Gates of Keeping in alt bike?

Is alt bike gate kept? we do a deep dive at the end of the episode.  in TDF news: Jonas has crashed out of the tour, was it planed by the French?? , Arya rides 95 mikes, and an interview with local pervert Alex Dyson on how he got so "bricked up for bikes".  this is a good one folks.  

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:00

Alright, sweetie ready?

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Of course.

SPEAKER_06 0:03

Today, we're recording live from the beating heart of the country.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

This is Al Pike New Alternative Radio.

SPEAKER_05 0:21

I like that.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

Thanks for doing that.

SPEAKER_06 0:23

It's a little foreshadowing, you know? So you saying uh after a hot or not last week, you've had some thoughts and now you're crushing hard on Jonas?

SPEAKER_00 0:31

I'm not crushing hard on Jonas. I'm crushing hard on Yonis.

SPEAKER_06 0:36

Oh my goodness. You are sharp this morning.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

Two cups of tea, baby.

SPEAKER_06 0:41

Folks, a little foreshadowing there. We've got a lot to talk about when it comes to Tour Gas this week.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

It's not foreshadowing.

SPEAKER_06 0:49

It isn't?

SPEAKER_00 0:50

That's a literary device, but because this has already happened.

SPEAKER_06 0:54

Oh. Well, foreshadowing in the con in the inner. Okay. Yeah. I'm not that dumb. I am I'm just blonde.

SPEAKER_00 1:03

Blonde's right snap.

SPEAKER_06 1:04

I'm naturally blonde, folks, believe it or not.

SPEAKER_00 1:07

I think everyone believes you. You bring it up a lot. You pride yourself on being a natural blonde.

SPEAKER_06 1:14

We're among the rarest in the world.

SPEAKER_00 1:17

I thought it was the redheads.

SPEAKER_06 1:19

Well, I don't see there's not no one's dying their hair red just for fun. Everyone wants to be blonde.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Alright, alright, fair enough.

SPEAKER_06 1:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:27

That song about how you're always having fun out there.

SPEAKER_06 1:29

Yeah. And you are. I am having a good time. Folks, we uh Headlines Hot Goss. Yeah, Headlines Hot Goss. We're gonna do a little tour stuff, a little our all take slow tour. People seem to like last week, so we're I mean we say this every week. People seem to like it. But we're sticking with the TDF stuff, Tour de France stuff in the beginning of the show.

SPEAKER_00 1:51

And then we're gonna move on to a new There's something called unity as one stand together.

SPEAKER_06 1:57

UN I T Y Oh, that's a brief.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Which is an allegory of a warthog.

SPEAKER_06 2:13

What does allegory mean?

SPEAKER_00 2:14

Reference to a literary past. So literally or usually the Bible.

SPEAKER_06 2:21

Oh, interesting.

SPEAKER_00 2:22

English as a third language, you gotta learn, honey.

SPEAKER_06 2:24

The only book I know of is the Book of Heavy Metal.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

The Book of Heavy Metal. Yes. Read it.

SPEAKER_06 2:33

Don't need no flashy house, kids' car, or ugly wife. The only things I want are what my parents don't.

unknown 2:38

Oh.

SPEAKER_06 2:39

Need no widescreen TV?

SPEAKER_00 2:41

Nope.

SPEAKER_06 2:41

No, in all honesty. The only thing I want to be is in the book of heavy metal.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

You are making your way. Yeah. So life report banks. I had a storm of the century.

SPEAKER_06 2:52

Arya got into a long you did an eighth.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

Okay, well, I mean, I think that's we'll we'll get into that later. We also have Introduction to Local Pervert and Favorite Friend here right now, Hot Alex, is in the building.

SPEAKER_06 3:08

So we're gonna talk a little bit a little bit about a few of our local riders here, about their inception into the alt bike world and how that happened.

SPEAKER_00 3:16

I think it'll be nice to introduce our friends who we ride with right now.

SPEAKER_06 3:20

And uh finally, really the namesake of the of the episode, we've got gatekeeping in alt cycling.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 3:28

Okay, so we're gonna talk a little bit about that. And you know, I think you're gonna want to stick around a bit. Yeah, we're gonna get into it.

SPEAKER_00 3:37

So without contributors.

SPEAKER_06 3:39

So without further ado, let's start with the Tour de France Russia.

SPEAKER_00 3:46

Tell me about Jonas.

SPEAKER_06 3:48

Well, folks.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

What happened folks?

SPEAKER_06 3:53

What happened is Jonas had, as as if you've been following along with just even with ours, Jonas, the who's been second in the Tour de France to Tate Paga or second to Tour de France to Tada Pagaccia the last two seasons, but has won the pre the previous two years before that, and also just won the Giro earlier on this year. Uh really was Tade's only competitor, if you want to call him that.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Well, he is.

SPEAKER_06 4:24

Yeah. He is.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

There's no one else.

SPEAKER_06 4:26

There are no competitors to Tade, but he was the closest. And he definitely had the respect of Tade. Yonis can be a mu a very one-dimensional rider compared to Tade, but you know, we uh a lot of us were rooting for him, at least in the back of our heads, if we weren't the forefront of the He's the underdog.

SPEAKER_00 4:44

For sure. All the talking heads were kind of saying, you know, he's in really good form. I wouldn't count him out, I wouldn't count him out, and then he goes down pretty hard.

SPEAKER_06 4:55

This is stage 15 that he went to 15. I mean it was a mountain stage, big mountain stage, one that really favors him with a mountaintop finish.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Exactly. Young summit finish is his specialty. He is crowned as being one of the best or the best mountain rider in well, living today.

SPEAKER_06 5:15

Modern tour history. Living today. Which is and everyone today is is seemingly leaps and bounds better at what they do than the riders of the past. I'll be the first to admit that. Being a nostalgist myself, it's hard to say. But you know, we've already had the fastest stage ever of the tour, which is earlier in the week, which is interesting, that it had stay had stuck around for 25, 20 something years. It was uh a stage that Mario Cipollini had now acclaimed wife beater. Mario Cipollini had one. Acclaimed. Could that be a I don't think I ever used that word right. Infamous. Infamous.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

Abuser, well women.

SPEAKER_06 5:55

Yeah. But you know, we domestic if you take that out of the equation, pretty exciting rider to watch.

SPEAKER_00 6:02

Terrorist.

SPEAKER_06 6:02

And he was, you know, obviously a lot of what Chipotle. Yeah, chipowisms are important as far as the culture is concerned.

SPEAKER_00 6:11

Juiced up and meaty, you know.

SPEAKER_06 6:13

Um anyway, that somehow that record stood for I don't know how long, 20 plus years. So that was broken. So I mean, this this tour is is breaking records left and right. People are going faster than ever.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

It seems like every year they say that.

SPEAKER_06 6:26

They say that, but I mean, I guess because it's progressively faster. Yeah. Yeah. And then when you have someone like Tade kind of just pushing the envelope.

SPEAKER_00 6:33

Well that's why the talking heads were saying Jonas is gonna do so well, you know, because he's been he's been crushing his numbers. He's just like upped the game. He's doing better than he's ever done, and he seemed overall really crazy.

SPEAKER_06 6:47

I wouldn't say better than he's ever done. I mean, he's won the he's won the tour, and he was not look I mean, in my opinion, he was not looking in a lot of other people's opinions, he was the shell of what he once was.

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Well, here's what I'm saying is the pace of the entire Peloton has just upped. But Jonas is performing his best numbers ever.

SPEAKER_03 7:06

Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Like that's what I'm saying. He he was very happy because all of them say the best you can do is the best you can do, and then everything else is, you know, up to G-O-D. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_06 7:18

Well, let's run through a timeline here.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

Oh my god, is POD a Christian band? Because it's G O D and P. All right, side tangent, my bad. Being outside is very distracting for me. I'm looking at the wind.

SPEAKER_06 7:32

Let's paint a picture for people here. We're outside today because our local pervert, uh Alex, is working on our bathroom. I so you know, we're outside today. He and that's why he's gonna pop in and talk about bikes with us a little bit. So we're outside. It's a beautiful scene. We're looking at a bunch of wildflowers. So, you know, it's a little bit overcast, uh, it's breezy, it's very comfortable.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

There's all these bees that are.

SPEAKER_06 7:55

Oh my god, I'm looking at an apricot tree with apricots actually growing on it.

SPEAKER_00 8:00

So there's a lot going on stimulation-wise for this ADHD child.

SPEAKER_06 8:05

I want to get us into the timeline. Back to the back to France.

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Back to Jonas and the first time.

SPEAKER_06 8:09

I want to get I want to get in. Well, you I wanted to work into that one. Okay, my bad. I'm going on the timeline here. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 8:14

Yeah, I'm rabbit.

SPEAKER_06 8:15

So that so we've got we had a big mountain mix-up. Okay. Tade had stamped his authority on previous mountain stages, but we were all saying, oh, we're not at the high mountains yet where Jonas really hits it off. You know, we're still finishing on, you know, like po like flats or like slight descents where Tade dominates because he's such a powerful rider. So this was really going to be Jonas's chance to really show us what he's made of on stage 15.

SPEAKER_00 8:44

And the team was gearing up for the topic.

SPEAKER_06 8:46

The team was gearing up for it. I mean, the team was working for Jonas this whole stage. You could tell that he was the plan. Jonas, even though he had been bruised and battered by Tade this whole tour, he in his head you could tell he still believed. He wanted well, not that he didn't believe he was going to try his hardest. That's a really nice thing about Jonas. He's always going to try his hardest. He doesn't give up. He just sometimes he gets he mentally maybe becomes completely so battered that it looks like he's giving up. But he's a very relatable character, I think, in the Ark of Heroes, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:20

Yeah. He's he's a relatable hum like a demigod.

SPEAKER_06 9:25

Right, right. Yeah. He's Maui. So the night so the night's not Maui. So the night before, both Jonas and Tade were t checked by doping control.

SPEAKER_00 9:35

Three or two AM?

SPEAKER_06 9:36

2 a.m. for Jonas and 5 a.m. for Tade. Now, ordinarily to give you some context, it's usually they test, they respect the rider's sleep. Because imagine you're doing these 130 mile stages with, you know, uh 13,000 plus feet of elevation day in and day out. You're 15 stages in. So much.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

You gotta sleep. You gotta sleep. So the sleep is so important.

SPEAKER_06 10:01

Like these guys are like, you know, they the the rest is so important, not only for your physical abilities, but for your mental acuity. And so, you know, generally they don't wake riders up in the middle of the night to test for doping. But I guess the French authorities had had, I can't remember the exact terminology, but they had had they had had great suspicion, enough suspicion to wake these guys up and test them. A few other teams were tested too. Is that the word? Is that the official word? It was like even more official than that.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 10:33

I mean, we know uh it's it's you know, we all want to leave the doping era behind, but when you're faster than the doping era, it does open up a lot of questions.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

I will about the marginal gains and the arrow and the socks.

SPEAKER_06 10:47

Which I do bel I honestly do b I honestly do believe nutrition was so bad before. And it was something from my like from a nutrition background that I had coming into racing, I was appalled by how little people knew about actual nutrition. Yeah. And how they were still, you know, gauging it on as we keep bringing up the horse meat the the cheese wrapped in horse meat. Right, right or just the popcorn diet to lose weight. So, you know, there's a lot of there was a lot of room for improvement. But you know, there's always got to be suspicion when these guys are just pulling these superhuman efforts.

SPEAKER_00 11:18

So And those numbers match exactly to like how much performance benefits you can see when you take this substance and it's like, oh, 10% improvement, and then you see, oh, you've got 10% improvement. That's a little sus. Yeah, you know, but to knock on the door at 2 a.m.

SPEAKER_06 11:35

At 2 a.m. and so yeah, so Jonas has got a piano cup at two, you've got to produce some urine at 2 a.m. And so anyway, that's we could we could we'll put that in a little compartment, okay, for l for later. So the stage the stage carries on. It was a uh it was flat-ish and then it ended with an above category mountain climb.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

It was it was a bit bumpy. There's a couple of uh pimples.

SPEAKER_06 12:01

So it's the Yonas' team, Yumbo, not Yumbo, sorry, Vismalisa bike. They're pulling all the other riders.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Now remember Yonas team, there's like four of them.

SPEAKER_06 12:15

Yeah, Yonas is not in a like he's like the previous stages, he was his lead was being chipped away at in second place by Remco, Ayuso, Del Toro, you know. Pickcock even was throwing his huge breakaway stage where he put a bunch of time in on and then he lost a bunch of time the next day.

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Yeah, Phil called him Tim Pidcock. His name is Tom. Yeah, man.

SPEAKER_06 12:40

Yeah. That's an easy even I can get that one.

SPEAKER_00 12:42

I know. Come on, Phil. He's your countryman.

SPEAKER_06 12:44

Yeah, we'll talk. I think we'll probably have a whole after this, we may have a whole podcast about how Phil Liggett should retire. Yeah. I held out for a long time, but yeah, he's pulling the Biden, all right. So, you know, we're we're deep into the stage. Uh Visma has been basically pulling not Visp. Yeah, Visma has basically been pulling all of Jonas's competitors. And we're like, why are they doing that? Obviously, they believed in Jonas that day. Yonas is gonna make a big move. Well, it was a big move that we never got to see because right at the base of the final climb, this is a climb they had never done before on the tour, so there is some speculation that there was some paying off by the town mayor, whatever they call him in France, that they should have this stage go through his town. Even though it was a bunch of like road traffic and not road traffic, road.

SPEAKER_00 13:30

There was a lot of road furniture.

SPEAKER_06 13:32

Yeah, because uh that's the word.

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Yeah, because you know, there was a breakaway in this stage, and the the person who was in that solo lead, remember that curve? He had to jump over some like road furniture that was like the the median divider or whatever. Remember?

SPEAKER_06 13:51

We had to bounce over that and we were getting nervous, and it was just around there where I should also say that this is the second day in the row that our uh that our Captain America Quinn Simmons, perhap our our maybe could be alt cyclist Quinn Simmons. I mean, the last episode we talked about that. And I did we did have a bunch of messages saying that he is an alt cyclist.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Okay. Well he we had one person who said had a perspective that I was like, oh, that's interesting.

SPEAKER_06 14:23

Yeah, I got no perspective. But he's I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say I mean, true to my whatever, regardless of his politics, he is one of the most exciting racers to watch because not only the previous day he was lighting it up out front, but this day too, if you remember.

SPEAKER_03 14:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 14:37

Like huge effort. He's not a mountain climber, yet he made it very far up this climb. He did. And if it wasn't for you know, if it wasn't for the big guns really putting in those moves.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

So you know the boy's trying out there.

SPEAKER_06 14:50

The boy's trying, it's pretty incredible. He's getting a lot of he's the uh most aggressive rider, I think, two days in a row on that. His parents are there. I saw this awesome I I'm on a tangent here, but the stage before when he was out front, his dad was gave him like a high five like from the crowd.

SPEAKER_00 15:05

It went viral.

SPEAKER_06 15:06

I thought that I saw that live and I thought that was so cool. I mean, imagine like raising like being a cyclist yourself and raising two because Quinn Simmons' brother is also a professional cyclist, but raising a kid and then like seeing them race the Tour de France and being able to high-five them from the side of the road while they're leading the Tour de France, like in the front of Stars and Mars. In a yeah, in a breakaway. Like that is beyond my comprehension of coolness. Like I would I would hopefully one of our nephews. I don't I wouldn't wish that. I wouldn't wish I wouldn't wish being a professional cyclist on anyone that I love. But anyway. So Jonas is coming down with his team, about to come, you know, about to have his Phoenix moment, and Camp and Arts is leading it out. The the motorcycle, the lead moto kind of takes a weird line through. Camp and Arts follows. There's that, there's like kind of like a pinch point, they kind of hesitate for a moment, and Jonas is in the back of the pack because his team is leading them, and there's an accordion effect where if the people in front put their brakes on and have to do a maneuver, it just kind of flows to the back. And as it turns out, you we you know you can't couldn't quite fully see it because there was a tree in the way.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

But Yonis Even with all the angles and stuff, it just looked like he lost the wheel.

SPEAKER_06 16:25

Lost control of his bike momentarily goes down and right into the curve of like uh Yeah. Like right into a curb.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

Yeah. And he looked at the case.

SPEAKER_06 16:36

It was immediate immediately. You it was real sad. Yeah, it was really sad. It took out Del Toro and a few others also, but they were able to get back on their bikes.

SPEAKER_00 16:44

But they got up and was riding.

SPEAKER_06 16:46

But Yonis, second place in the Tord, you know, second currently second in the GC. Yonis, you know, almost immediately.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Four minutes and changed behind Todd.

SPEAKER_06 16:54

Right. Almost immediately we see him, you know, wincing like in pain getting into the ambulance.

SPEAKER_00 17:00

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_06 17:00

And you he looks up at the sky for a brief moment, like as he's wincing, and that was the moment where I was that like really hit me.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:08

You know, that you spend your entire year preparing for this race. 22, this 21 stage race, and you've you're living, you live in an island of elevation. You can't come down.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Away from everyone you love.

SPEAKER_06 17:22

Away from everyone you love. You can't come down and like say hi because then you lose your elevation.

SPEAKER_00 17:26

It's a it's a monastic practice.

SPEAKER_06 17:28

You you weigh all your food.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:30

Not just you, but your whole team that's supporting you. So you have the weight of your team on the shoulders, the weight of the sponsors on your shoulders, your own expectations. And you're nothing you're you know, you're nothing more than uh just a a hundred and thirty-pound hero boy. Hero boy. Just you know, you you become so fragile. And just to have cycling is such a cruel sport to have that this could happen to anybody. You know, this could happen to Tade, but he has like this uncanny ability to not get injured from crashes or avoid them altogether.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

I say it's blood magic. Blood magic.

SPEAKER_06 18:04

Um, yeah. Old world witch.

SPEAKER_00 18:08

And and I mean that in a really good way. Um I have respect for the dog aughts. Anyway.

SPEAKER_06 18:16

So after this, you want to talk about Remco. Remco goes, so we'll we'll move this along. Remco ends up, you know, all of a sudden Jonas is gone. It's like a free-for-all for second place.

SPEAKER_00 18:26

There was a lot of chatter, like because another UAE rider went down along with Isak, and when they got back up, they were riding up, kind of chatting with themselves. They they've obviously reached Tade and then they relay the news, like, oh yeah, Jonas has gone down. And then over the team radio, everyone hears like, okay, Jonas is in the ambulance, he's not coming back, and so the the game really turns on because this has always been a race for second place, with Todd being in the form he is. So then third place and fourth place, which is Remko and one and Isa Isak, like they are all going to be trying now for second place. And I liked at the end, Remko really throws it in and he wins that stage with Tade right next to him. They finish at the same time, and it was obviously Tade could have taken that stage, I think.

SPEAKER_03 19:26

It was another guy.

SPEAKER_00 19:27

But out of out of respect for what had just happened to his friend, and he calls him his friend because Jonas has always been extremely respectful of Tade when he's fallen. He'll he'll like wait up and stuff. I I really like the the respect and the friendship that they have at that high level. So then Remko takes the stage, and we are very much looking forward to what happens next because today, yesterday they had a race arrest day after that crash, and today is an individual time trial, which Remco does really well in. He is the rainbow jersey holder for the time trial.

SPEAKER_06 20:02

So he's gonna step it up. None of us thought Remco was gonna be able to make it up these mountains. So that's a that's a bit of a good, you know. Florian Lipowitz, who was third in the Tour de France last year, was we I think we all expected him to really outshine Remco and put him in his place.

SPEAKER_03 20:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:20

But it didn't happen. And I should we should also note that this stage was also supposed to be another gift to Del Toro. The reason why Tade didn't uh didn't r you know, uh aside from the you know, the sympathy for Jonas, Tade was leading Del Toro to was pushing Del Toro. He kept on calling it Del Toro's mountain. And this was this is your mountain, Isaac. And so but Del Toro just didn't have it at the end.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

Good captain. You know, he crashed and Yeah, yeah, he had crashed.

SPEAKER_06 20:47

He didn't have it at the end and and Remco outsprinted him. And Tade didn't even I he says he contested for it. Ta Tate could have won that stage, no problem. But yeah, so you know, big changes. So you know, we could we're we're spec we're speculating just like what happened in the Women's Euro about when they kicked out at least when they kicked out Weebus in the first stage. Lorena. That there was a uh that there maybe some uh the Italian mafia was there. This is like maybe the maybe the doping thing in the middle of the night was like wake up, wake him up. You know, we Paul Sexas has got a has got to you know has gotta shine here, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah, because we haven't had a French winner yet.

SPEAKER_06 21:25

So I think they're stage. They knew that sexos wasn't gonna be Tate, but they wanted him to do a little bit better. So maybe this like doping control in the middle of the night, just wake up Jonas was uh was like an edge. That's the mob showed up.

SPEAKER_00 21:39

Give us your urine.

SPEAKER_06 21:42

So speculations. Tune in. The tour is gonna get I think this next week of the tour in the high mountains is gonna be awesome. Remco is in great form. Let's wrap it up here.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

We've talked about the re this enough, but it was really exciting and it's big news. So worth talking about as far as leading up to the The women's tour, someone to watch out for is Zoe Backsted, child of Magnus Backstead, and another person we love watching in Cyclocross as well. She's super strong, had injury and sickness last year, but she's come back really, really strong. She just won the overall GC for the Belois Ladies Tour, which is like up in Belgium in the Netter Netterish lands. That's really exciting because she is a teammate of Kasha's. I mean, not all the not all the superstars were there, but showing good forms.

SPEAKER_06 22:41

And when does the women's tour start?

SPEAKER_00 22:43

August. Early August.

SPEAKER_06 22:45

Early August.

SPEAKER_00 22:46

So we've we've got a little time. That's it for the for the race stuff. Rana, uh Rana, Rana, you want to talk about the Kana?

SPEAKER_06 22:56

Rana, talk about the Kana.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

Kona Unity? That mixed-wheel expedition bike that's got the built-in front rack and a bellied-down tube.

SPEAKER_06 23:06

Big big alt bike release. Uh pull it up here. Uh the Kona Unity, a play on words, the Kona Unit. I'm sure many of you know about that bike. That's kind of like been their hardtail that's been in the in the in their lineup for a long time. So the Kona Unity, at first glance. So my I uh too time to time for Jant to toot his horn here.

SPEAKER_00 23:32

Please toot away. Okay, you know what? Let me let me toy let me build this up for you.

SPEAKER_06 23:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 23:36

In twenty seventeen, Ron and I do the Baja Divide major send-off. That tour requires twenty sixteen, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_05 23:44

That was twenty seventeen, January.

SPEAKER_03 23:46

All right.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

The that requires plus tires. That means three inches or wider.

SPEAKER_06 23:53

Right.

SPEAKER_00 23:53

That's just what the trail was. That's a big deal at the time, plus tires of you.

SPEAKER_06 23:57

That was real popular. That was the 32-inch of the time where plus tires.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

It is. So at that time, 2017, let me tell you, Ronnie is getting these ideas about a bike that can suit something like this and riding in the desert.

SPEAKER_02 24:11

An expedition bike.

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Excuse me.

SPEAKER_02 24:13

Sorry.

SPEAKER_00 24:15

That can hold a lot of water essentially without making the bike handle all funny. He lovingly called it the swamp thing. Darren built one out for you, and you were riding this thing around in the desert starting in 2018 and into 19. In 2019, there's a Radavus article about it, and it's called Ultra Romance's Warthog. John called it the Warthog Wash Wiper Dirt Tourer. Say that really fast three times. Wartwagger. That's pretty good. And that was in 2019. I'm telling you, if you look at the photos, it looks, I mean, minus the bellied thing, the the down tube belly. It's the the geo looks very, very similar. Ron was able to squeeze a fat tire up there. That's a five-incher, ladies. If you can hear me, it's five inches thick. Thick. Not long. That's thick. So that was up there, and then plus tire, just a three-incher in the back. So set up like that kind of a mullet. And then today we have the Kona Unity.

SPEAKER_06 25:33

Unity.

SPEAKER_00 25:34

I was like, I almost called it United. As one stand together. Unity. Evolution's got a cop. Okay, so this this is also set up like a mullet.

SPEAKER_06 25:44

As in, it's got a 700C or 29er front and a 275 rear.

SPEAKER_03 25:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 25:52

So, you know, the i I don't quite know why they mix sizes. Maybe for more bag clearance in the rear. I don't know. I didn't read into it.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

No say.

SPEAKER_06 26:00

But it's a it's it's I know this bike works because I've ridden it in in my interpretation. It's got very similar geometry, mainly being, you know, when when we built the the swamp thing, Warthog, wash wiper, it was based around the geometry for the the uh Geometron Nikolai Finnish brand made a geom the Geometron, which was the first cool. Yeah. I mean, I took a lot from yeah, I loved those futuristic words like that. The so the Geometron was a full suspension, like aggressive downhill bike, downhill free ride bike. Free ride, no, free hide enduro bike or whatever. And my friend Brendan was all about it in Durango, and he was like, we were really pushing the edge of what mountain bike geometry would be. So all the other big brands had pretty standard, like what the geometry had been since the early aughts, really not many, not much changing. And so this big talk about progressive geometry and mountain biking was coming out, and I was fascinated by it because as we've talked about, I don't know if I've talked about it on this pod, but with my own bike design, I love how geometry can modernize a bike without making it look, you know, like what we associate with modern bikes. So you know you could do it under the hood, just improvements under the hood. And so you you you lengthen the top tube, steeper C tube angle, slacker head tube angle. So this Kona Unity has got the same thing. It's got a 75 degree C tube angle, 65 degree head tube angle, with that, and with a huge triangle. And that huge triangle, you could fit all your water in there. I had a custom frame, a cust Connor, I can't remember his last name, in Oberst. Connor Oberst. In Tucson at the time. He was a young guy and he was making these giant water bladders. So he made me a custom water bladder that fit in that triangle, and it was 12 liters. I could fit 12 liters of water.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Oh, I remember. You remember that?

SPEAKER_06 27:54

12 liters of water in my triangle.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Oh, yeah, I remember that bag for sure.

SPEAKER_06 27:58

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:59

But I remember Connor because he was the first one, sorry, side note, who on a camping trip brought eggs and made eggs for breakfast. Like brought little egg egg crackers.

SPEAKER_06 28:11

He was like 21.

SPEAKER_00 28:13

He was like 21 or 22 at the time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 28:15

Anyway, Tucson. I think he lives in Durango now. I like that. Just like Matthew. I like saw him there last year when I was on my birthday ride. He was like across the street and I was like, holy shit, hey Connor. And then we dipped into trails, didn't have time. Anyway, so cool bike, uh expedition based, which is really cool. They've also got a built-in front rack, which I didn't have that on. I didn't have that. It looks super stable, looks beefy. I would say, you know, knowing these like expedition type bikes, you could take these things anywhere and everywhere. It's gonna be it's not gonna be something you're gonna want to ride around unloaded, so it's really only for trips. Big trips. Big trips. It's not something that you're just gonna be like, you know what, I'm going out for a little ride, gonna take my my big old Warthog Unity bike. And but really an expedition bike. As far as like an expedition by taking like, you know, without racks, well, you have your built-in rack, taking everything out there and having it not adversely affect the handling of the bike. That bike, when I was out on trails, I did a multi-day trip in the San Juans, and I think we were out for six days, and I didn't even like top up on water just for fun. I was just like, how much water can I bring out here?

SPEAKER_03 29:26

That's cool.

SPEAKER_06 29:26

And you just don't feel it. You have so much traction because of all the weight in there. But make sure you get a low gear, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 29:33

Yeah, I mean you've you've definitely got the pie dish in the back there because you can fit it. And it just this is the kind of bike that animates for me all kinds of like backcountry riding. Some of my favorite stuff is when you're really out there and it feels like you are really out there in the wild and you still have everything you need on your bike for days and days. Like that is such a good feeling, am I right? Even though it's a heavy bike day, but it it just it animates so much adventure for me.

SPEAKER_03 30:06

Is that same deal for you?

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Like we're already thinking about all the big trips that we've done.

SPEAKER_06 30:11

Yeah, yeah. It's really kind of cool. It's not gonna be a bike that you use much, but the times that you use it, you're gonna love it.

SPEAKER_00 30:18

It's a it's a it's a force specific like you want to disappear bike.

SPEAKER_06 30:24

I think I'm I'm all about like narrow use case scenarios for bikes. Uh I love it. Because that that helps you really build out your stable, you know, if you've got the room. And you know, I I like building bikes like specific for certain like trail networks and things around here. And this is something that really plays into that. The the expedition bike, I think everyone's gotta even if you even if you only use it once, it's gonna be life-changing. Not the bike ride, but the actual shit that you get into out there.

SPEAKER_00 30:55

Exactly. It opens up a lot more variety out there on what you can what you can do on a bike.

SPEAKER_06 31:01

What you can comfortably do on a bike. Yeah and have fun. Yeah. Yeah. So cool. I'm I'm loving the big thing. So cool up on you, Kona. Nice. So you could check it out on on on all of the all of the you know websites right now.

SPEAKER_00 31:12

Rana is done on Kana.

SPEAKER_06 31:15

Rana is done on Kana, folks. Um okay, what do we got?

SPEAKER_00 31:18

And good job designing this bike in 2018, 2017.

SPEAKER_06 31:23

Thank you. I knew I was on I knew I was on something. I you know, I didn't have quite the I remember releasing that or soft releasing it and getting getting emails from bike radar, cycling news, and like a few other outlets and being so confused, but they were like, really into like what are you doing, man?

SPEAKER_00 31:44

Oh hey, they were like, Oh, he's doing bikes.

SPEAKER_06 31:47

I was like, no, I'm just I don't know what I'm doing. But I guess that was the first bike that you Yeah, did with yeah, that I had the I was like, okay, we might do it. Oh yeah, d I Daniel uh d uh Danny and uh Carla.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:02

I made one for him. That's right. But that was our sponsored athlete at the time.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 32:11

Because we were already moving out of being on the road full time, and I was like, well, we gotta pay someone else to be out. Or not pay, but make I wanted to have a team rider, kind of like what how uh Matt from Crust had done with The Romancer for me.

SPEAKER_05 32:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 32:23

And so I was like, okay. And so Danny did some awesome rides on that. We did the Camino Diablo with him on that.

SPEAKER_00 32:30

That's right.

SPEAKER_06 32:31

In the deep sand.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Yeah, it worked great.

SPEAKER_06 32:33

So, you know, cool stuff. Cool stuff. Uh that's when I met some people. Yes. So my life. Let's put a bow on that and move on to storm of the century with Orya.

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Bingagot.

SPEAKER_06 32:51

You uh you did I wanna I wanna just say I think promises were made.

SPEAKER_00 32:56

Promises were made. Promises were kicked.

SPEAKER_06 33:00

So out of your 800 miles, 800 miles that you've logged in this year, and an eighth of that Done one day. Done in one day.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Yeah, so I it wasn't a century proper. I was shy five.

SPEAKER_06 33:14

I think that's cooler.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

You think so?

SPEAKER_06 33:16

Uh-huh. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

I mean, I was shy four point one.

SPEAKER_06 33:21

I always like to do like if it's gonna be a century, I'll keep it at 99. Just you just love edging. Just to be like it's like such a flex. You're like, centuries don't mean anything to me.

SPEAKER_00 33:30

99 because you're just on a ride. Well, I'm not that way. I do love going triple digits, but I'm also very okay with 95. I had a great day. I took my road bike out and mostly stuck to roads, although I hit some gravel because you must if you or well, I must if I want to enjoy myself. It can't just be paint a picture.

SPEAKER_06 33:51

What bike are you on?

SPEAKER_00 33:53

I'm on the Cannondale Pre-CAD CAD bike. It's red.

SPEAKER_04 34:00

A road bike.

SPEAKER_00 34:01

It's a road bike. I already said it's a road bike. Great, great little fast car. It's red, the color of speed. And it weighs, I think, like 19 pounds.

SPEAKER_06 34:13

Tell us about the topics. What kind of tires have we got? What do we got? We got some. I mean, we got what what we got the fattest tire we could fit in there, which is a 30.

SPEAKER_00 34:21

Which is a 30, and it's not a size that ultra dynamico made, sadly.

SPEAKER_06 34:26

So they're your average speed would be quite a bit higher if it's a few.

SPEAKER_00 34:29

It would be a lot higher, I would say. Yeah. If I was riding on race casing ultra dynamico, best in the industry. What are on there? What what tires are on there?

SPEAKER_06 34:40

Those are challenged perirrubet, something like that. So it's a slight amount of protection on it. But I do, you know, challenged those those tires are have lasted quite a long quite a bit. But they're not they're not vulcanized. So they they it's like kind of made it by in the old style. So unfortunately, like the edges do kind of come unlaminated, unglued. It's starting to happen for for the Cannondale.

SPEAKER_00 35:03

But I, you know, this is my fake team bike. Because everyone in Nutmeg Country team Or obsessed with red. Is obsessed with red. And they all have the fastest color. Darren CR1s built up for them in the team colors. So I have a fake one.

SPEAKER_06 35:22

Which we will be pre-ordering in probably next week, folks.

SPEAKER_00 35:24

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_06 35:25

Yep. CR1 by Ron's Bikes, Country Road, mid-reach road bike. You can fit 33s or 38s. Those are the two things that Ultra Dynamica offers. So or or just, or if you want 30s, I won't say no.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Yeah. I would love a 33. I mean, I put me on the list.

SPEAKER_06 35:42

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 35:43

If possible. But yeah, beautiful ride. It's riding roads. I used to ride all the time when I was doing my centuries with the full moon regularly. It was it was just a beautiful day out. It was like the first really nice day that we had pretty much all week because we had all of the smoke from the wildfires in Canada and up north in the upper peninsula there coming down and just wreaking havoc. Like it looked like the sky.

SPEAKER_06 36:14

It reeked.

SPEAKER_00 36:15

It it smelled, but it also just made the sun look like the moon. My nephew was like, look at the moon in the middle of the day. I was like, that's the sun, you dummy. God, learn. You're six years old. You should know.

SPEAKER_05 36:31

You should know that by now.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Yeah. So yeah, and then there was all that rain on Saturday when we normally do our big we had six inches of rain. I love seeing what you know nature has wrought to these lands after after a big storm day like that. So I just wanted to be on my bike all day. It was gonna be like 70 and kind of peekaboo sun. And I just had a great solo day, you know. I also needed that day to process through some stuff, you know. On these centuries, there's always tears. Tears for fears. And yeah, just just love it for all kinds of mental and physical upkeep. And I was uh pretty fast. I think my fastest century I've ever done was at mid-south a bunch of years ago with you and Patrick. Like everybody was there, and I did like 105 in 13 miles.

SPEAKER_06 37:37

Really? You averaged 13 miles a month.

SPEAKER_00 37:38

I did, I checked my activities.

SPEAKER_06 37:40

What was what was the elevation gain?

SPEAKER_00 37:42

It wasn't much. It was, I think I want to say like four or five. And the one that I just did 95 with 5,737, completed in 756, 7 hours 56 minutes. So I averaged 12, which is very good for me, just like right off the right off the bat.

SPEAKER_06 38:02

Only 700 miles in the legs this year prior to that.

SPEAKER_00 38:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 38:06

So yeah, I was very impressed. I just think you're so cool that you when I was on a ride with the with the guys, and they're like, Where's Aria today? And I was like, extreme Aria out doing a century.

SPEAKER_00 38:17

Yeah, the pendulum has swung to the extreme side.

SPEAKER_06 38:20

The extreme side, and they're like, wow. And I was like, thinking I was like, it's pretty fucking cool that that my sweetheart is is capable of so much and and and can perform at this level, just like you know, when you set your mind to it and you do it, I guess there's something about what is that about these century rides that makes them so doable for you?

SPEAKER_00 38:42

I think it's just being outside all day.

SPEAKER_06 38:46

And so you have but you're not necessarily like an outside all day type of person, though.

SPEAKER_00 38:52

Yeah, I could I could not, but I think for my type of mind, there's like so many decisions you have to make in a day. Like, what are you gonna eat? What are you gonna do in this hour and that hour? What are the tasks? Like all of that melts away, and you just become laser focused on like I've got my food in my bag, I've got the route downloaded, like for 10 hours I am doing this singular thing that is moving my body through space, like the best I can. And the decision-making fatigue goes away, like all of all of the daily stuff kind of melts away, and you're just like in it, you're in the moment, and you can kind of like check out almost of your day-to-day, and like the drudgery of every day, like dishes and deciding on dinner and all this stuff, goes away, and you can just be. And I think that's the thing about centuries that I love so much is just a whole day to yourself to just be out there and deal with whatever comes up. And I'm really proud of myself for this specific one because I kept my breaks really short. Like all the past centuries I've done, they have always been I'm out there for like 12 hours. I was only out there for nine and a half hours, and it was very intentional of like taking breaks whenever I wanted, but I just didn't linger too long.

SPEAKER_06 40:23

Yeah, I was shocked with how quickly you got that done.

SPEAKER_00 40:25

Yeah, yeah. I didn't linger too long, and while I was riding, I was very conscious of like keeping my pace and my speed up. So I was kind of locked in and really enjoyed myself. Like the the the self-talk I had in my head was like, you're gonna do this in sub eight hours, and I know you can do it. Like, if you want to quit, you can quit later. Like quitting comes very easily in my head. So I don't need to work on thinking that I could quit anytime because that's always available to me. But what I was thinking was like, of course you can do this in sub eight. Like you got it in your legs, and then I did. Yeah. So it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_03 41:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:09

Highly recommend it.

SPEAKER_06 41:10

Yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_00 41:11

I'm definitely gonna bring back full moon centuries because I I need it.

SPEAKER_06 41:14

I think that's your aptitude. You know, these long these long rides are definitely your aptitude. Yeah, I feel really good on it. Now that you're getting speedier at them, you could even go longer. That's like the cool thing about you know, once you get once you Yeah, doing a century, I feel like just about anyone who's listening to this, you could do a century. Like you could do it. It's just a matter of doing it. You know, if you keep eating, that's the that's the Yes. I had a lot of eating. If you I you know Sarah Swallow told me this once. I re that really I really liked the that that the only thing you like on a bike tour, you could go as long as you want, you just keep eating. That's all it that's all it takes. You just gotta keep on giving the body fuel that it likes and not like making your stomach sick. But you know, if you keep on giving your body calories, you'd be amazed with what it can do.

SPEAKER_03 41:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 42:00

Um and so, yeah, I just I think you know, as as you get faster with it, you could start doing like 150. You could do 200, you could start doing these randoneering rides and I don't know what's going on. Oh no. But you know, it's just I don't think.

SPEAKER_00 42:13

Well, Samantha and I talked on the phone yesterday and we did bring up QB uh QBP, Paris Press Paris again, because that's just like something. It's the there's more exciting races for sure, but because it's so historic, the first one, and there's a structure to it that like brings in group efforts and like uh rearing like gearing up for it. It's in 2027. I don't know. I I keep flirting with it. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 42:38

I could see you liking that. Yeah, me personally.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

Hell to hell to the no.

SPEAKER_06 42:42

Hell to the no. I don't ever want to be on my bike for that long. Like that like I And I do. Yeah, and you do. We have these different I'm always afraid of yeah, I'm the more mo I have the moderate approach, you have the extreme approach.

SPEAKER_00 42:54

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's why I'm the extremist and Ronnie's the moderate uh in politics as well.

SPEAKER_06 43:05

So that wraps up the storm of the century, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 43:08

It sure does.

SPEAKER_06 43:09

Mm-hmm. I'm really proud of you for getting out there and doing that. That was really cool.

SPEAKER_00 43:13

Thank you. I hadn't done ride that long since the Tour Divide 2023.

SPEAKER_06 43:18

Wow. Yeah. Is that real?

SPEAKER_00 43:19

Yeah, that's real. I had not done a century.

SPEAKER_06 43:23

She's back.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

Or anywhere close. She's back since then. And it feels really good, I must say.

SPEAKER_06 43:27

Yeah, yeah. Oh, I'm I'm I'm curious to when we get to talk about this next one, hopefully just next a month away. Oh, full moon is actually coming up. Uh it's it's it's half full right now.

SPEAKER_00 43:36

I'm such a sicko right now for it because I like want to ride every day now. Yeah. Because you know how it's kind of addictive? Like I felt really good. Yeah. Yeah. Yesterday I went for like a ten mile recovery ride and I was just like singing and had a great time.

SPEAKER_06 43:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 43:52

Yeah, when you when I think I might do it every week.

SPEAKER_06 43:55

When the legs feel good.

SPEAKER_00 43:56

Yeah. The legs are uh, you know, they're good. Uh Uh you know. Uh so yeah. All right, well Should we bring out the local pervert?

SPEAKER_06 44:06

Do we or or were we doing yeah, that's right. We have a local pervert to bring out. So I'm gonna put this on a quick pause, gonna go upstairs f and and extract Alex from our bathroom. I don't know if you could call it a bathroom right now. I don't know if you could call it a bathroom before that either though.

SPEAKER_00 44:21

I'll post photos.

SPEAKER_06 44:22

Okay, before and after photos, folks, like we were saying, we were basically just popping a squat in a hole in the floor. Not basically. It was a dark hole. Ask our friends. Yeah, we had a indoor Maybe we should get MJ on the show, Ron's mom, to talk about horror end of horrified by our bathroom for years.

SPEAKER_00 44:41

She bit her tongue, though. She's done a good job.

SPEAKER_06 44:43

All right. Well, let's go find Alex.

SPEAKER_00 44:44

Let's get Alex our savior.

SPEAKER_06 44:46

Oh boy. Live, local, and late breaking. We've got you want to do your full name? You want to we've already said it. Yeah, you already said it. Go for it. Alexander Dyson, local pervert and and roof salesman now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 45:01

And runner up for best in show.

SPEAKER_06 45:03

Runner up for best in show at the Nor'easter. Mm-hmm. IT. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And harbinger of the word of the term bricked up here on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 45:11

Yes. Thank you for that. Yeah, you're welcome.

SPEAKER_06 45:13

I'm happy to hear it getting used.

SPEAKER_00 45:15

Are you bricked up right now?

SPEAKER_06 45:17

We're getting there. Yeah, yeah. Um so only the second guest, as the first live guest. I no, I guess Taylor was a live guest, but the first like in-person guest. Yeah. I know. What a fall from grace. It's gone from Taylor Finney to the local pervert. And I should say that we refer to you as the local pervert because of how like the like the cold sweats that you were having at the Nor'easter last year while you were entering your CR1 team road bike into the competition for best in show. And afterwards, when you were faced with a Brian Chapman's uh Bianchi. The Bianchi that he had read. Oh, yeah. Oh no, I remember.

SPEAKER_07 46:01

Yeah, I think about it every day. Every morning I wake up.

SPEAKER_06 46:07

You were coming at me, your eyes were so glazed over.

SPEAKER_00 46:10

I remember the eyes.

SPEAKER_06 46:12

The eyes were and I was like, I I didn't graze. I'm gonna say that that was the moment when you really endeared yourself to me. As a local pervert. As a local pervert. Because I was like, this guy has it harder than any of us. Like like he like That was a that was one of the best bikes on site that day. I I was so impressed by how just completely pie-eyed you were about this bike. And asking everyone, should I get should I get it? Should it shit and I was like, wow, this this is this was some this this is something else.

SPEAKER_00 46:41

So it was the eyes of a jungle cat as it's about to pounce on its prey. You know how they get all big and like jungle cat. You know, like they get low and they're about to lunge.

SPEAKER_07 46:54

I I implore your listeners to go and look up the bike I'm talking about because it is a beautiful, beautiful bike. It was a it was a trashed Bianchi that Brian Chapman got his hands on, totally refinished. I think he like took out some dents, repainted it, just this like lusty silver. And you made the brakes. Handmade the brakes. That alone. And oh my god, trying those brakes, it's like you know, you you you grab them at first and you're like, that's a little soft, but like no, you keep going. Perfectly modulated. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 47:25

You're saying all the words I love. So let's start. We already said your name. Yes.

SPEAKER_07 47:30

Where did you grow up? West Hartford, Connecticut. With with a hint of the Philadelphia area. Hint of the Philadelphia area. Yeah. Yeah. From ages cream cheese? Yes, exactly. Okay. Yeah, from ages eight to thirteen, I was outside of the outside of Philly in the suburbs.

SPEAKER_06 47:46

So then, but 13 and and beyond, you're back in Hartford. Yes. West Hartford. West Hartford. West Hartford. West Hartford. Let's be clear.

SPEAKER_05 47:53

Westford. West Hartford.

SPEAKER_06 47:55

Although I lived in Hartford a lot in my adult years. Oh yeah. So this is also our Zen master.

SPEAKER_03 48:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 48:03

Bringing the edge to Nutmeg Country. What's your age, if you don't mind me asking?

SPEAKER_07 48:08

33, 34 next week. Okay. And I think same as you. You're turning 21 next week, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 48:14

Yeah, just about. Yeah. That's right. That's right. We do we fairly leo. We don't share a birthday, but it's one day apart, right? Yeah. So a fellow Leo here, folks, and it is our season. We are roaring. Indeed. Roar with me just off to the side of the mic.

SPEAKER_05 48:29

Roar. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 48:32

And shout out, fellow Leo Joe Cruz. Yeah, yep, Joe Cruz, shout out.

SPEAKER_00 48:36

Oh, he was in my dream last week.

SPEAKER_06 48:38

And Brian Walsh. And Brian Walsh. We got a lot of we got a lot of Leos right around. Yeah. Okay. So in our own crew here. Yeah. So when you were growing up, what was your, you know, like what were you into? I want to I want to lead we're going to tie this into what got you into into curated bikes. So use that context, please.

SPEAKER_07 48:56

Yeah, I'd say as a teenager is mostly skateboards and marijuana. Okay. Solid. And then when I was 17, I got a like 1982, two or three Puke Odyssey.

SPEAKER_02 49:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_07 49:10

That I immediately stripped down and got a fixed gear rear wheel for. So what what year is this? This was 2009. Okay. So the height of fixic culture.

SPEAKER_06 49:21

Still pretty you know, you are advanced, because that's still, you know, you're still within the the the restraints of, you know, it hadn't quite jumped the shark yet, the fixed gear movement. Maybe it had, but you're thousand nine? You're still there. You're still there. You know, if you go beyond, if you get into fixed gears beyond 2010, then you're probably you're probably delivering for Jimmy Johns.

SPEAKER_07 49:42

So at this time, what got me into it was my friend Paul showed me. You want to shout out Paul when you're talking about it. Yeah, I'll shout out Paul. Paul Pilipicion, my childhood friend, who's how you say it.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 49:54

We've been getting him deep into the alt bikes lately. So we grew up skateboarding and riding bikes together. And I remember we stumbled across the MacAframa video. If you remember the MacAframa guys, they were like a fixed gear team club cult out in San Francisco. Oh, but different than MASH? Different than MASH. Is this is this like AltMash?

SPEAKER_03 50:14

Possibly.

SPEAKER_07 50:15

I'd say maybe probably around the same Genesis. I don't really know MASH's timeline. But this was just like a club. Okay. And they put out just a cool long-form video that was, you know, it's just them like throwing big skids down these, you know, San Francisco hills, and you know, you get like early fixed gear freestyle, but they're doing it on like Bianchi's with arrow spokes.

SPEAKER_06 50:39

Okay. I could I could picture it. I'm throwing up a little bit in my mouth, but I could picture it.

SPEAKER_00 50:45

Keep it down, Ron. Keep it down.

SPEAKER_07 50:47

So that got fixed gear on my radar, which made me want to build one up. And you know, I I wouldn't say I was a bike builder at that time. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 50:56

But you had you were you were you had an eye for c for for curation. Yeah. Yes. So leading into what you're into now, when did you start getting into more ATB Reddit subreddit style builds? Subreddit style builds? Yeah, yeah. We should say we should preface this all by saying you're a big deal on Reddit. I'm a medium deal. Medium deal? Yeah. On like one subreddit on X-Biking. X-biking. Yeah. Describe to us X-Biking Reddit.

SPEAKER_07 51:24

X-biking, it's, you know, you take it's basically take a vintage 26er, you know, throw some bars with some rise on there, slap together a bunch of old components, some new components. I don't know. It's I feel like the your like classic resto mod 26er aesthetic. Okay. All right. You know, bags, racks.

SPEAKER_06 51:46

Would you say that was your inception into the modern alt bike world? No, I think here. Hold on, let's let this breeze pass just in case it gets a little noisy.

SPEAKER_07 51:55

I think my modern inception was I kind of wanted to get into gravel. And I was following Tony Kropitchka already just from his climbing and his trail running, which I was doing both of. And he was on the crust team with you. And so I was seeing his aesthetic of like the crust bikes with, you know, like the the deep profile, you know, he'd have zips, envies, hunts, and just kind of that like resto mod aesthetic.

SPEAKER_06 52:25

Yes, that's right. I think that's really cool to have that connection. Because you're also an ultra runner yourself. Yeah, formerly. I mean Leadville 100 finisher right here. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 52:34

He has the buckle.

SPEAKER_06 52:35

I got the buckle. I got the big buckle. You're you're you're so good about your accolades. Also a finisher of the Appalachian Trail.

SPEAKER_07 52:43

Oh, yeah, correct. Southbound. 2020 southbound. Classic style. No, the classic style would be northbound. Okay. Well, I'm not sure. But I go against the green. He goes against the green. But yeah, no, I mean like in purist, continuous style. Yeah, purist. Yeah. That's what I wanted to know. He's Pio. Pure, he's Pio. He's a certain level of purity. You're a Connecticut boy. Yes. Pedigree.

SPEAKER_06 53:02

So what was your what was your first I should say, what was your first alt build?

SPEAKER_07 53:08

My first alt build. Well, my my first build was that bomb track that I kind of just built up, like I don't know. It was it was big bike spec'd, you know, and it was it was very capable, you know. That was 650 by 50. I've I built it up. At this point I figured out that you lived 30 minutes away, and then you were promoting the spring fling, and that was my first what I thought was a gravel ride. Oh.

SPEAKER_06 53:33

You thought that was a gravel ride.

SPEAKER_07 53:34

I thought that was a gravel ride. It's not a gravel ride, folks.

SPEAKER_00 53:37

Pure ATB.

SPEAKER_07 53:38

Pure ATB on a drop bar bike. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So 50s, that's pretty good though. Yeah, 50s. I I got through it.

SPEAKER_06 53:45

So that was the that build, and I remember going on a few that was when we started inviting you on some, because you were obviously an in like an endurance guy. So I knew you could sick out. You're real sicko. I knew you could get out, I knew you could get down with these longer rides with us.

SPEAKER_02 53:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 53:59

And and but you were on that bomb track, you had some pretty wide bars on it, too. And some cow chipper 50s. Yeah, they were too wide. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:06

And uh honestly, when I was first seeing you come for rides, I thought you were a roadie.

SPEAKER_07 54:11

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_00 54:14

My bad. I meant that as an insult. So I took it as a compliment. That's great.

SPEAKER_06 54:18

Well, he was performance. He was optimized. Yeah. He was optimized. He still is with the Zen. Yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 54:24

This guy's PEDs right there.

SPEAKER_06 54:26

Yeah, yeah. So we did some pretty long rides together up near your way. Yes. And but it really, you know, for me, it wasn't really until you started to put together your team bike, your CR1 team bike, that I was like, where is this guy getting this stuff? Like, so t tell us about your descent into madness.

SPEAKER_07 54:47

Well, I'd say, okay, so my first alt bike after the bomb track, I really wanted a 26er. Okay. So I started with somebody's already mostly built antelope, Trek 830. Okay. And it was, you know, like Nitto Riser bars, Dior 1x10, those like Maxis dirt jumper, you know, with like the peanut butter sidewalls. And it was a good start, and then from there, just kind of slipped into madness. I remember I I ordered ortho bars for that bike, and then at the same time I stumbled across an M2 stumpy on eBay. And I don't know, I don't even remember. I texted you and was just like, hey man, like if I get both these things, I'm basically just recreating your M2. Is that cool? And you're like, ha ha, go for it.

SPEAKER_06 55:32

I love that. I love I I love seeing those bikes recreated. I love seeing people's like personal takes on them. And because there is always something a little different.

SPEAKER_07 55:40

Just last week there was a beautiful one that was Orthobar M2 Stumpy, same one I have, and the guy messaged me and was just like, hey, I just wanted to reach out. Like I saw yours on X biking, and this is like a total ripoff of yours and by proxy Ronnie's. That's cool.

SPEAKER_06 55:53

Yeah, I love that. Yeah, that was that was really cool. So tell us about your I guess tell us about your favorite bike right now. How many uh first off, how many bikes do you have? So uh actually I wanna I wanna start this over.

SPEAKER_00 56:08

Try again. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 56:09

How many bikes did you have when you first built up that bomb track? So your your inception into madness? That was my third. I had to So did you did you have three bikes in the stable at that point? Yes.

SPEAKER_07 56:21

How were they? I had my Bianchi Pista Concept fixed gear. Okay. Pure, like late 2000s aesthetic fixed gear. Okay. You were delivering Jimmy Johns on that. I was delivering Jimmy Johns on that, correct. And then I had a 1983 Puke Odyssey, not the one I turned into a fixed gear, because that got stolen in Boulder when I was a kid. It was just another one my dad got at a garage sale and was like, same bike, you want it? I was like, hundred bucks, why not? Uh-huh. Road that thing probably twice. Okay. That's still in my dad's garage. And then the bomb track. Okay, so three bikes. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 56:52

How many years ago was that? Four. Four years ago. Yes. Okay. Where are you going with this? Let's go four years later. What tell describe to us your stable right now? Do you want me to just go through them one by one? Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 57:06

Okay. Well, I in a descending, I want the best one last. The best one last. Well, the best one is almost built and we're waiting on that derailleur.

SPEAKER_06 57:15

And you could get into it a little. I think a preview, you know, we'll build a little bit of a little bit more. What's your worst one right now?

SPEAKER_07 57:20

I you know It's gotta be ridable. You don't hate any of your kids, but I'd say I have a Klein built up as a single speed right now. Oh, it's a Klein. It's beautiful, but we're just not in a good single speed area. As you've mentioned, you know, it's just you've either got the wrong gearing to get there or you've got the wrong gearing for when you're there. Yeah, yeah. So it doesn't get written much.

SPEAKER_06 57:39

We like to ride you know in alt cycling, I think a hallmark of alt cycling is riding your bike to the trailhead. Absolutely. You know, I think that's a big you know, that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_07 57:49

And also when you live in the third smallest state in the union, you have no excuse. Fair enough. So so that's the rat uh uh Klein Rascal, right? 1991 Klein Rascal. All right. It's cool. It's cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 58:02

Check what's your what's your Instagram handle?

SPEAKER_07 58:03

At A-L-X-D-Y-S-O-N. I would check that out. He's got a lot of cool builds on there. Pretty good photographer, too. Hey, thanks. So okay, let's move on. What's next?

SPEAKER_02 58:11

Every day.

SPEAKER_07 58:12

All right, I'm I'm ditching the worst to best premise because I love them all equally. Okay, all right, all right. We've got the Bridgestone T700, 1987 Bridgetone T700.

SPEAKER_06 58:22

You just built that up.

SPEAKER_07 58:22

Yeah. So that's like early. I mean, Grant Peterson had been at Bridgestone for a couple of years, but you can tell that's like full Grant Peterson DNA, you know, like the early ATB, or um, yeah, I guess ATB. You know. Yeah. Well, it's it was spec'd in 1987 with 28s.

SPEAKER_04 58:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 58:42

So it's, you know, he calls it a sport tour. There's really nothing touring about it other than clearance. You know, mid-reach calipers came spec'd with 28s, currently running Kava 33s. You got a photo of that on your Instagram? I do. Check that out. Check it out. Okay. That one's hot. That one's hot. What do we got next? Next, we've got the stumpy, the M2 Stumpy. Okay. Ortho bars. Okay. The best bunny hopping bar out there. That's true, folks. Folks, you you want you want some good bunny hoppers. The ortho bars are like picking up your groceries. It's just your bars are right next to you.

SPEAKER_03 59:12

That's true.

SPEAKER_07 59:13

Throw a dropper post on there, you'll get 10 feet high. And then we've got what are the 26 years? Oh, I've got the MB1 I just finished up. Oh, yeah. That's a hot one. So 1991 Bridgestone MB1. Yeah, Darren puts Darren didn't make the fork, he just put in some toilets on it. I got it with a period incorrect Judy. I swapped it out. I found the wrong paint color Richie Logic Unicrown fork. Yeah, Darren added the mid-blade mounts because I was like, I'm taking it to powder, you know, jazz it up a little bit. Right, right. And got a pretty close powder match. That's a that's a good bike. That's a good bike. So that one's dropper posted, one by eleven with the modern white industries cranks. Okay, okay. White industries hubs. Nice, nice. Fun rig.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:00

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:01

Is that all the 26ers?

unknown 1:00:03

No.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:04

And then I've got Trek 930, 1994. That's got an Edson Steel segmented fork. That's the that's the basket shredder. Okay, okay. Okay. So now moving on to we've got the team bike. Okay. Are people still listening? Are you guys still listening? America and beyond.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:22

We love this.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:24

America loves this. We've got the Ronzbikes Larkin CR1 Team Color Edition. One of eight.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

The Armadilla.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:33

The Armadilla. Yeah, one of eight team bikes. So that's got a full Super Super Record 13. Super Record 12 rim break mechanical. The last of the rim break mechanical record groups. Probably the best rim break mechanical groups that will ever be conceived.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:49

I will say I've I have I hopped on that the other day and I was like blown away by how like the shifting was very nice. The clicks are fantastic. Good haptic. Everything you love about Campy was denatured into that shifting experience. So that bike is hot as hell. That bike is hot as hell. You got pictures of that on your Instagram? Oh yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:12

You're gonna have to check out his Instagram for all of these.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:19

The chisel, the upcoming. The upcoming. So tell us what you've done with this. So I bought the 2025 chisel full sus off of a buddy.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:28

This is aluminum full suspension cross-country bike by specialized.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:32

Yeah, so 130 mil fork, 110mm shock in the rear. So XC plus light down country. Good for New England.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:41

And with the way that we talk on this podcast with mountain biking being the lowest rung of cycling culture, you know, many would hear you talking about this bike and just be like, God, another one? You know, but what have you done to this? So how have you made this your own?

SPEAKER_07 1:01:58

I had a graphic designer make some decals to look like the specialized branding is and the fox fork is that of the Fat Chances. I had it powder coated, the like fat chance lavender, and I designed the whole thing. It's basically supposed to look like a 1991 team fat chance yo Eddy. With I was referencing John Watson's personal one a lot. So thank you, John Watson, for the excellent reference photos. So yeah, I put a 130mm Fox Factory fork on there, 34. Kashima dropper to match, carbon NV bars. Okay. It's so you got let's hear about the the purple anno that we got on here. For purple anno, we've got uh white industries hubs. We've got purple Garbaruck to match, we've got a purple Madrone derailer coming any day now.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:55

This bike is going to be fire. It's yeah. Folks, not up on the Instagram yet, but I I'm thinking I want to take photos of this bike when it comes out because I've probably this week. Yeah, okay. So, you know, we'll uh we'll keep you keep you updated on that. I'll probably I'll might you know maybe even send it into the Radvis, see if John wants to put it up. Yeah, that would be most excellent. So okay. I'm sure these are all going on your Red, your Red, because you're a Reddit superstar.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:21

I wouldn't go that far, but yeah, I'll usually post him. I'll post a Reddit. Yeah. That's well folks. Ultra romance is the ultra romance of Reddit. He's not even on Reddit. He's the king of X biking and he doesn't have an account. That's why we keep him around here, folks.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:36

Leos love to compliment.

SPEAKER_06 1:03:38

Yeah, Leo's, we we're just like licking each other's fur right now. Yeah, oh yeah. All right. Now we want it what everyone's thinking right now. Okay, I'm gonna say it. Are you single? How can you how can you deal with such a sick addiction of being such a depraved pervert and keep a relationship at the same time?

SPEAKER_07 1:03:58

Because I have a girlfriend who is a special needs teacher and has a lot of patience for folks with ADHD.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:05

That's the ticket. That's the ticket.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:07

Yeah. I didn't realize she was a special needs teacher. Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Okay, an epiphany here. So, folks, if you're this much of a pervert, you better go find someone who has the patience of a saint. Yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes. And uh is able to, you know, appreciate the uh eccentricities of the brain. Yes. Lots of patience is required. Wow. Okay, so she's all about the local pervert. Yes. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:38

Yes. Yeah. Yes, she is.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:39

Well, I think uh I think that pretty much I I hope that uh a continuation of this series, I would like to have Sarah on just to ask her. Yeah, that would be fun. Yeah, just to like say, like, oh yeah, what do you think of all this? Because, you know, I this is this is a, you know, I I think a lot of us are wondering how you balance cycling and relationships. And not only cycling, but the cycling when it's becomes a lifestyle.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:04

Oh, well, you throw out your receipts before she gets home.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:06

Okay, so we're already but she would look at the receipts and be like, not another bike, Alex.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:12

No, it's before it. There was one time I had I had an invoice from I I ordered a Riffendel Marks rack off a crust, and she's like, that thing was $160? I would have guessed it was $40. I was like, I gotta start hiding those slips from now on. Oh, yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:29

So yeah, we probably won't bring that up with her.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:32

Yeah, so we won't tell her how much garbara cranks are.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:34

Yeah, yeah. Okay, all right. I'm getting them at cost. Yeah. All right, well.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:42

I would love to have her on.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:44

Yeah, yeah. Uh we're gonna have her on at some point.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:47

Just tell her all of this information. Yeah, I'll I'll give her fair warning. What have you been hiding?

SPEAKER_06 1:05:54

Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of us alt cyclists out there are wondering how you even get a girlfriend in the first place. Like we're All wondering how we get our first girlfriends, you know, because we're such deep nerds.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:04

This is not Alex.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:05

This is not Alex, though, folks. You know, this is an exception. This is your this is this is everyone's housewives fantasy. Have the construction man come over and unclog the toilet and come downstairs and be like, Well, but did that. Laying pipe in here.

SPEAKER_07 1:06:22

Which I will be doing later today in your house, by the way. Uh literal pipe laying, not right. Not the metaphorical.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:29

And and last week, when you when you had your hands all covered in our fecal matter after removing our toilet, Aria was feeding you cherries. That was yeah, that was nice. That was very thoughtful. Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:40

I got that.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:41

Well, we're already uh an hour and eight minutes into this podcast, and you have given us some serious content here. I think everyone's gonna really be content. Yeah, content content. You are I know. Yeah, you are on it.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:54

Megan the stallion is wearing a shirt that said this is cunt or something. So this is cunt fresh in the brain fresh in the brain. All right.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:59

I'm bummed I missed Tor Talk. What would you guys talk about? Well, you'll have to listen. All right. You'll have to listen like everyone else. All right. But hopefully they've or if they fast forwarded through that to this. I don't know. Folks, uh, we are going to conclude this segment with a. Oh, wait, one more bike. I still have the course. I have the Alamax. Oh, yes, of course. You have an Al you have a you that's right. For this bathroom, a work trade. We got an the I don't know if y'all saw the the kind of like, what would you call that color? Butternut? Curry. Curry. I like that. Yeah, a curry-colored Allumax that Alex is going to be building up. Can't wait. I mean, honestly, you know, in our group, I love the way that Troy builds bikes. Troy and I have kind of been riffing off one another for years, though. So it's cool to have this influx of like new energy and how you seriously are talented in your your vision for the builds.

SPEAKER_07 1:07:54

Thanks, Rob. And so, and not only that, but you've been my my biggest inspiration along the way.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:00

You're a sponge for not only the culture, but for how to actually do you build your own wheels, you do all the stuff. You're new, you're relatively new to cycling, yet you're able to do so much. And so I think that that kind of leads into our next discussion on gatekeeping and cycling. You know? Oh, there's also the country fixed. Oh, you have another butt. You have the country fixed. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:22

You are a complete pervert. Yeah, well, you love that one. I love that one.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:25

You are oh my god, you are disgusting. Yeah, it's true.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:30

That towel is stiff.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:32

It's a minute 10. Do we even have time to get into gatekeeping and cycling?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:36

Totally. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:37

All right, yeah. People like the long pods. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:39

I listen to podcasting.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:41

Feel free to stick around if you want or if you need to get back to work.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:44

We're talking about we're we're here right now.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:46

It'll only be another another twenty minutes or so, but maybe we'll I do have to work on your bathroom, but you know.

SPEAKER_07 1:08:51

But also I'm on my own clock, so fuck it.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:56

All right. Well, folks, gatekeeping and cycling. Uh is gatekeeping alt? That is kind of like what we're thinking here. Now I'm gonna pass it off to Arya because you've got some sociological expertise to lend to this.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:09

Aaron Ross Powell Well, the Webster dictionary defines gatekeeping as okay, but seriously, let's figure out what gatekeeping actually is, and then we could get into the meat and potatoes because there was or the tofu and potatoes because there was a viral video like surreal or something that I saw and you saw too. Maybe you saw as well. No, Sally saw it. Sal saw it too, and because I was talking to her about what it means. This person said like they used to ride bikes that were fast bikes and had to wear spandex, but all kind of ends up being a uniform too, and there's gatekeeping with within like not party pacing, I guess. I'm doing a very bad job at synthesizing what this guy was saying, but basically that like it's the SLC punk take is punks end up looking like each other and then they have to have the uniform to even be punk when the whole thing is you're trying not to fit in or you're trying you're just doing your own thing. And use the word gatekeeping, which is what got us going on this. And I really like gatekeeping as a concept in theory, but I think because people know this word, they use it and without really thinking about it, because it's lexiconic. And gatekeeping refers to like restricting this is the definition, right? It's controlling access, withholding information, limiting participation in an exclusive community. It could include policing, which is like enforcing strict unwritten rules, excluding or keeping individuals out of a group hobby or status by unilaterally imposing criteria. And last aspect is hoarding, which is like keeping secrets or valuable resources. Like low store locations are media to oneself to maintain their exclusivity. And by these definitions, what do you guys think?

SPEAKER_06 1:11:18

Yeah, yeah, I don't know how it is in cities. You know, we because we I feel like we're a a bit apart because we live out in the country. But as I've noted on this podcast before, we see another cyclist, especially if they're our age in this area, it doesn't matter what they're on. We're chasing them down and inviting them to our rides. And if they can stand a group chat, an overactive group chat, then they'll which is mainly uh you know, halfway focused on pizza, then they may be able to, you know, meet up with one of our rides. But I I don't think that we gatekeep at all. But at the same time, I'm not opposed to gatekeeping because I I I look at it as more as gatekeeping as culture building. Whereas, you know, there are ways that you can, you know, uh uh using Alex as an example here, four years into his curated alt-biking experience, and he's he's firmly in. Firmly in. You know, I I don't I I feel like to master something, it's got to be at least ten years. I can't imagine how you're gonna be in ten years. Hopefully you're still here. I'm not saying still here, I'm saying in bikes. Yes. No, I got I got that, thank you. I'm not saying that. Both, you know, but but you know, it's it's a matter of like the type of you know, respect that you give the culture that's been built. And you you can't give respect to a culture without knowing anything about it. And you know, in the in the in the years before social media, you know, it was a you had to really search for this stuff. You know, you had to really, you couldn't you know, you you either had to know some old head who knew way more than you did and had lived the bike life for decades, you know, or you had to go on Sheldon Brown's website and navigate the strange strangeness there, you know, and so it's like it's it's so you know, I think some older uh riders of my generation get a chip on their shoulder being like, well, who's this, you know? And like, I'll I will admit, I was like, I in my head, I was like, I I gave you I gave you some runway, but it wasn't like a uh it was I kept it in my head, I was like, who is who is this? Like, what are they trying to accomplish here? And like you know, you could take a look at because I'm just I love to look at people's bikes and saddle sniff. It's judgmental, but it's separate. It's not gatekeeping. You know, it's like I wasn't gonna be like, hey, you can't come, you can't come here. Oh wait, hey man, that bag is wrong. What tires are these? You know, like you know, I it wasn't like, oh, Maxis, you can't come.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:57

Yeah, no, you come along. You're quiet about it for a couple of years. A couple of years.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:02

You know, it's not it's so I I guess that would be the like you I want to be as inclusive as possible when it comes to cycling, but you've got to also first off, you've got to be able to keep up with the ride. Because we you know, it's uh if there is a drop ride, you know, if we're if there's a bunch of people on the ride, they don't want to be waiting around. And you know, we we have a which we rarely do, drop rides. Yeah, right, right.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:24

That's usually just like the our summer sicko.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:27

Yeah, if you have a real long day, you gotta get the miles in. You don't want to be waiting up for someone. So you know, there is gatekeeping that happens with that, whereas you just don't have time to wait.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:35

Aaron Powell That's like fitness level gatekeeping, which I think is different than cultural gatekeeping when it comes to like costumes or you know, rituals or objects of worship.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:46

Yeah, the objects of worship, I think. I love the objects of worship, I feel like is very integral to our culture.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:54

Aaron Powell Talismans we call them on X-biking.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:57

Okay. Tell us tell us tell us a talisman that they talk about in X-biking.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:01

Well, your your talismanic parts are gonna be your like your you know, your classic crank sets. Also, to tie into this, I think there is there is an alt cycling uniform. There is like an archetypical bike that is alt. Okay. You know, that's your white industry's cranks, you know, white industries or Chris King hubs, you know, Brooks B17 saddle, Berthault saddle, or you know, just leather saddle in general.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:27

And there are ways to do like searches and find something that's a little bit different. Yeah, but I find these these talismanic components. Yeah. I find them to be conversation starters. I feel like they I feel like they make the they they enrich the experience, the the uh they enrich the social experience experience of the ride or meetup or whatever. Because for me, I can only socialize generally about bikes.

SPEAKER_07 1:15:55

When you and me ride, all we talk about are bikes. We just talk about bike parts.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:59

I've been like that since I was a teenager, you know? And so it's it's for me, I in order to start a conversation, it's there's gotta be something like that to start with. And I'll be like, oh, so where'd you find those cranks? Or like, did you get those off eBay or in a parts bin? Or you know, you just like silly stuff, and then that starts a whole conversation. Then before you know it, you're a guest, you're doing our our bathroom and you're a guest on the podcast. You know, it's just like a it's a they're great conversation starters. And yeah, it can be. Again, cities could be an entirely different. And I look forward to hearing from our listeners like what their experiences are.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:37

What's Austin like people in San Francisco?

SPEAKER_06 1:16:39

Like are people like kicking you out of rides because you don't have the uniform?

SPEAKER_00 1:16:42

They better not be. Like that's crazy, you know, and so it it's it's because what I see is like, yeah, you have these uh talismanic uh friendships of whatever, because you recognize something in in each other. It's like finding somebody like yourself out in the wild, you know? And so you're a band t-shirt.

SPEAKER_07 1:17:03

Like a band t-shirt.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:04

Like a band t-shirt, but then which also a part of the alt cycling uniform.

SPEAKER_07 1:17:07

Yeah. It is.

SPEAKER_00 1:17:09

But that's that's a good one that you bring up the band t-shirt, because when there's a when there's someone else wearing a band t-shirt, you're like, oh, I bet you don't even like name three records, you know, like name three songs. That is that's where the gatekeeping starts. But I don't think that happens in what you guys are talking about, where you recognize a white industry's delicious something and you go up and talk about it because you know, gender essentialism says that men talk about men connect talking about things and women connect talking about more abstract things. So it makes sense for that kind of connection, which is anti-gatekeeping. I mean, the origins of the if I could get into the theory of gatekeeping started with uh social psychologist Kurt Leewin in 1943, but he was talking about how like food is decided by a household, like what food a household eats is decided by like the woman because she's going shopping for the food. So whatever she's buying, you're eating, you know? There's like nothing else but that. And then this other guy, David Manning White, added more of like the mass communication aspect of gatekeeping, which is like how you get information filtered through like the news or whatever it is, which I think is more relative to what we're talking about right now, is because it's like, how do you get the information? Like, how did you learn all this stuff, Alex? You had access to somebody, and like all of this information isn't really gatekeep unless it's behind a paywall, you know? Like the but the Radivus isn't against a paywall. Sheldon Brown's website is extremely accessible. People are talking all the time and making videos and reels about like what's on my bike, what I'm wearing. Like it is there is so much information that I'm not really.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:05

There isn't it. You're right about that. There is no gatekeeping now because it's all out there. Like if you want that information, there's no one holding it back from you.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:12

It's so much out there. Trevor Burrus, Jr.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:13

And as far as like culture like when gatekeeping I think the the point of that reel at the end, it was culture when gate when culture is gatekeeped, the culture disappears or disappears. I don't I don't that's the opposite of what I would think. Like gatekeeping is the culture. Trevor Burrus Well, gatekeeping is in the way that I think what we're talking about it, where there is like these I I guess there's different defin the different ways to interpret gatekeeping, right?

SPEAKER_03 1:19:40

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:41

Where it's like you've got to have some rules, otherwise there's no culture to like adhere yourself to. Not rules, but you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 1:19:50

Like there's got to be the Well, yeah, the markers where you recognize each other.

SPEAKER_07 1:19:54

There's definitely like an aesthetic format, but I think there's plenty of ways to tell you.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:58

If I saw somebody who I didn't know who followed that aesthetic format and like rode by our house right now or something, I'd be on my I'd be get grabbing my bike, like chasing them down, being like, Where did you come from? Where are you? Wanna come? You know, it's it's like That's how you met Eddie. That's how I met Eddie. That's how I met a lot of people.

SPEAKER_00 1:20:15

You've done that. You know, you've literally done that.

SPEAKER_06 1:20:20

No, he was on a surly straggler. Okay, that's and he had like a tie-dye shirt on and a ponytail. And he rode by my parents' house in Clinton, like where there are there's nothing cool going on. And this guy rides by and I chased him down, and it and this is before you and I started dating. So when was this? Almost 20 years 2012 or something. And it it burgeoned into a beautiful relationship. And now Eddie's a good friend and a mainstay of our of our of our group here, you know. So yeah, same thing with Troy. I noticed Troy's bike outside of Foodworks where he was working, also probably more around twel 2010, and he had cloth bar tape on this bike. And I was like, Yep, uh, and that was that was enough for me to be like, ask him about his bar type. Bar tape, where'd you get that? Is that new bombs or uh trust a star, you know? And that that and then that's how we met, you know, because without Troy, we wouldn't have met. So, you know, you go on and on. I just implore everybody to instead of thinking like you're gonna be like all hard ass about this and be like, he doesn't have white industry cranks, can't come on this ride. Like be like, I guess just be like be like a puppy dog. You see somebody with a cool bike, you know, start sniffing. Yeah. And uh that's how you make friends in in alt cycling, I feel.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:35

Regardless of fitness level, regardless of any of that.

SPEAKER_06 1:21:38

It's like itself. It's just an easy way for men, male people, what do you call us? Dudes to form relationships. And and we know that that's a crisis right now. We need it. And these talismanic items componentry on our bicycles is that's our way of doing it. And it's it it gets us it it's something that is fitness related also. It's like a high healthy lifestyle stuff. And and I just think like getting into this is it makes cycling your lifestyle. It makes you think about bikes, makes you want to ride bikes. It's my experience. Is that yours?

SPEAKER_07 1:22:15

Yeah, totally. Yeah. And I'm one of my thoughts is if like the gatekeeping is just in regards to like barrier for entry, because obviously no one's putting or not everyone's gonna put like $450 white industries cranks on their 30-year-old mountain bike. It's that it doesn't have to be that. Like the, you know, the archetype goes beyond that price point. You know, it's just a culture for like valuing the aesthetics of your bicycle, and no one is preventing people from that. If anything, you know, my phone's blowing up all day with people just asking how they can build 26ers and I show my buddies like the cheap parts that they can have a beautiful looking bike and just come thrash in the woods.

SPEAKER_06 1:22:56

And it's such a good way to accomplish all that, you know. Yeah, and of course, you could come out thrashing in the woods on like a on like a Huffy. Who cares? Yeah, totally. That's that'd be sick. That'd be sick. We are not gonna be like you can't come. Yeah. I'd fucking love to see that.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:10

Kristen rode some ATB with us. Remember from Fire in the Kitchen? She had a basket bike, really skinny tires, and did some gnarly, ruddy, rocky descents on that thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:20

Because she did not anything else. It was just she was whooping the whole time. This is the way it is.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:26

You know, that's it's like yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:28

Good point that it might be different in cities because I feel like in cities there's more like crews, more like and that's also kind of the fun play of like social being social creatures.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:39

We've always done this.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:40

You did sharks sharks versus jets, you know, like it's it's just a thing that you do.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:45

And um or like or you could be like, My my arrowhead is made out of obsidian. Mine is made out of a superior. Yeah, yeah. You know, so it's it's always it's always something.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:58

I want I wanted to bring I'm sorry, did you have to do that?

SPEAKER_00 1:24:01

Yeah, it does make sense that like there is that social psychologist came up with this idea of gatekeeping because I think it is very social and it is very psychological, and it's based, I think, on the sensitivities and attitudes generations might have towards like rejection or social anxiety that really makes the gates seem much bigger than they are. I mean, this isn't you know the gates of Mordor. This is more like the white picket fence that you have to hop over.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:32

And now the gatekeeping gate the gatekeepers of cycling traditionally have always been bike shops.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:39

Oh yeah, that's a that's a good one.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:42

Yeah, so I've been in I've been I've had it bad for bikes since 1993.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:50

You have it bad like as an usher? Breathe. Like, you got it, you got it bad. When you're on the phone. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:57

I've had it so bad.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:58

Yeah. And hang up, call right back.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:01

It's been my singular focus since then, these bike, you know, the the curated bike build. And I've worked at a shop. I worked started working at a shop shortly thereafter, and worked at a shop until 2001. And I know a lot about bikes.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:20

Working at a shop, racing bikes, building bikes, fixing flats for 40 hours a week sometimes as a rite of passage into this bike shop.

SPEAKER_06 1:25:30

Exactly. And still and and and and still I have a flush of anxiety before entering any bike shop to this day. When I started, when the Ultra Romance Instagram started taking off 14, 15 years ago now, I guess. I was like, man, if anything, this is a way for me to go into bike shops and not be scared out of my mind because these guys seem to know me and I could walk in now and they're like, hey, look who it is, instead of being like, Who the fuck is this guy?

SPEAKER_00 1:26:03

And what bullshit is he bringing in here?

SPEAKER_06 1:26:05

What bullshit is he bringing in here? You know, and so it's but you know, even so, I just don't, you know, going into the entering that cage of judgment, which is the front door of a bike shop, has always because you you feel it, you know, the mechanic, the the I hope these things I know that this is not the nor I don't know, could be the norm still, but there are exceptions. But the classic bike shop, you walk in and there's a grumpy mechanic and a salesman who doesn't want you there.

SPEAKER_00 1:26:38

Mm-hmm. That's the archetype.

SPEAKER_06 1:26:42

You know, and the and the salesman who doesn't want you there. Maybe they look up, you know, the you you have a question to ask the mechanic and you want to make sure you got everything right in your head. You know, like, is this a 68 or 73 millimeter shell? I gotta get it was that uh what what tube am I even looking for? How wide is how wide of a tube do I need?

SPEAKER_07 1:27:01

And he's just like buy a tarmac and get the fuck out. Precisely.

SPEAKER_06 1:27:05

It's just uh it's it's a cliche in the bike world. To me, to be shamed out of a bike shop. Yeah, we've all I mean, I've been shamed out of so many bike shops.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:16

And for me, I thought that it was like a gendered experience. And because I've I've been uh I've been made to feel like a complete fool under like many times in bike shops, and because I am a fool.

SPEAKER_07 1:27:32

Like so that's you'll be delighted to hear bike shops are equal opportunity discriminators.

SPEAKER_00 1:27:38

That's that's what I've learned is that if you consider yourself a cyclist, you are petrified of bike shops, and that's just the rite of passage. Like, you know, there are these cultural markers that we have objects of worship, talismans that we hold on to for strength, little groups and like the costumes we wear, the rituals. You know, 100 mile rides that you do, whatever it is, there are these little things, and this rite of passage you have to you have to go through, and it's a burden you carry. I like started an entire movement for women trans femme non-binary riders because I thought that it was a gendered thing. I'm like, these fucking dudes talking down to us. And we did. And now there are uh so many channels for all different kinds of identity people to find their group. Like there's Boston queers on wheels right up there who like do racing stuff, they'll be doing camping stuff, and that's all an exclusive group. And is that a gatekeeping thing when you're just saying we don't want any like cis males in this group because it feels a little safer, a little more a little judgment free, more supportive, maybe not as you know, dropped rides are not a thing, but I think these things just need to be communicated. Like, what kind of a ride is this?

SPEAKER_03 1:29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:09

If you know that information, then it's not gatekeeping, right? It's the hoarding of the resources that is the the evil part of gatekeeping. Like you're not sharing, you're being exclusive, you're not welcome. Like if you're doing that, that's fucked up. Don't do that.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:27

Yeah, or maybe there is uh maybe there's even room for that in your small group. Maybe that's the way you want to keep your group, super small, and like you don't want a bunch of people like riding with you.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:37

It's kind of true because when you're out there, you really need to be able to count on your friends because shit could go wrong. Yeah, as we have experienced.

SPEAKER_06 1:29:45

I think bottom line here to r to to wrap this epic, this odyssey is you know, it's you could you could have these, you know, there's hot takes, everyone's got hot takes. There's always ways for us to improve our communities, our bicycle communities. Hi, Amala.

SPEAKER_03 1:30:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:09

You gotta have Amala on talking about. You know, it's it's we don't even get keep this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:30:17

Anyone can just come knock it in here.

SPEAKER_06 1:30:22

The way that you can you, you know, you you could you could feel that you're wearing a uniform and that the uniform is something I you could or you could like branch out from that and do your own thing and still bring it to that community. It depends upon who you're riding with and who your riding friends are. I don't think it's a matter of the you know, the necessarily gatekeeping. Maybe you gotta check who your friends are and what kind of attitude they have. It's it's uh, you know, sure there's always gonna be a uniform, but uniforms are in uh in like a certain level of sameness. And people get like so down, being like, oh, my style's been copped again. Now everyone's doing this, you know, now I gotta do something different. And you know, like, yeah, you could subconscious subconsciously think about like I don't think I realize when I'm about to do something different or whatever. It's just you know, just it just happens. And it's not you don't ever feel like I need to like, like, oh, people say, like, oh, steel bikes, now you moved on to aluminum or whatever, you know. And it's like, no, I just want aluminum bike. It's not like still metal.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:25

No, I moved on to aluminum bikes in 1993.

SPEAKER_03 1:31:27

Yeah, it doesn't even even that, I don't even care.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:29

It's just a matter of, no, this is what I like right now, you know, and and so it's it's and yeah, they could be like a certain level of sameness, like everyone's wearing bedrock sandals because they're awesome. Or like everyone's wearing umbras because they work. You know, it's like or everyone's you know, it's they're accessible, yeah. They're accessible, or everyone's got Swift bags, everyone's got Ronz bags, or whatever, you know, it's because they're a good product.

SPEAKER_07 1:31:50

Everyone's got ultra dynamic tiles.

SPEAKER_05 1:31:53

Because they are the best.

SPEAKER_07 1:31:55

That's why. The speed deltas.

SPEAKER_06 1:31:57

Yeah, you know, it's loving micro diamonds.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:59

If you're like actively trying to be different, then I think you gotta kind of reassess your your you know what you're going after in life, you know, like yeah, because the changes that you do make to your style, like switching from steel to aluminum and maybe flirting with carbon sometimes too. Like all of that is just coming from like play. And it's not like, you know, industry manufactured desire, you know. It's coming from it's coming organically.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:29

Yeah, and I think altbike is very playful and it needs to remain that. You know, we're not like any any shade that we throw is not serious. We're we know that we're we are not serious people. We are a bunch of nerds, we're perverts. We're freaks.

SPEAKER_03 1:32:42

Yeah.

unknown 1:32:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:43

You know, and and we're proud. And I think that's part, I think that's part of our of our tribe here, you know?

SPEAKER_03 1:32:49

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_06 1:32:50

I use that word.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:53

Well, yeah, whether whether we're a part of those clans or not, um it is it is a it is like a definitive culture that has like musical tastes, you know, and there are people that already exist with those tastes, and so you bring them together, makes the world a little less lonely. You're just looking for yourself out there and in a playful way. The world is serious enough that this tool that we have, the bicycle, which is for play, yeah, yeah. For play, shouldn't it's it's not a serious thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:28

Not a serious thing, don't you? You can take it really seriously. I mean take it seriously as in like this is your lifestyle, this is your life. Like it like you should basically mindful, intentional intentional about it. Like I'm into a healthy lifestyle that connects me with like-minded friends and individuals, and I can get outside away from my screen and and interact with the world in a beautiful way, you know, um on aboard the bicycle. You know, or you know, you can just complain.

SPEAKER_00 1:33:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:33:57

You know, so let's uh you got any any any final thoughts here, folks?

SPEAKER_00 1:34:01

And if you're gonna complain, find a friend that you can complain. Yeah, and then start your thing.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:05

And then the gates open.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:06

The gates are open. Yeah. Complain together. That's a great way to connect.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:10

Yeah, yeah. We got any final thoughts before we wrap it up here.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:15

Gatekeeping.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:16

Well, I could keep rambling about bikes until the cows come home, so I'm just gonna cut it off here.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:20

Cut it off there. We'll have you back on for uh part two with your with well, I don't know. Are we gonna have you on with Sarah? I don't know if we want Sarah alone. I'll I'll warm it up to her, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:29

She's kind of shy. We'll see how she likes the idea.

SPEAKER_06 1:34:32

All right, folks. Well, I really hope that you have enjoyed this longest ever episode of Alt Bike Now. Oh, one more bike. I have the Gary Fisher. Oh my god, that's right. That's a good one. It's a it's a hybrid.

SPEAKER_07 1:34:46

1995 Gary Fisher Alfresco hybrid to Trek 9 was it, Trek 750 with a Gary Fisher paint job. What do you got on there? Tires. Tires. Ultra Dynamica Rose 700 by 42. Yeah, those old hybrids, sleepers, folks. Sleepers. The 750s.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:03

Beautiful. Man, okay. All right. A new contributor, so let's get into that. Who do we got?

SPEAKER_00 1:35:09

Thank you for your contributions. Carl Severin. Cool name. Robin McCall. Nicholas Appleby. Any relation to the chain? Adam Johnson. Alex Getty. And Eric Quetland.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:26

All right. Thank y'all. Thanks for the ice cream money.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:30

We've got ice cream for days. We could even we could even have ice cream for our friends now.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:36

Can I have ice cream?

SPEAKER_00 1:35:37

Yes. Yes, you could have ice cream everywhere. Yes, Sarah, get ice cream on us.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:41

We will not gatekeep this ice cream endeavor.

SPEAKER_00 1:35:45

The best place to get ice cream is honeycomb in Chester. Chester, Connecticut.

SPEAKER_06 1:35:50

They haven't been, it's the Paris of Nutmeg Country. We've got Honey Cone. We've got Minnow Coffee. Oh, yeah. Exciting. It's going to be the official Chester hub of the Nor'easter this year.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:05

We've got the Nor'easter coming up.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:07

We got the Nor'easter coming up. All right, folks.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:09

Well, Alex, you got a bike ready for the Viston show?

SPEAKER_06 1:36:13

Uh yeah, I'm going to do the chisel.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:14

Hell yeah. All right.

SPEAKER_06 1:36:16

I would recommend. All right, folks. Well, it's been a great episode. Been great hanging with my friends here talking about bikes. Thanks for having me. Yes. Thank you for coming on, Alex. Thank you for making our bathroom a little bit more manageable.

SPEAKER_03 1:36:28

A little bit happy to happy to help.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:31

I mean making a bathroom a bathroom.

SPEAKER_05 1:36:35

Until next week, folks. I hope y'all have a good one. Bye.