approximately 90 miles in, um, you know, usually that's a place in the past where I've stopped and, um, sat down for an hour and grabbed a bite to eat and, and then left, not in a super big hurry, where, where this year I kind of sat down, grabbed a real quick bite to eat, and then left, uh, you know, maybe a half hour, 20 minutes, a half hour earlier than I have in the past, 'cause same thing, like, Jay, uh, Petervary had left, um, Skwentna after basically just coming in.
19:59
I think he maybe chugged a Coke or something and then filled his water bot- or his bladder and took off. Mm-hmm. So, um, so yeah, it was just a, there was a little bit more, um, uh, what's the word I'm looking for?
20:12
Not anticipation, but, um, in a hurry. We were in a hurry. [laughs] And so- Got it, 'cause that first part of the- You know?
20:19
Uh, that first part of the race, following you, um, following the blue dots, you were on world record setting pace for that first section. Yeah.
20:29
Yeah, and it helps, I mean, like, you know, um, people don't know who Tyson... I mean, people at least probably in the ultra biking world don't know who Tyson Flaherty is. Mm-hmm.
20:38
But Tyson's a, he was kind of a badass skier in his day, and, um, some of us have, up here, ridden with him in, in road races, and he did the Susitna last year, and he's a, he's a pretty fast dude.
20:51
And so when he gets things figured out, he's gonna be kind of a bear to deal with for anybody else that's- [laughs] Um, going into it as well, so. Hey, more competition to make our fat bike world more friendly. Yeah.
21:00
Nice, you got to get him riding a, a fat back if he isn't already. Yeah. [laughs] He should. They keep winning, so.
21:08
[laughs] So l- uh, why don't you just, uh, if you could, real quick, just kind of go through the, the, the rig you rode. How did you have it set up? What tires, what frame?
21:17
You know, just kind of how is a, how is a guy that does this, you know, fantastic thing, what, what does he ride? Um, well, I ride fat, a fat back, and I have since I've started.
21:28
Um, Greg Mattis at, uh, Speedway Cycles or Fatback Bikes, uh, I've been, I guess, in and around him since I started actually riding or bicycle racing in 2008, I guess, I guess it was. And so when I- Way back then...
21:44
first got a... [laughs] Yeah, way back then. It's not that long ago, but it- Right?... seems like a long time ago. No, it does. It does. But, uh, for a fat back- In, in the fat bike world, that's like last century.
21:53
Yeah. But yeah, right on. I, I- Exactly... apologize for intruding on your description of your race-winning rig, but- He has a brand new- No, no... like, like, a powder blue Corvus, right?
22:06
It was a glacier blue Corvus, by the way. Oh, glacier blue. That fits in with, uh, the ice and the snow theme of being outside in the wintertime. No. Beautiful.
22:14
Yeah, it was new in, um, I guess I think I got it in January.
22:19
And, uh, so some of the bits and stuff that are on it have been around with me for a while, but, um, uh, for the most part, the, the frame is pretty much the same as last year's Corvus, and, uh, it just had a different color scheme and maybe a, a slightly different layup on the carbon, so it's a tad different frame than, than the ones from last year.
22:40
Mm-hmm. Um, but yeah, so- And you were running a one, a one by 11? I use a one by 11, so I had a, a 32 tooth, um, oval front chain ring and, you know, the 10-42 cassette, uh, from SRAM. Mm-hmm. And, uh, I had that.
22:55
What did, what'd you do for tires? Tires are, like, obviously- Uh... very important. Yeah, very important.
23:01
We thought, I, I thought about that a lot over the course of the weeks leading up to it, and, you know, in the end, having some studded tires with the varying terrain is probably the best thing.
23:12
So I went with Dillinger 5s. I borrowed, actually, I borrowed a set from Greg- Killer... uh, to run on, um, some, those new Kuroshio 105 wheels. Oh. So I had nice big rims and- Our buddy, Tim Krieger Yeah, yeah...
23:26
uh, Spider tires, and yeah, they're pretty sweet. Yeah, well, that's, that's pretty- It's pretty... pretty cool news.
23:32
That's, that's a feather in, uh- Yeah, it was a, basically, a probably a perfect combination for that kind of a race.
23:37
I mean, we had soft conditions from, like I said, from before, just before Finger Lake to, uh, the top of Rainy Pass, where having a little bit wider tire and rim combination was pretty helpful, and I don't think it was too much of a detriment on the rest of the ride either, so those things roll pretty, pretty fast.
23:57
Yeah. So before, but that's, that's something that I think is awesome about, like, a five-inch Dillinger. They really roll a lot faster than you think they would. Oh, yeah.
24:05
You look at them and you're like, "Oh, no, that's gonna be slow." But they're very, they, they roll pretty good. And you put that on a light carbon rim. But anyway, before- Yeah...
24:13
before old Sven jumped in and we started talking about equipment, you were talking about the trip to, uh, to- To the pass, you were talking about the first part being really fast. Uh, and then- Yeah...
24:28
you hit a section where you did some pushing, right? Yeah. I don't, I don't know the actual how much we pushed. We definitely pushed over 50% of our time. I don't know that we pushed 50% of the mileage. Yeah.
24:40
Um, but yeah, we left Finger Lake, and, uh, it was pretty...
24:45
Or I left there first, and it was pretty slow going, kind of, you know, the, the trail at that point is no bigger than a snow machine, and there's a lot of snow out there, so fairly high sides, uh, of, you know, basically snow banks.
25:00
Mm-hmm. And, um, there was kind of a, you know, covering of fresh snow, and then, like, a corrugated, uh, snow machine trailer had been, been through beforehand.
25:11
So it kind of made travel on it pretty slow, and you'd kind of wash out from time to time.
25:16
And, and then shortly thereafter, there was a moose that decided to use the trail, 'cause, you know, they like an easy trail [laughs] as much- Sure... as the next person. Yeah.
25:25
So, um, they kind of postholed through there, and so you're kind of bouncing around, and it was, it wasn't, like, the best riding ever. You could ride some of it, but then you'd have to walk some of the hills.
25:35
And, and then the further along we got, kind of ran into another, another moose that was on the trail and doing the same thing.
25:42
And so it was kind of an uncomfortable, uncomfortable riding, slow riding, and then, you know, with pushing mixed in. And then as we got closer to, uh, Puntilla Lake,
25:53
uh, where our checkpoint is, um, the snow was pretty windblown. So we'd go across there, and you'd, you'd think there's a good trail, but then you'd end up, you know, your front tire would wash out and...
26:05
Or you'd dig in with your back tire and then hop off and push for a while and, and then try riding again, so. So was, was it warmer than normal? Like, you've done this before.
26:16
Are you- Definitely it was way warmer than it normally was. So I, I don't know that it dropped below 20 degrees the entire race. So it was 45 at the start. Um, I, most of the days I think were above freezing.
26:30
Uh, you know, maybe when we were going up Rainy Pass, that section of it, there was a, a pretty, pretty stiff wind. It was still relatively, uh, warm outside, but I guess the windchill was, uh, a little bit cool.
26:42
And then coming into Nikolai on, um, I guess it would've been Tuesday morning, you know, it was pretty windy. It wasn't terribly cold or anything like that, but it was, I guess, cool.
26:52
I had to zip up a little bit because of that.
26:53
But otherwise, from the s- uh, the start to the finish, I, I didn't, didn't, didn't change clothes once, so thin base, thin, thin Ibex base layer, wool base layer, and a shell jacket over the top of it, and, and that was all.
27:08
Yeah, that was something that, uh, our, uh, our Fatbassador, Travis, I think he mentioned, that people weren't starting- Yeah... in their, in their really cold gear because it just was that warm outside.
27:18
[laughs] Yeah, no, it was super warm. And actually, a big chunk of it, not a big chunk, but, uh, going up Rainy Pass, I actually had my shell jacket off, and I just had that thin base layer on, so.
27:28
And I'm not, I wasn't the only one that did that. Tyson, who I was kind of traveling with at the time, he was, he was like that quite a bit actually. But he's from Fairbanks. He's used to the cold. [laughs] Yeah.
27:40
[laughs] Did, did you see that s- that, that picture of Spinner in his Viking outfit at the Birke? I did. He was in the video- [laughs]... that we had on the site today, yeah. That was so cute.
27:47
[laughs] So- He [laughs]... when did you, when did you pull out into the lead, and how long did you stay out there? And did you know where anybody was behind you?
27:59
Was it, uh, maybe give us the Roan to the finish kind of, uh, scenario. Yeah, and that's kind of where it was. I mean, I, Tyson and I got to Roan at the same time. You know, they, they fed us there, great.
28:15
I got all my stuff kind of ready to go, and then I just, I, they have a, a wall tent for us to use to rest in, and, and there's a bunch of spruce boughs on top of a, just a bed of snow. Mm-hmm.
28:27
And so both of us laid down there to take a quick nap, and I, I had, uh, one of the checkers had set an alarm for 20 minutes, uh, for me. And, um, so I just kind of laid down.
28:40
I mean, tried to rest, relax as much as I could. It, it is pretty hard to, to actually sleep in a race like that, just 'cause it's, it's hard to get yourself or bring yourself, calm yourself down, I guess. Mm-hmm.
28:53
'Cause you're always semi-worried where everybody else is, how everybody else is feeling, and whether or not you should actually be riding instead of resting. But, uh, I laid down for 20 minutes.
29:03
Um, when I got up, I was pretty much ready to go and probably was back on the trail within about five minutes, maybe 10 minutes of, of actually getting up. And, um, and that was, I don't know how much before Tyson.
29:19
Uh, I thought he said he left maybe 15 minutes after I did, 10, 15 minutes after I did, but I, I don't know that for a fact. Uh, but I basically started off from there just
29:32
trying to hold a steady pace, but not, not get too crazy with it. It's such a long stretch of trail, and the start of it especially, there's lots of ups and downs, and, um, easy to get yourself tired out.
29:44
And if your adrenaline's really going, you can kind of, kind of waste yourself in the, the first half of that ride and, and making the second half coming into Nikolai really, really draining and tiring, especially with the, the, you know, lack of sleep and whatnot.
29:58
Mm-hmm. But, uh, I don't know, I was probably five, six, seven, eight miles in, and I looked back for a, see if I could see a headlamp, and I saw one.
30:10
Uh, at least I thought I saw one and was pretty confident that that was Tyson. And, uh,
30:17
I don't know, from that, from that point on, I guess I felt like I, I, I should, I rode as fast as I could for the distance I was going. Um, in hopes that if Tyson did catch me, that he was pretty worked for catching me.
30:31
And, uh, [laughs] If, if, uh, if he didn't, hopefully I could maybe put some time into him on the way to Nikolai.
30:38
But to be honest, I kind of, when I left Roan, had fully expected Tyson to catch back up to me at some point, either because he was riding really strong or, or because I was, you know, faltering at some point in time, but- What was the margin of victory?
30:54
Uh, I actually don't know the exact margin, but it was about two hours. It may have been, like, one 40 years- I mean, that's, that's a long time.
31:02
'Cause it's such a tactical race in some ways, and you, you play the game better than most everybody else out there, obviously, or you wouldn't win this race. Yeah, I mean, it, it is. I, I guess it is.
31:15
Uh, [laughs] the hard part to know, and th- what I wanted to have happen in that last, that last section, is I didn't want Tyson to see me.
31:22
Like, I didn't want him to see my headlamp, I didn't want him to see me, 'cause there's always a little bit of extra motivation, you know, if you see the guy ahead of you. Sure.
31:30
Or even, for that matter, if you see the guy behind you. You can kind of... And, and generally speaking, it's a little bit easier for the guy behind you to catch random glimpses of the person in front.
31:39
So, I, yeah, I just, I didn't want, I really didn't want him to see me again and, and get a little boost of adrenaline, little boost of, uh, confidence that he was catching me.
31:50
And so when I got to Nikolai, I got in there and just basically did what I, you know, did what I had to do.
31:58
Grabbed a bite to eat, grabbed a Coke, rested my legs for 20 minutes, and was back on my bike and out the door about 30 minutes later.
32:06
And, uh, the, coming into Nikolai, you have to actually backtrack for about a half mile, so there's a section of it where if he'd have been coming in, he'd have seen me going out. Ah.
32:17
And so I tried to get out of there and back down on the river before, you know, he could catch a glimpse of me during that period.
32:24
And so I was pretty happy when I got out of there, knowing that I had at least a, you know, a half hour, 40-minute lead on him, um, leaving Nikolai and, and knowing that,
32:35
it's pretty confident that he would go into Nikolai having to grab a bite to eat and, you know, do something. And if he didn't,
32:42
you know, more power to him, if he could get back on the trail without, without grabbing some kind of normal food and a, and a Coke and, and then, you know, catch back up, 'cause that'd be pretty awesome.
32:52
So, uh- So you do, you do keep saying Coke... thankfully he didn't So is it specifically Coca-Cola that you drink? Is it the sugar, just- Yeah, Coca-Cola. Sorry, yeah. [laughs] No, I love that stuff.
33:02
I can't drink it anymore 'cause, uh- [laughs]... 'cause I'm old and half diabetic, but- [laughs] I've got to, got to be seen.
33:09
I do, I do love me some Coca-Cola [laughs] But yeah, Coca-Cola, not, not the other kind of Coke. [laughs] No, no, no, I, well, I, that wasn't what I was implying.
33:18
[laughs] Just that it was actually not Pepsi or Royal Crown or some of these- So-... some of these other pretenders How many hours- Yes, yes...
33:26
as the fugitive, running from, and trying to hide from, uh, from your, from the pursuers? Like six hours? 10 hours out in front? 'Cause that would just work your noodle, wouldn't it? Right?
33:43
Well, I mean, how far, how long was I? Yeah.
33:45
Like, from Roan to Nikolai was about, from Roan to Nikolai I think was nine hours, um, maybe, 'cause I think I left Roan around 11:00 PM and, and arrived in Nikolai 7:45 AM, so just under nine hours.
33:59
And then I left Nikolai at, I think, 8:15 and arrived in, in McGrath at 1:45. Wow. So that would've been that, that period of time. So basically 11:00 PM on, on Monday night till 1:45 PM on, on Tuesday.
34:18
That is just such a kick-ass story, and I'm just, just couldn't be more pleased that, uh, that you got this win. That Scott is looking like an imbecile, 'cause he's like, "What? Really? That's so kick-ass."
34:28
[laughs] No, the funny, here's the funny part, is that, and this, I got a, I got a present from Greg, uh, after the race- Uh-huh... which was a beer. Uh-huh. Nice.
34:37
[laughs] But [clears throat] I don't know if you followed the tracker at all, but I, uh, I actually took a wrong turn on that last section of the race and went about two miles off course, and then had to backtrack two miles.
34:49
[laughs] Oh. So yeah, you know, and this- So 354 miles... the first period- [laughs]
34:57
Well, and then the funny part was is that, uh, you know, I, I'm, I'm imagining, you know, my friends and some family members at home on their computer shouting at it. Uh. "What is he doing?"
35:08
What is- Which is what I was thinking. I'm like- Yeah. Well, that, that's not where the course goes. Scott is- Why is he going over there?
35:13
Me- I think they got a good breakfast over there in, uh, whatever that place is now.
35:17
[laughs] So- But anyways, I got a, I, so I got a beer from Greg, and it, he, he pulled the label off of a good IPA and he made his own label, and it's called, uh, Fatback Backtrack IPA.
35:30
[laughs] 200 and, you know- You know-... 297.4 IBUs. [laughs] He, he is a, he is a handsome gentleman, uh, that Greg Mattis guy. He is, he is a handsome devil. Handsome. [laughs] He is a handsome devil.
35:43
So you are, uh, one of the legendary nice guys of, of Fatback racing. Every ti- everyone I talk to, and I, uh, I've spread the rumor myself liberally that you are one of the nicest guys. Li- liberally.
35:56
[laughs] Uh, so my, my question to you is what really rubs your rhubarb? Um, not bad. I mean, it's, I'd rather be known as a nice guy- [laughs]... than I am. [laughs] So nothing. Nothing.
36:12
Nails on, on the chalkboard? No. Well, no, I don't wanna be, I don't wanna- He has no rhubarb... I don't wanna give racist to anybody either. So I think it was, I don't know.
36:20
I, you know, I know I've talked to Kevin about, like, the year before, when I helped him out, uh, with his tire change, and, you know, it didn't have any bearing on the end result of the race, and I have no doubt that- In a similar circumstance that he would have done the same thing for me, and, you know, there,
36:38
just, you know, on a race like that, I mean, you do what you can to help, you know, help other people out if needed without getting too crazy, [laughs] right? Too crazy about it.
36:49
I mean, if somebody pulls into a checkpoint and they got a flat tire, they're on their own to fix their flat tire.
36:54
But, you know, if it's cold out and somebody's having a problem, and if you can offer s- a little bit of help to them, you know, you should probably- Yeah... do it.
37:02
'Cause you never know when there's gonna be a moose on the trail and you're gonna be looking for somebody to hide behind. [laughs] Yeah, exactly. [laughs] Exactly. Strength in numbers, right?
37:12
You know, here's the good thing about Alaska. Well, I mean- I don't think they actually have polar bears there. This is true. They do not have polar bears there.
37:17
They do not have polar bears, so- They have big brown bears though... otherwise those things would chase the shit out. [laughs] Polar bears in Alaska. Yeah. Polar bears in Alaska, just not on that trail.
37:26
Not on that particular trail. Yeah. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. [laughs] No, much farther north. Much farther north. 'Cause they're covering their nose.
37:31
No, the, the, one of the checkers at the, the owners at the, of, at the house in Nikolai had actually asked me when I got in there, she's like, "Where's your partner?"
37:41
And I, I just told her that I don't have any partners in the race. [laughs] I have some friends, but- Is this a trick question? [laughs]... no partners. No. Yes. Yes. Oh, yeah, just what you need. Did you just say meow?
37:55
No. Damn it. No. I did not. That's JK shaking his head. [laughs] JK wants to know we're gonna talk to Tim Burns and right meow. [laughs] Well, we have, we have, we really appreciate you coming on the show, Tim.
38:10
Congratulations on the big win, man. Yeah, and by the way- And-...
38:13
I gotta, I gotta be honest, this is probably the bulk of our show was talking to Tim, 'cause he was a great guest, 'cause, eh, we don't have a whole lot more substance to this show.
38:23
[laughs] So are you, are you gonna do the Whites, uh, are you gonna do the White Mountains 100s or the Talkeetna Trio? Yeah, so I do two, two more races. Well, yeah, both of those, actually.
38:33
The Talkeetna Trio is on this Saturday. Mm-hmm. Uh, which is a 20, 40, or 60-mile race. Probably gonna do the 60-mile race. World Championships.
38:41
Yeah, and actually both that and the White Mountains, which is at the end of the month, are gonna be- Intergalactic Championships. [laughs] Both will be very competitive, so a lot of, lot of people.
38:51
Will Ross is, I think, signed up to do both of them. Um, and then some of the other, uh, mostly Alaskan racers, but they're all, everybody there, you know, they're all really strong racers.
39:01
They're used to doing those kind of things, so- We'll see how Will does... Tyson is doing the White Mountains and- Will, Will admitted that he was a little knackered after the, the Birke.
39:10
So he was like, "I didn't know if I- Yeah, I hope he-... I didn't know if I could recover- [laughs]... from that really long," 'cause he did the Arrowhead. He's like, "That taxed me a little bit."
39:19
[laughs] Well, Tim, we wish you nothing but, uh- Yeah, well, I hope he's tired 'cause I am. [laughs] We wish you nothing but continued excellent form and good health, and, uh, we really appreciate you coming on the show.
39:31
This is phantasmagorical- All right. Thank you... actually a real word? 'Cause that's what I'm gonna say to Tim. That was phantasmagorical. Indeed. I concur. I'll take it. All right, Tim. Thanks, guys. All right.
39:44
All right. What a, what a great- Have a good one... right on. What a great guest. Yeah, Tim. Fantastic. We should probably take a- Tim's the man... just a brief, I don't know what you call it, what do you call it?
39:55
Break or a- Mm-hmm... or a, a whatever. We're gonna take one of them, and then we'll come back with- The question of the week... the question of the week. Or the question of the week. Or- The question of the week.
40:09
[bell ringing] [upbeat music] So I heard you need a fat bike. Come to Zion Cyclery in Zion, Illinois. We have all brands, Trek, Borealis, Salsa, Felt, Surly, and more.
40:26
Yo, we have all the cold weather gears by 45 NRTH and Bontrager. 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.
40:43
So yeah, visit us at zioncyclery.com. You're tuned to Fat Bike Radio. Hey. All right. Uh, I have no idea how it happened, but we're actually back now.
41:01
And, uh, I think it's question of the week time. Dun, dun, dun, dun. Dun, dun, dun, dun. Ba, ba, boo.
41:07
I just, uh, you know, I just thought about this 'cause I did, I was up at the Birke, and I thought, "Wow, is this the best of fat biking?" Because there was 1,100 plus fat bikers, just a huge amount of people fat biking.
41:23
And, and- The regal pageantry, the, the banners flapping in the breeze. The- Absolutely. And what, what, the thing that bummed me out was this is like, this is the highlight of the year.
41:34
I'm like, "No, it's really not," 'cause I'm, I'm the guy that's been riding a fat bike pretty much as my only bike for over five years now. You're that guy.
41:44
And I get it, and here's, here's what, here's something maybe people don't know. The first guy I saw that I thought was cool on a fat bike was my, my friend over there, Mr. Gomez. [laughs] You had... No, you did.
41:58
You had a, you had the freaking Pugsley, dude. I- With a, w- was it a Rohloff or what was it? No, was a- I had, I had single speed and then a Rohloff on the bike. Yeah. God.
42:07
And I, and I now love Rohloff, so you, everybody knows that. Yeah. But anyway,
42:12
so what the, so the, the end of the Birke means it's kind of the end of the winter season, and I, it pisses me off when people say fat bikes are only for snow. That's right. It's like, no, they're not. They're not.
42:24
There was a deal. You, you get Bicycle Retailer, don't you? I do not. Oh, you should get that because that's our industry's pulse, and what, they asked the question last week, which was- Do you basically sell fat bikes?
42:40
And it was a lot of places from Oregon and California and this and that, and there was like 12 bike shops, and most of them were like, "Eh. Yeah, people special order them," blah, blah, blah.
42:52
There was one shop in Iowa who said, "Oh, we love them fat bike things, boy." But here's my point. Fat bikes are for all season, all reasons, and- Preach. Preach it, brother... damn it.
43:08
I'm getting all Pros 1000 over here, but [laughs] And the next season is? Fat bike season. Yeah. So my point- Oh, you mean your winter bike? Well, but, you know, you could break it into- [laughs]... substrates.
43:20
It's like, well, during when the trails, the snow's gone, the trails are all soup, go to the beach. Mm. So springtime, ride your fat bike on the beach. Yeah. Find the sand. And who, and who doesn't...
43:32
I- if you haven't ridden on the beach on a fat bike when it's 80 degrees outside, that's pretty much heaven. I know. Mm. I know, it's, it's- But... eh, it's like, yeah. Bikes, beer, beach.
43:47
So this weekend is the US Fat Bike Beach Championships- Yeah, man... uh, down in North Carolina. Or North Carlaki.
43:54
Our friend, Sean Spencer, uh, South Padre Island in Tejas is looking for a beach festival, uh, to wrap their city around, and, uh, you know, we're discussing about maybe doing something in Wisconsin.
44:07
Yeah, so we have a question out to our brethren. You can call 918-818-2453 anytime day or night. But here's the question. I think you just, you said that wrong. It's 818-918. You said, but 918-818. Shut up.
44:21
[laughs] 918-818- 918- 2453. That's 818-918- First of all, if they don't know the number by now, they can go, "Oh, oh dear." If our listener doesn't know our phone number by now- Mercy.
44:34
[laughs] Anyway, so w- we're, uh, so our question of the week is, like, what f- 'cause Sean Spencer's thing is a crit, which seems interesting, so that's one format for a beach race.
44:45
But also timed kind of like a cyclocross race. Right. So cyclocross to me implies a little more variance to the course. And mandatory dismounts. Mandatory. You know. We got the t- Curio versus 10...
45:01
well, we have your, I mean, not that you invented it in the history of the world, but you invented it in Fat Bike Ville. It's kind of like- Team Enduro. Right.
45:09
It's kind of like the little 500 in, at the U- University [laughs] of Indiana. It's kind of like where I stole the idea from, so it's not like very a big- Well- [laughs]... but it was your- It's like that.
45:19
But- But it's your stolen idea... oh, oh, on fat bikes. Oh, okay. [laughs] But- Brilliance... unbelievably, he came up with another one.
45:27
We were talking on the phone today and he, he said- Beach, fat bike beach steeple chase. Yeah. Really? So- This is where we're going now? So you gotta have f- it's feet wet, dude.
45:41
You're gonna, you're gonna definitely have to, like, haul your bike over shit into water. It- You're gonna have to ride out to a sandbar through deep water, maybe swim. I know fat bikes float, so it's pretty easy.
45:55
And it's, uh, you know, it's gonna be the, it's, it's just gonna be just terrific. [laughs] Kids are gonna wanna, kids are gonna wanna get special shoes. They're gonna want, they're gonna wanna name their kids Gomez.
46:09
Well, maybe. That would go too far. [laughs] But, uh, you know, speaking about going too far, you know what's pretty far is the Fatty Farm Field Fire- [burps]... Field Report. [burps] Fatty Farm Field Report.
46:26
Hey, this week's Fatty Farm Field Report is presented by Quiring Cycles, the Quiring triple B. You did, you, let me do them. You did them, you did them before. I wanna do them now. You wanna do them?
46:35
You did them, you did them early in the show. Can I do them now? All right, but that was when I was all, being all bet noir and, and, uh- All right. So this week's- But you, you go ahead. No, I'm gonna do it now.
46:42
All right. You do it. This week's Fatty Farm Field Report is presented by Quiring Cycles. The Quiring triple B is the fattest ride on two wheels. Visit quiringcycles.net to see the next level of bicycle exploration.
46:59
Bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. We'll have that, uh, link in the show notes just in case you didn't understand me when I told you. [laughs] That is quiringcycles.net. Take it.
47:09
So- By the way, the, the, the, the spring shearing of the beards are here. Yeah, and you didn't even open the box o' freaking prizes that you guys should- I am not gonna shear my beard. You're not?
47:20
Well, not- Down to a quarter of an inch?... not, not till at least April 1st. Well, April 1st. [laughs] Are we gonna do it at the big 100 year or right before? Uh, uh. We gotta do it. We gotta wait.
47:28
How much does this hair actually weigh? I don't know. I'm guessing, I'm guessing, I can't guess 'cause I'm, I'm not, I'm a- No, I'm just, I mean- They're like people who-...
47:37
are, are, are these like this, like- I can't weigh it... we're, we're talking- I don't know... here. How about, because- Only you know that... one person or two or three, you, me, and JK- Uh...
47:46
that's not much of a variance. So things weigh what they weigh. But how about we just get everybody at our party to shave their beards? We'll put it all in a bag. We, we put it all in a bag and we'll weigh that.
47:56
That whole thing. All right. So we need- We could, we could have like- We need a barber. We got- We need a barber chair. [laughs] What do you mean you need a barber? [laughs] All right. We can do that.
48:08
At, at the party, 'cause we're gonna have a skid contest. Why not? What's the big deal at, like, we're gonna skid. What's- Through your hair. It's two more phone calls- Don't break my-...
48:16
to get a barber and a barber chair. Right. Probably the same barber probably has a barber chair. We need a portable one, 'cause those things weigh a fucking ton. 112, that's not our job.
48:26
The barber's gotta bring their own chair- Still, have-... 'cause they get, they, they're gonna get tips... have, have some charity in your heart, bro. Be gone. Chip on.
48:32
So you didn't even open the [sniffs] you didn't even open the box of prizes. So we got- All right. What?... like a shit ton of stuff, dude. I saw the stickers. Yeah. What was I supposed to see? Surly Large Marge rims.
48:45
Oh. RSD Bikes up there- Oh... in Canada sent us- That's 'cause you put your freaking backpack on it... like, a hat. I had no idea- Oh, I did... we were supposed to know all that [laughs] That's true.
48:52
And, uh, shirts from Framed Bikes. Borealis sent us water bottles, shirts, bunch of decals. And, uh- Decals [laughs] We have stuff coming in from Bontrager and Maxxis- Schlick Cycles...
49:04
and maybe- Can throw a few water- Oh, Schlick Cycles, really? We'll throw a set of rims in there. Oh, rims. Yeah, yeah, so two sets of rims. 47-millimeter- So-...
49:12
rims for your summer riding pleasure This is a, this is a contest where- I, I just made that up... you- But I'm, I, we'll, I'll get those guys to do it. [laughs] Write him a note, everyone.
49:24
[laughs] It's
[email protected]
. Write him a note. He needs notes. [laughs] Right. Yeah, I'm, you know what? I'm not supposed to remember this stuff. I have Alzheimer's.
49:34
So this is a contest where you guess what Sven and my beard sheared off, and maybe a bunch of other people- Yeah, hopefully... at our 100th anniversary party, which is coming up on April Fools' Day here in Milwaukee.
49:48
We're gonna have- And that's, that's actually not-... brand new derbies... April Fools', though. No. [laughs] No, I'm just saying- It is-...
49:54
we're not fooling them that that's actually the day of our party No, it's, it is actually the day of our party. 10-4. So, uh- 1-9, over... and we have things even, like, past that.
50:04
We have a, uh, there's a bike sale coming up here, uh, in the city the next weekend. We're not gonna, we're not gonna say Wheel & Stuck It, are we? I don't know. Yeah, I, we said it.
50:15
I said it in the r- in the read-through, and you're like, "Did you just say that?" Let's just say Wheel & Sprocket Fried Chicken and Waffles- [laughs]... Bike Expo- They have-...
50:24
[laughs] is coming up and, uh, we're gonna do it in spite- Fried chicken and waffles. I like that. Fried chicken and waffles, I hit that shit. [laughs] Anyway, uh, and
50:32
another note that you should send, all of you, to, uh,
[email protected]
would be, "Hey, Sven, put up that picture of the stickers for the sticker packs and put those in the store so we can have cool stickers on the site."
50:47
Yeah, that might happen, like- And then- We had-... tripped over- [laughs]... the Fat Bike links. [laughs] Whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh, that's good. And then, yeah.
51:00
[laughs] Yeah, that, actually, I don't know, we don't have a whole lot of links this week. I know. Although they're good links, though. I, I tell you. They're good ones.
51:08
This Will Ross is, he, this is his Facebook page, but it's his description of the race when he won the Birkie. I like Will Ross. Awesome. He's a cool dude, man. Uh, by the way- This-...
51:20
in about, uh, just a couple, two, three minutes- Oh, yeah, we're gonna have-... we'll, we'll have him, uh, doing his Will Ross thing 'cause we caught up with him at the fatbike.com/camba after party- Nice...
51:33
up there in Cable. Hey, one thing we should mention here is the, uh, Sarma Bikes here. They're Noran rims. They're starting to do a, uh, new program [laughs] where you can make 'em all kinds of crazy.
51:43
Like, pick a Pantone color and a bunch of different paint schemes, customize your badass set of Saran, Noran- Noran... Sarma Noran. Carbon fiber. Yeah.
51:58
And if you look at this tire science thing and you have a brain like mine, you're gonna want to kill yourself.
52:05
[laughs] Oh, my God, this guy puts sensors in his tires and measures the roundness and reduces- That's not a-... stress... that's not a for real thing, is it? But it might be a for real thing just for me.
52:15
I know there are, like, engineers and people that, like, have that kind of brain and need to know that stuff.
52:21
I would just say, "Oh, okay, ride it with that much pressure and then- Would, wouldn't you just say, "For real?" [laughs] I'd be like, "Say what? Put a, put a what my what?" Yeah.
52:31
I'm like, "The thing should be like that, but I don't need to know how it works." [laughs] There were charts there, and I- Wait, what?... I, I knew that it was gonna be good for those people that like charts and that.
52:45
Right on. Mm-hmm. And Coast Kid- So who's-... Bruce. Ah, Chihuahua, he's on there again... the old pug. Yeah, he brought it back. Apparently. That's what the thing says.
52:56
[laughs] You don't read the damn links that you put in here? Oh, yeah. I do. I, I police them. I s- I s- I police-... I skim them... I police. They cut my toe. You know what we need to do? What do we need to do?
53:12
Check in with Will Ross. This week's special segment, Will Ross. Yeah, Will- Talks to roving reporter, Mr. Sven Hammer- Hammer... at the Sawmill Saloon in Hatfield, or, uh, Town Sawyer. What is it? Uh.
53:30
[laughs] Celie. Celie. Celie. That's it. Celie. Smeelie. Celie, Wisconsin. Yeah. Well, it, you know, we did catch up with him 'cause he was able to join us last year in the studio, which was awesome.
53:43
We even took pictures of him. He looked so handsome. But after, uh, after he'd done a couple other races, he was kind of pressed for time, had to get back to Alaska. Right. Anchorage. That place.
53:56
And, uh, so I did catch up with him at the Fat Bike, uh, after party at the fatbike.com/cambaBirkie after party.
54:05
We had a, we had a little chat at the, uh, the Sawmill there for the after party and, um, we're gonna listen to that shit right now. Hey, everybody. Sven from fatbike.com here.
54:18
Uh, we're at the, uh, fatbike.com/camba, et cetera, after party here after the Fat Bike Birkie, and, uh, ran into Will Ross here. He is the winner of the 47K Fat Bike Birkie for the second year in a row, right, Will?
54:32
Yeah. [laughs] Awesome, man. Super congratulations. Yeah. Thank you. Um, it looked like, uh, it was a pretty tough field out there.
54:39
I was out on the course taking photos and, uh, about 18K in I caught you guys the first time, and there was a pretty good pack with, with a bunch of guys. Yeah, it was a really big pack this year. Yeah.
54:50
So, uh, how did the start go up to that point? The start was, uh, well, they had the neutral start, which made things a little hectic.
54:57
Uh- I heard some brakes squealing right before the left turn onto, uh, McNaught Road, but [laughs] Yeah, it was, there were a lot of people that hit the trail all together. Okay.
55:07
Um, yeah, and then we, but we went from that rock-hard road to real soft and kind of squirrely snow on the trail. Okay. And- Right on the power line? Yeah. Yep. Yeah, and the, yeah, the trail was pretty, pretty soft.
55:20
I didn't think that that little bit of snow that we got last night would make that big of a difference. Yeah, we got, what, two, three inches maybe of- Maybe, yeah...
55:27
and it was, uh, right around 32 degrees when it's fallen, so it's pretty, pretty soggy. But yeah, it, it, they mixed it up pretty good with the, the old snow, so it was a soft course. Okay.
55:39
Made for- Yeah, we saw some good corduroy, what, before everybody got onto it. Yeah.
55:43
But [laughs] uh, so okay, so that was, like, 18K in, and then you did a bunch of the course and you came back, and I caught you guys maybe 10K from the end. Yeah.
55:51
And it looked like you and Brad Bingham were pretty strong at that point. I still saw Jeff Hall and Matt Acker and some other guys in there, uh, from that point on, then lead, lead me to the end of the race.
56:02
Well, on the, the climb up to High Point, um, I just went to the front, and, uh, didn't hammer too much, but definitely picked up the pace, and I heard Brad behind me say, "Go, go, go."
56:16
[laughs] So as soon as we did, uh, yeah, I looked back and we had a gap. Okay. So yeah, we, we maintained that to the, to the top of the hill, and one, uh, Corey Steljes, I believe, uh, caught up to us. Okay. Um,
56:30
and yeah, the three of us rode together from there pretty much until Power Line, until Corey fell off. Um, and then as soon as we hit the road, yeah, Brad and I, we were doing...
56:41
I mean, we had done a, a good job of sharing the workload- Right on... uh, until then, and then we hit the climb on the road, and that's the, that's when I made the move. Okay.
56:50
Yeah, 'cause you came across, what, 15 seconds ahead of him maybe? About 10-ish, something. 10, 10 seconds ahead of him. Yeah. Yeah, I know that he said that it just, he was, he was tanked. He was maxed out.
56:59
We were both cramping. [laughs] It was pretty funny. Yeah, yeah. Well, it was a, uh, obviously a super effort, and congratulations for your second year in a row. Yeah, thank you.
57:06
Um, last year you were able to make it to the studio for a, for a post-race, uh, fatbike.com Fat Bike Radio, uh, session. Yeah. I understand you gotta get back to work this year. Back to work. Right on.
57:18
Um, you know, I... So you've taken a lot of time this year to do some other races besides something like the Birkie. You've done some longer races too. Yeah, I did the Arrowhead 135 and then the Susitna 100.
57:28
Um- How do you, how do you feel about those races compared to something that's a little more of a s- a sprint for you, like the Birkie is? Oh, those are rough. [laughs] Yeah, I was... They made me really nervous.
57:39
I didn't know that I was gonna be able to recover in time. The, the Arrowhead took me, I mean, it was a 16-and-a-half-hour race. Yeah, yeah.
57:46
And it took me, I just took a week off the bike entirely, and then after that I still didn't feel normal for a couple weeks. Um- And then Susitna was what, two weeks ago? The Susitna was three weeks ago now.
57:57
Three weeks ago, okay. Um, yeah, and I was finally starting to feel normal two weeks after the Susitna.
58:02
Um, and but yeah, every single day feeling better and better, um, which was giving me a little confidence going into this. Yeah. Sounds like it, it came through at the right time.
58:11
So congratulations on the, on the win and, uh, hope we see you here next year. Yeah, thank you. Right on, Will. You can't see the shake, but Will Rock shook my hand. Oh, yeah. [laughs] All right, man. Uh, yeah, thanks.
58:25
Thanks a lot. Right on, Will, dude. That was, I mean, he was, it was great to...
58:30
First of all, I caught up with him at the finish line, 'cause this is the first year I've actually managed to catch stuff on the course and get back because the whole course was laid out to the finish line before they got there, and I saw him come across the line.
58:43
He was so ecstatic. It was just beautiful. That's awesome, man. Yeah. It was great. Yeah, and this sport is, people should know, this sport is so small. You go to a race like that, you could
58:56
shake that dude's hand and pat him on the back and- Absolutely... uh, I mean- Yeah, and, and Brad Bingham was, um, second. Mm-hmm. And he's, he, he's a, he's a- Brad's a great guy... he's just a super friendly dude.
59:09
Everybody's friendly. That's the whole point of this. We do have two more minutes. Hello, caller. I'd just like to say
59:25
congratulations on your 97th show. Well, there you go. Congratulate us to our 97th. Get the hell out of here. You should be sleeping already. Bye.
59:42
[laughs] Wah, wah, wah, doo, doo, doo. You've been listening to Fat Bike Radio's weekly dose of fat. Find us on the web at fat-bike.com/radio.
59:59
We'll see you next time. [upbeat music]
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