Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] It's the Danger Gnome podcast, April 2020. 0:11 [upbeat music] Welcome cats and kitties. It is the Danger Gnome for April 0:30 and on this show we're gonna talk about, talk to the winners and the podium folks from Madison, Wisconsin that podium-ed and won the men's and women's champion of the Fat Bike Birkie and Heather Stoltze who took third. 0:48 Uh, so they all live in Madison so I got them on the phone and that's what we got coming up right after this. [upbeat music] Hey, you know who we have on the show? Laia Schneberger. Welcome to the program. 1:06 Hey, it's Laia, I'm back. [laughs] And fat. [laughs] Yeah man, you're, uh, you're in your own private Idaho out there. In my own private Idaho, yep. Somewhere living. Actually staying with, uh, Amy and Chris Stewart. 1:20 Amy was, uh, the one that won the Fat Bike Nationals a couple years back that raced the Birkie a couple times too. Yeah. Yeah, they're letting me bunk with them. We're, we're quarantining together. What the heck? 1:34 I saw on her Instagram she had some crazy Bride of Frankenstein hairdo going. [laughs] Yeah, it was some stream where you're supposed to, everyone's supposed to post some embarrassing picture of themselves. Ah, okay. 1:49 I'm sure a lot of us look like that since we've just been sitting at home all day every day. Yeah. Welcome to my world. [laughs] My life actually hasn't changed that much. 2:01 Yeah, I mean this whole isolation thing isn't much different for me other than I, I can't work, but I mean, what do I do? I go out and ride my bike in the mountains anyway. There you go. 2:12 So- Just can't do the group rides. Right. Or, or, you know. You know what's great right now about riding on the trails is, uh, there's a lot of hikers in this town. 2:24 They got dogs and there's hikers and apparently they don't necessarily get off the trail usually. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. 2:31 But now [laughs] When you're coming up on them, but now they're getting six feet off the trail so it is wide open. [laughs] Yeah. I tell you, it's gonna change society. 2:43 You're just gonna look at every- You gotta find the bright side, man... until, until we build up an immunity or get inoculated for this thing, everyone is a possible carrier. Yeah. Yeah. It is. Mm. Hello, brother. 2:55 [laughs] Oh, man. Let me check your temperature. Everybody's looking at me like I'm trying to kill them. Really? They're probably just saying- Oh yeah, I feel like everyone looks at me like I'm gonna kill them... 3:04 "Aren't you Laia Schneberger, the Ice Queen? Winner of the Fat Bike Birkie?" You be like, "Maybe." 3:13 [laughs] Some lady posts on my Strava that lives here, she's like, "Um, you know if you travel here you're supposed to quarantine yourself for 14 days." Yikes. 3:24 I'm like, "Old lady, you need to back up real quick on that." Well. [laughs] Like, you don't know me, don't try and judge me. [laughs] Like, you're talking to the wrong gal right now. 3:37 [laughs] And then she goes, "And by the way, congratulations on the Birkie." [laughs] I'm like, "Oh, you are, you are not padding that with that bullshit." [laughs] Oh, by the way, you look really nice today. 3:50 [laughs] Oh my gosh. In quarantine. Oh, it was so funny 'cause like I got that message on, on w- on my Strava the day after I took h- a couple of her queens. Oh. [laughs] Knock, knock. [laughs] All right. 4:06 Oh, here's an outsider. [laughs] Oh well, that's, th- then that's just understandable, you know, she's just trying to shoo away [laughs] the competition. Don't you know? I know, right? Can you blame her? 4:17 I was like, I sh- what I should have said is, "Honey, if I had the coronavirus I wouldn't be able to throw down on all your queens." [laughs] "The way I have been the last day and a half." [laughs] Oh, dude. 4:30 So, uh- Oh... 4:31 yeah, I, I actually had the thought the other day 'cause the trails opened up here for a day before we got rain again, but I actually got to ride to the trails and then ride the trails, the ones [laughs] that you swear don't exist, which is really good because I can lay down and while I was riding that section I'm like, "Damn, I'm flying today. 4:53 I bet you I, I have to lay down, [laughs] I have to lay down the smack. I have to challenge Laia on this segment." Yeah. 'Cause it's the seg- you know, it's the, the- Set the bar high, Gomez. [laughs] Set it high. 5:06 Well, you know. 'Cause there will be a day where I come back to Wisconsin, hopefully. Oh, I know. 5:10 But for the near future you're safe 'cause I think I'm gonna just hunker down in Boise here [laughs] for the next couple weeks. 5:16 My, uh, my Romulan cloaking device of those trails is in full force unless we have a power outage, you'll never find them. [laughs] Sorry, I went all kind of Star Trek on you there, but... There was an awkward silence. 5:33 [laughs] That's okay. It's okay. [laughs] Yeah, I don't, I don't, yeah. Yeah. I'm Star Wars not Star Trek, but yeah, it's okay. You get it, you know, but they're both cool. 5:41 I was just saying how Gene Roddenberry had created this utopic society this morning. You just get off on like tangents, Gomez. [laughs] Bring it back. Pull it back. [laughs] So the Fat Bike Birkie. Reel, reel them in. 5:56 [laughs] A three year, a, a three-year quest to repeat as champion of the Fat Bike Birkie, how does it feel, champ? Oh, yeah, it feels really good to get that back. I wanted it.I wanted it real bad. That's cool. 6:13 I was, I was going down the wrong way, you know? First, second, third. [laughs] I was going in the wrong direction, so [laughs] had to, had to do everything in my power to get it back. 6:24 So- And now I feel like I can retire from it, but I don't know. [laughs] That's just so 2000 and teens, you know? Well, right now, I mean, what are we-- what is anybody training for anyway? 6:38 Um, just s- we can all race on Strava. Queens on Strava and kings on Strava. Yeah, might as well if that's what it's gonna be. It's gonna be Zwift racing and just trying to be the number one guy on the Strava, I guess. 6:53 [laughs] Well- I mean, I'm just working out 'cause I got nothing better to do. Right. 'Cause don't you love to ride bikes, though? Yeah. I'm having a blast. Yeah. These trails out here are fabulous. Yeah. 7:07 My favorite, my favorite trail- Lot of climbing though... is, is in out of Ketchum there. Uh, it's actually out of Stanley, but- Yeah. So right now I can't do Ketchum 'cause that's still- Too high, yeah... snow covered. 7:20 Yeah, it's too high. But in Boise it's, it's hero dirt right now, and Amy's been taking me out and just kicking my ass 'cause she just climbs like a freaking goat. Nice. 7:32 And they have, they have real [laughs] elevation here. Like- Exactly... she's like, "Okay, we're gonna climb for 40 minutes right quick." 7:38 [laughs] Or sometimes sh- sh- uh, we'll be, we'll be nearing the top and she's like, "Oh, we're, we're gonna be almost done with this climb" and like 15 minutes later. I'm like, "Amy, when someone says to me- Almost... 7:51 we're almost done done, I'm thinking 30 seconds." [laughs] Right? Or at least five minutes. It's like [laughs] God. I know. [laughs] Like, "Yeah, we're almost done." 20 minutes later, "Amy." [laughs] Right. 8:06 Well, you know, once you get the lay of the land, you're gonna own that stuff. But we got lucky though. We got to get that Birkie in before all this went down. Yeah. I got to, I got to race- Uh, so that was good... 8:18 the Talkeetna Trio myself that very same day, and then everything- You know, that-... kinda got, eh, mm. Everything was perfect until it wasn't. Yeah. Precisely. But, uh, th- the Birkie was pretty phenomenal. 8:33 That was the best conditions that they've ever had. Oh, yeah. I mean, the course was white cement. I mean, it was ripping fast. And, uh, a lot of big names there again this year. Everyone's wanting that title. 8:46 Did you, did you get the, the separate ladies start? No. I, I- Had you still been working on that? Yeah. 8:53 I'd been working on that, and I got an email the week of, uh, from the director saying that there were not enough women that wanted it or wanted to participate. Mm-hmm. Um, 9:08 so we just went back to starting with the men, which is okay, I guess. If there's only seven ladies out there on our own, doesn't make a lot of sense. 9:19 And so I understand, and hopefully we can just get more women that will wanna line up- Right... together. And I guess the, the mark is about 25. Mm. So we need to- Like one-... 9:34 try and recruit 25 women who will go out ahead. One full gate. Yeah. Yeah. But what was cool is they had us start on the front line. Mm-hmm. And then there was preferred start, and then the rest of the waves. 9:52 Gotcha. So this time we actually got to see who we were up against, 'cause a lot of times every- everybody's all over the place- Sure... and so you don't even know where your competition is. 10:03 So it's nice to at least start with them so you can eyeball them. Sure. Yeah, so you know who to watch and to make sure- Who's where, yeah. Right. And who to mark. Right. 10:13 Who to get, make sure to get on that train if they jump on a, a train dudes. Exactly. Have you thought about like- Yeah, exactly... 10:20 recruiting a team of not the elite level, but someone that, that can pace you through, [laughs] through that first half of that race or the first three quarters of that race? Some domestiques. That'd, that would be nice. 10:35 I mean, there's a huge advantage when you have teammates out there. Yeah, yeah. Uh, th- this year I, I couldn't land on, you know, any of the wheels of the guys that I was hoping to, to land on. Mm-hmm. But, um, 10:52 like right out, right from the start, uh, Sonia, who was the person I was marking, I, I really wanted to just follow her and do whatever she did because she won it last year. Mm-hmm. And so 11:09 boy, she just pinned it like a bat out of hell, man, and I stuck with her as long as I could, but her pace was so high I just could not, I could not hold it. I just wasn't confident that I'd be able to do that- Mm... 11:25 all day. So I let her go and man, I mean, she's just a freaking pistol. Like boom, gone. Hmm. Like, all right, here we go again. 11:34 Well, I'm gonna just ride my race, and I got in with a good pack of guys, I think there was five or six of them, and we started working together and I felt pretty good about them, and their pace was good, so I just stayed where I was. 11:50 And my hope was that maybe she would run out of gas or something, like, 'cause I'm telling you, that sh- it was so fast, the pa- the pace that she was holding. Hmm. And, uh, 12:05 I don't know, about seven, eight miles in, um, I see her and she's on the wheel of about four, five guys. One or two of them were teammates 'cause they kinda had the same kit. 12:18 Mm-hmm.And then, you know, you round a couple corners, and then it's down to only two guys in front of her, and then round a couple corners, and then it's just her. 12:30 And that's when I knew, oh, my gosh, this could be a race. Hmm. So she was on her own, and I know how badly that, that hurts. Right. And so my hope was that 12:44 she had buried herself far enough that my group would just blaze on by, uh, but that wasn't the case. We weren't going fast enough, and she was able to jump on- Mm-hmm... and ride with us. 12:55 So it actually made it a really fun race because now for the majority of the race I was racing another woman. Mm-hmm. And we were together, and we were playing games, and we're making moves, and, 13:09 o- o- okay, am I gonna be able to hold this pace? What do I do now? So a lot of these roadie-type- Mm-hmm... tactics started playing through my head. 13:18 You know, I had to start playing, figuring out the strategy on how to do this because I, I wasn't gonna just out-muscle her. No way. She was there. 13:29 Uh, so we rode together and from that point on until the last three miles- Mm-hmm... shimmying back and forth. And 13:40 we had a good pack of guys, and what would happen is one or two of them would, would make a move- Mm-hmm... 13:45 and I would respond, and I'd jump on their wheel, and what I was hoping is that she wouldn't be able to, to catch onto the move, right? Right. Yeah. 13:55 So I'd, so I'd respond to an attack hoping that I could gap the rest of the group with the two guys that were in front. Right. Um, and I tried that several times, but she caught on every time. Okay. 14:08 I'm like, "Okay, this isn't gonna work because I'm doing, I'm doing the work to, to catch the guys that are breaking away and everybody else is sitting in, and I'm not gonna be able to... 14:19 I'm burning up too many matches." Sure. And so then you start to think about how do I conserve as much energy if this is gonna come down to the wire in, like, a sprint finish. Um, so I backed it off, and my, my natural, 14:35 uh, desire is to catch. Like, if anyone's getting away, I wanna catch them, and I had to let that go. So as one or two guys started bridging away, I had to let them go and stick with Sonia- Mm-hmm... 14:50 uh, you know, because I, I just couldn't keep being the guy that does, does the work to bridge these, these gaps. Right. 14:57 And so our group started getting smaller and smaller, and then it came down to just three of us, me, her, and one other guy. And with three miles left, a, a guy from, uh, who must have started in a wave way far back came 15:12 barreling through and I thought, "Okay, if I can make a super hard move right now and catch his wheel, I, I could try and win this thing right now." Because I really didn't want it to come down to a sprint finish. Right. 15:27 So I made a move, and I went after him, and she, she didn't come, and the problem was I didn't catch the guy [laughs]. Oh, geez. 15:37 [laughs] I, I, I, I mean, I'm all out in the red, I'm gonna blow up, like, just blow right the fuck up, [laughs] and I didn't get him. 15:50 And, and that hurt so bad because, you know, the hope is that you burn that match and then you can sit in on someone's wheel- Right... and it just didn't happen. So now I'm in no man's land, and I, and I look back and, 16:03 you know, they're not too far back, maybe 20, 30 seconds, but they're gaining on me because sh- she's still got the... She's still working with the guy. Right. And I'm like, "Oh, this is, this is really bad." 16:14 But then, uh, he took off, and she didn't follow, so he, this, so the guy that, the guy that we were with, he ended up passing me and he was going way too fast. I wasn't gonna try it again. Mm-hmm. 16:27 So then the last two miles, at least it was just her and I alone on our own, and the entire time I probably just had 20 seconds on her. And I am hurting so bad. 16:39 My quads are about to bust in half, and it's just like, "Okay, you trained three months for this. You've got two miles to go, which is potentially only eight minutes. Like, you're [laughs] like shut up legs and pedal." 16:56 Right. Yeah. So I, I, I mean, every time I put any power out of the pedal my quads was just lighting up and, uh, but 17:07 kept going anyway and got out of the seat and sprinted every, uh, everything that I had and, uh, ended up crossing the line and it was such a great race. 17:16 I mean, w- I think it was on- it was the closest finish that the women have ever had in the Birkie. It was only eight seconds. Wow. Yeah. Cool. Yeah. So yeah, we, we raced to the very end and 17:30 it was just great racing with her and, and she's such a nice person. I mean, she's kind of like was chit-chatting. Yeah. And I'm dying [laughs]. [laughs] I'm like, "I'm sorry, but I think I can't talk to you right now. 17:41 I'm not trying to be mean." [laughs] "I just, I'm in the, I'm so deep in the hurt locker right now," [laughs] you know? And she's like, "It's just great to be riding with you guys." 17:51 And, you know, so you learn a lot from everybody that you race with, and I learned a lot from her, uh, that day and, 17:59 you know, and also when you're out there and you start playing games and trying to conserve energy, you're, uh, you're slowing down. Mm-hmm. You know? And 18:09 what you gotta be careful of is do you have a big enough gap that you can do that without number three, four, or five coming up behind you in, let's say, a group. Oh, right. So it ended up, 18:21 you know, we, we were going fast enough-So he ended up in one and two, but then you had Heather who was only, I don't know, a minute or minute and a half back. Hmm. So she was, must have just been plowing the whole time. 18:36 Working her program- Um... for that, for that race, you know? Yeah, her program, her and Corey work together, so her husband Corey won it, and she, uh, took third. She's on the podium again. And that's, uh- Um... 18:50 you know, yeah, that's all Madisonians too. Well, yeah, the three of us. Well, you're a part- Yeah... you're a part-time Madisonian now. You're an Ida- [laughs] You're an Idahoan. I'm an Ida- I'm an... Yeah. Yeah, yeah. 19:05 You thinking of moving out to Idaho? Moving out right now. Your own private Idaho? Underground laboratory. Nah, nah, come on. You know? [laughs] 'Cause- I will be back more often now that I've been here, though. Oh, man. 19:17 Yeah. I, and- I definitely wanna hit that Sun Valley- Yeah... area later this summer. I've got family up in- Oh, yeah?... uh, Hailey. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. Which is right outside of Ketchum. Right. Yeah. Quite right. 19:29 Yeah. It's- Yeah... it's so gorgeous there. I spent a couple of weeks there, and 19:36 so many creek crossings and, uh, beautiful hot springs, especially you get up by Salmon and north of, uh, the Galena Pass there out of Ketchum. 19:47 Just like that perfect chocolate colored single track, just single track ribbons of chocolate brown dirt. Gorgeous stuff. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. [laughs] Cool. Yeah. 20:01 So, uh, the other thing that came out in our, uh, the podcast that Travis and I did up in Alaska is that you had said, we had just shared a couple of texts. 20:13 I texted you, "Congratulations on your win" and, uh, you were like, "Dude, yeah, I, that was, it's like an undefeated season." So undefeated on a, on a fat bike 19, 20. This year, yeah. 20:27 Yeah, this is my second season undefeated on a fat bike. I've done five seasons now. Mm-hmm. And I've, I've won every single race but three. Dude. Yeah. It's pretty sweet, huh? Yeah. 20:42 [laughs] This time, like, I'm done, retired. [laughs] Yeah. I'm out. [laughs] You should become a free agent or something. I don't know. [laughs] No. But I know how- I'll be biking forever... 20:55 I know how you feel 'cause the la- we, we raced together at the Sweaty Yeti, and the Sweaty Yeti didn't count my last lap. Ugh. Ooh. I mean, we, we could've been tied for, like, 12th place or something. 21:14 [laughs] My team. You won. Yeah. You won that race, but, you know, that was, that would be the big difference [laughs] is they didn't count my lap, but it wouldn't matter. But, uh, come on, count every lap. 21:25 Every pedal counts. Uh- Come on, guys. I, I- Yeah, their scoring was awkward because my friend Sherry, they missed one of her laps too, but they corrected it, so she ended up getting, uh, third. Yeah. 21:38 Now, my friend Sherry- So I hope they send her her cup... my friend Sherry as well, huh, 'cause we're Facebook friends now. [laughs] Oh, yeah, that's right. [laughs] So we should just shout out to Sherry out there. 21:52 Um- Sherry, you did so good. Homeschooling her chillins. [laughs] In these, in these times of, of, uh- Right now, oh, I feel for anybody with kids right now. Yeah, at least we at least- I feel... 22:06 we're, we're free from that. I- Ouch... my dog has, is just as happy as he's ever been. Loving life. [laughs] 'Cause my wife is working from home. I, I've always worked out of an office in the, in the house, so. 22:19 So much attention. Yeah. So many treats. Yeah. He's gonna gain weight. But we'll address that- Well, hopefully this, hopefully this gets- Figured out... finished up with, yeah, sooner than later. 22:33 I know it's messing a lot of people up, and I hope everybody out there, guys, just stay, stay safe and healthy, right? Right on. I always say- Ride your bike solo... if you're getting your, your, uh, 22:47 COVID-19 virus information from fatbike.com, you might wanna reconsider your choice for medical advice. [laughs] We, we got the bicycle thing covered fairly well, 23:03 but- Well, I heard anybody that's used a port-a-potty at a race is completely immune. [laughs] There you go. Uh... There you go. Perfect example of why you should not- [laughs]... 23:16 be looking to the fat-bike.com or Fat Bike Radio or any of our affiliates, et cetera. 23:22 [laughs] But what you should be doing is, I don't know, start training harder and step up to the line with the Ice Queen Laia Schneeberger, ladies, and, uh, I don't know. Yeah, let's get our own start, ladies. Come on. 23:39 Yeah. Maybe she'll- Get on the fat bike train... maybe she'll let you get second or something. [laughs] But, uh, appreciate you taking the time out of your, uh- Yeah, thanks for calling, Gomez... 23:53 western hermit, uh, there life in the Idaho. Say hello to, uh, the Stewarts. I will. I will. And don't, uh, if they still have that, uh, Neapolitan, uh, state fat bike, do not l- [laughs] 24:08 Want them to not make the-- Don't, don't ride that thing. It's evil. No, they sold all their fat bikes. Atta- way to go. They get, they don't get snow here. Oh, yeah, they don't. [laughs] Not too much anyway. 24:21 It's kind of a desert down, down in Boise. Yeah, yeah, it's a desert. All right. Well- Yeah... again, congratulations. All right, my man. Well, take it easy. Thanks again. Appreciate it. We'll, we'll see you soon. 24:30 Bye, guys.Please welcome Heather and Corey Steljes. Heather, Heather took third in her, is second or third Birkie Women's podium in a row here, and Corey just won his back-to-back men's Birkie championship. 24:49 Hi, it's good to be here. Thanks for having us, Gary. It's my pleasure. We, uh, I already interviewed Leah Schneeberger, the women's champion. Um- Oh, yeah... so, uh, I think we'll go ladies first. 25:07 Heather, I've, I've-- You know, the important question is, you know, you're-- did you follow the race traditions of, I think it's, I remember, homemade cookies and going out for pizza somewhere? 25:20 [chuckles] Or is it homemade pizza? Uh, it's, it's homemade pizza and homemade cookies, yeah. Um, which both of which, uh, were followed this year. 25:31 Um, pizza, homemade pizza [chuckles] comes with us darn near everywhere for, uh, for race weekend. Um, but yeah, 'cause as it turns out, all you need is a, is a microwave to warm it up. Uh-huh. 25:44 It's not certainly as good straight out of the oven, but it gets the job done. You know, packs a nutritional punch. Um, so yeah, we, we did up our homemade pizza in the- And what-... in the hotel microwave. 25:59 What kind of cookies? You know, 'cause I, I can only live, uh, vicariously [chuckles] through other people's cookies now. Yeah. So these were- [laughs] The-- this year's cookies were, uh, Corey's favorite. 26:11 Um, they are a big old dark chocolate, double chocolate cookie. So they are, um, they're huge. [chuckles] And they are- They weigh about a half a pound each. 26:26 [chuckles] Oh, it sounds delightful, and it's but double chocolate championship cookies- Mm-hmm... is what they'll be known fro- known as from now here forward. Mm-hmm. So, uh, I- Go ahead... 26:38 we, we talked to, to Leah, and I know how tight the, the women's race was. Why don't you walk us through your race and, uh, from the, from the way they started it to all the way through. 26:53 How did you, how did you keep up with, uh, with-- 'cause you weren't very far behind. Um, I wrote down, uh, Leah and Sonja. Correct. Yeah. 27:06 I mean, I wouldn't say it was super close for me, um, like it was for them by any means. Um, but that's, uh, par for the course for, for my races. Um, but I would say, 27:18 you know, I was not super confident going into, into the race. Um, you know, I felt like my, my training was good, but I just didn't feel like I had a lot of the information- Mm-hmm... 27:33 or confidence with which to work to feel like, oh, you know, this, this could be great. Um, so I think that was, that was certainly on my mind. 27:42 The, the other thing that was on my mind is, um, a constant area [chuckles] of, of growth for me would be my, my start. 27:51 Um, you know, I'm, I'm an endurance athlete through and through, and so I do not have a lot of, uh, firepower and snappiness- Mm-hmm... in general. And so, um, so, 28:06 you know, I think, uh, for me, certainly [chuckles] being, having the call up, um, is pretty fun. It's pretty exciting. It's also nerve-wracking. Yeah. Um, 28:18 but with, with the slow rollout, you know, what I had decided to do was just like, okay, you know that-- you know you gotta have a better start than you usually do. Um, you gotta be uncomfortable. 28:33 You gotta be comfortable with being uncomfortable. Mm-hmm. And so, um, I would say that that was sort of the race plan is get, you know, focus on having a better start. 28:43 But then for me, I was still a little hesitant about that because I wasn't so sure about my fitness, and so I kind of split the difference, which is to say I was working on having a better, a better start- Mm-hmm... 28:55 keeping in contact, um, seeing some ponytail, but also riding my race, right? Yeah. Like, not-- I can't be-- 29:04 if I, if I go, if I go balls to the wall like I know Leah can and Sonja can, like, I, I'm gonna, I'm gonna blow up. Yeah. Um, and maybe I wouldn't, but that's my belief. 29:15 Uh, so that was just kind of the plan is, you know, it was a stacked women's field this year, I thought. Mm-hmm. 29:22 Um, you know, Leah, Sonja, um, Hannah Grenacher, uh- I didn't see Jenna Reih- Reinhart's name in there, but I only saw the top three names. Jenna was a-- Yeah, I was a little surprised that she wasn't, she wasn't there. 29:37 Corey and I had talked about, "Oh, maybe she'll show up. That would be interesting." Um, for sure. So, and then, of course, you know, Jill and Megan, Jill Feederholm and Megan Barr. Mm-hmm. Um, 29:49 you know, and then you, you just never know who's there. So I just thought, coming into it, I was like, okay, a top five, like, that's really reasonable. 29:57 Top three would be, you know, outstanding and, you know, anything on top of that would be glorious and amazing. Um, so, you know, I think ultimately being [chuckles] I was lined up right next to Leah, um, 30:14 and I think just the, the start was just nice and, nice and calm and, um, I was able to maintain contact. I think I yo-yoed a little bit with, uh, Megan Barr and Jill for a bit. 30:31 Um, you know, Sonja, she was so far ahead, um, as far ahead as you can be in, in, in a rollout sort of way. But, um-Right. Lea said Sonja got away from her. Um, yeah. And she ended up catching back up to her. 30:49 Yeah. So I mean, rolling out, like I could see, I could see Sonja for a little bit, and then, um, Lea, Lea and her, her pink and her ponytail are a little bit easier to, to catch than Sonja's all black. Uh-huh. 31:05 Um, so I was keeping an eye on, on her, on, on Lea. Um, and then I think, you know, right as we, right as the, the snow mo- snowmobile broke away- Mm-hmm... um, 31:20 I just, I kept on ki- I was just sort of like, "All right, settle in, but go for this too." 31:24 And so I was just kinda riding with Jill Cederholm and Megan, keeping an, Megan Barr of Minneapolis, and keeping an, uh, an eye on Lea. Mm-hmm. Um, and, you know, I think a few of those hills 31:40 I was like, "Oh yeah, you... Remember, these, these hills are your friends, Heather. You, you get along very well with these Birke hills. Um, let's do this." And I think by the time we, 31:53 uh, you know, really turned into the, the trail, what is that, like 2K in maybe, Cory? I don't... Yeah, something like that. Is it 2K? Mm-hmm. Yeah. May- probably 3K in, um, 32:05 you just make a, a sweeping left-hand turn, and I just, uh, [laughs] I just whipped around very smoothly past Megan, and I, Megan Barr, and I thought, "Okay, maybe, maybe this is, maybe this is doable. 32:19 Maybe this is gonna be a good ga- a good day for me." [laughs] Um, and then I, uh, you know, then I could see Lea. I could see her in a train of dudes, of course. Mm-hmm. 32:30 Um, and I was like, "Okay, you can see, you can see that ponytail. Let's, let's keep an eye on it." Um, 32:40 and, you know, she was just in a really nice train, and I was, I was in a train of two, and then we'd break up, and then I'd be in another train of two. Um, so I, I, I could keep an eye on her until probably about, 32:58 I would say about 10 or 12K in. Mm-hmm. And then, um, you know, I think that's when we, we, some of the climbing really starts to happen, and that was, um, 33:09 I was working it, but I definitely lost, I lost some of the guys that I was working with during that time, and so it became a little bit more of the, the, the Heather and the yo-yo show, if you will. Yeah. Um, 33:23 and so then it was, you know, that's when I lost sight of, lost sight of Lea, um, and her train. So was that be- before the Double O turn, or? Oh, gosh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Pretty... 33:36 I mean, better than I ever have, but also still relatively early on. Um, so I think, um- So did you spend a lot of time just out there by yourself, or did you, were you able to grab- Pretty-... 33:48 drag, grab trains here and there? Yeah, per the usual, Gary, I'm a, a, I was out there like a lone wolf. 33:56 [laughs] Um, that's just always [laughs] That's why you come up with the great mantras like, like, "These Birke hills are your friends. You like these Birke hills." Yes. [laughs] It's a good thing. 34:08 Yeah, and they like me. They like me. Um, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggonit, I'm gonna use this downhill. Um, yeah, so I mean, I, yes, it was definitely just me out there. 34:22 And, you know, going, going out, you're on the classic trail. Mm-hmm. Uh, so they just don't have as much... 34:29 They're not as hard and as packed as the, the skate trails, and so they were a little bit mushy, a little bit soft in spaces. Um, felt like a little bit more, more work. Mm-hmm. Um, but I... 34:44 You know, so that was certainly in my head where I was like, "Okay, like, this, this is, watch this. It's, you know, work hard, but don't... 34:52 Let's see how this, this rolls out," because, um, it is a little bit more work than, um, i- in these conditions. And so then I, I mean, once we came to the, the Double O 35:06 turn, um, you know, you hit the skate trail, and it is like, it's on. Yeah. Like, it's pavement style. Mm-hmm. Um, and so then I was like, "Okay, let's, let's, let's really go for this." 35:21 Um, not that I wasn't [laughs] going for it before, but I was like, "Oh man, this is, this is very nice. Um, let's, let's get after it and really do some work." Right? Like, "Let's 35:34 put the power down and, and, and go after it." So- Right. Drop a gear- I mean, still-... and drop the hammer. Yeah. I got it. Yeah, exactly. Um, 35:43 you know, so there was one guy that I was kinda going back and forth [laughs] with during this time and, you know, trying to, you know, rest, rest behind him when I could, and then, um, 35:53 you know, make a move when, when necessary. So, um, and that was just kind of it. I mean, for the rest of the race, it's just, again, me lone wolfing [laughs] it out there. Uh, and, you know, I think with about 36:10 10K to go, um, you know, I started catching up with some of the, some of the dudes that I had been with earlier, but had dropped me. And so- Mm-hmm... 36:21 you know, at that point I was like, "Okay, well maybe, you know, maybe there's still-" And you knew there were no other- "Maybe we'll still see some ponies."... no other women in front of you between you and, um, 36:34 Lea, right? Lea. Yeah. Yeah. I was, uh, I was 99% sure that I was in third. [laughs] Um, so- But you never know, right? It's like, and you never know- Right... what's coming up on your, on your six either, you know? 36:46 You, you could have a couple of people pair up andThen all of a sudden you have somebody with, uh, maybe fresher legs coming up on you. Yeah. 36:56 But you were-- Do, how, how, what was the time differential between-- Because Laia and Sonja were, like, twenty seconds or eight seconds apart. Uh, I mean- Yeah... it was, like, really super tight. Yeah. 37:09 I was a minute and a half behind them. So that's [chuckles] amazing. That's real- That's-- And Laia had said that, that they had, uh, said that that was the closest ladies finish that they've ever had at the Birkie. 37:23 Yeah. Yeah. I think so. I mean, um, you know, when you're out there and you're alone whopping it, you just assume, [chuckles] 37:32 you just assume that somebody is around the corner, and you also assume that somebody is hunting you down as well. Yeah. Um, and so I th- that-that's just sort of the, that's it, is right. 37:44 Like, you just keep on going 'cause you don't know what's going on ahead of you, and you, you gotta, you gotta hope that somebody else is, um, is losing a little steam. And, uh, that was, that was not the case. 37:58 Uh, although I think that- Or, or have, or have a mechanical or, you know- Right... or bonk or, you know. Right. Race over. Yeah. Things happen. Yeah, the race is over. Like, I was just thinking- Yeah... 38:06 it was like the mindset is half predator and half prey, like half coyote and half rabbit. Mm-hmm. Trying [chuckles] - Yes, exactly. Very, very true. Yeah, and I think, um, I think too-- 38:25 Oh, geez, I lost my, lost my train of thought there. Um- Well, I've, I- But yeah. Oh, I know what I was gonna say. I think I, I think when I look back at the split- Mm-hmm... 38:36 I think I was, I think I was making some, I think I was making some gains. [chuckles] Yeah. Um, and a few, a few people did tell me that, like, you know, some, some gentlemen on the NEF Cycle Service team- Mm-hmm... 38:49 um, with whom I'm proud to ride, you know, said, yeah. 38:53 Like, I, you know, they, they came behind me, um, and they just said, "You know, by the time you finished, like you had really, you had closed the gap substantially from when I saw you," or whatever it was. 39:05 Um, so that makes me feel a little, a little bit, uh, a little good that, you know, the legs were still strong through the end. 39:13 Um, but-- And I'll take a minute and a half considering that I think Laia, you know, has trounced me by, you know, I don't know- Can you say-... I think an hour, maybe, maybe forty-five minutes or an hour at Polar Roll. 39:25 [chuckles] Yeah. And a minute and a half now. Yeah. That's, uh- Yeah... that's amazing. Yeah. Um- And I was so surprised when I crossed the finish line. I mean, I saw her, I saw her there. Mm-hmm. 39:37 And she was like, you know, she was like, "Oh, girl, we're so, we were so close together," and I didn't know that she had won at that point. Ah. 39:45 Um, I said, "Yeah, I kept on looking for your ponytail," and she's like- [chuckles]... "Well, you should have been looking for two." She's, she's gonna get a hair net now, I'm telling you. 39:53 But if she listens to this- I know... she's gonna disguise that ponytail, I'm telling you. Mm-hmm. It's a good head of hair she's got, so. 40:00 [laughs] Um, so then she told me, she's like-- And then at some point she said something, I was like, "Holy shit, did you win?" 40:06 [chuckles] And she's like, "Yeah, I chased her down," because I knew that, I knew that Sonja was way out ahead of her. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I was like, "Dang, that is some, some work." Um, but yeah, it was super. 40:19 Just, I mean- Could you see- It was a beautiful day. Could- And great competition. 40:24 Could you see a time when there's team trailers and the elite groups are-- have trainers there where you could actually hit that line where all of your cells are open and, you know, all warmed up? 40:43 I don't know. That's, that's my thinking. Like, you said you wanted to have a better start. What a better way than to-- That's, like, a proven thing, right? Yeah. 40:52 I mean, for me, I think the start is, part of it is physical for me. Yeah. Yeah. Um, but there's also a huge part of me that's like, uh, there's, there's a lot of people around you. Oh, [chuckles] yeah. 41:04 And I- Yeah, yeah. You know? There is a lot of- So I think that's the other part where it's like, "Oh, well, you know, if I'm gonna go, I-- like, the slower I go, the more control I have," and so. Sure. 41:13 I mean, I think part of it, yes, for certain is about being, you know, all warmed up. But, you know, to be honest, we got there, I think we got there with the most time we've ever gotten, um, on race morning. Mm-hmm. 41:26 And I think I probably had one of the better warm-ups I've ever- Mm-hmm... excuse me, ever had. Um, so, you know, I think that's definitely a part of it. But for me, it's also very much- Sure... 41:40 like 'cause you get- Yeah, I could see that. Yeah. I- Yeah, you can get- I didn't think about that, though. Sure. Yeah. Wow. So you did this fabulous feat on a new bike, an Otso Voytek. Yeah. Yeah. 41:54 So, uh- She was a real beaut. So do you do the tech talk? 'Cause I know that, you know, if I tried this with Laia, she'd be like, "La, la, la." She would be like, "Yeah, Dad. Dad, I don't know what I'm doing." Yeah. 42:06 I say I do not do the tech talk, but I will tell you my observations- All right... of this, um- Okay... in, in layman's terms, [chuckles] uh, if you will. Which is, that bike is very, very light. Mm-hmm. 42:23 And very, very responsive. 42:26 I think there were numerous times this winter when I was riding or even, you know, racing where I thought, "Oh, there, there's no way I should have been able to clear that, um, or get up that hill." Mm-hmm. 42:40 But this light, light machine is just propelling me forward. Um, the other, the other aspect is, is, um-We had some great Sram components, and so 42:57 I did have a [laughs] had one bigger ring in the back- Mm-hmm... uh, that was, I think, proved to be very helpful in a few different, uh, situations throughout the, um, season. So a Sram Eagle with the- Yeah... 43:10 48 or 50 tooth- Yeah... back there. Yeah. Cory can tell you what was on there. But, um, that was also really nice. So I mean, I absolutely adored the purple people eater- [laughs]... um, as we like to call it. 43:27 Of course, Cory's bike is yellow, so every once in a while, mine was Professor Plum and his was Colonel Mustard. Oh, yeah. But, um- Just Colonel Mustard. Yeah, but the Vojtech was... 43:37 Yeah, she, she was just an absolute dream to ride and race. Just fun, snappy. You know, I will say the, I, the one thing I do know about it is like the Q factor was a little bit better. 43:51 Like, it, it just felt really comfortable to be, to riding, to be riding on it as well. Very cool. So yeah, that's what I got for... That's the limitations of my tech talk. All right. And now, Cory? Yeah. 44:05 What have you got to say about... Now, the thing that- [laughs] I know that, I know that you're a much more scientific person than, than me, so you have to have- [laughs]... some tech talk in you about, uh... 44:18 And especially you, you, uh, in the way I kind of categorize fat bikes in my head, the Otso Vojtech and your previous year's Rocky Mountain Suzy Q are a similar narrow Q factor, 44:32 27.5 narrow, narrow-ish, but the, the Vojtech can go up to 4.5s. So what do you think about... Talk tech to me on your Vojtech. [laughs] Sure, sure. So the Vojtech, yeah, you're right. Um, 44:49 bike I had last year, the, the Rocky Mountain Suzy Q and the, and the Vojtech are pretty similar style fat bikes in that they're carbon, uh, 177, uh, rear axle standard, and then, um, the narrow 45:06 Q factor of, you know, using the, um, the, the downhill, uh, bottom bracket standard, which, you know, is what, the 80, 83 millimeter threaded, or I think it's like a 121 press fit equivalent. Right. 45:20 Um, so you can use the, the downhill, uh, cranks on them. Mm-hmm. Um, and, uh, and so yeah, the, the Suzy Q was like a, um, a 27.5 by four inch, 45:35 uh, wheel and tire standard, and the, the Vojtech's a little bit more flexible than that with the, with the adjustable rear dropout. Um, yeah, you, you can go up to, um, 4.6 tires. 45:47 You know, uh, Otso's got a, a very handy chart on their website that, uh, also matched my personal experience, uh- Mm-hmm... with tire fitting. Mm-hmm. 45:58 Um, and that it kind of depends on what brand of tire you're using, what rim widths, and what dropout position. But, um, you know, I just ran mine in the, in the shortest chainstay position- Mm-hmm... 46:12 all year with, with, uh, four inch tires. Um, or a- and actually, that will fit the, uh, the 4.2, the new 4.2 inch tires from 45 North as well. Um, and I just found that to be pretty much... 46:28 You, you can pretty much tackle anything you want with, with that setup. Um, for the very soft conditions, the new, the new 4.2 Van Halegas are extremely capable. And then, um, running the four inch, 46:43 uh, fast tires, the, the Schwalbes for, uh, for Fat Birkie, um, just kind of set it and forget it in the, in the short position is, is what we found this winter. Nice. 46:53 But, uh, yeah, there's certainly a lot more flexibility there. Um, I don't have, uh, you know, different, different rim widths to, to play around with some of the bigger tires and, 47:04 and, um, the summer trail bike options, but, um- But 4.2- Yeah w-... for, for a cat that is your weight, uh, I... You're like a buck 25 or something, right? Or buck- [laughs] Well, that's, yeah, that's very generous. 47:19 I'd, I'd say more like, uh [laughs] more like 135, you know, on, on this day. Oh, all right. Well, that's not bad. Yeah, yeah. Right, right. I know. I never said I was like a carnival, uh, professional. 47:29 [laughs] That's just a, that's just a hobby. [laughs] What? Oh, okay, okay. [laughs] Like at the, the, uh, you know, you know, the guess the weight guy. But, uh- Guess people's weight. Yep. So- Sorry for the acronyms... 47:40 were you running 80 millimeter, 27.5 rims with that 4.2 or a four point, or was it a 65 millimeter rim? Uh, it's, uh, the h- the Head, um, 85 mil carbon- Gotcha... rim. And then, uh, we've been running 26 inch. 47:55 Oh, right on. Okay. 26 inch wheels. All right. Yeah, all, on the Vojtech the whole, all s- all season. Yep. And what, what Schwalbe tire did you win the Birkie on, won the racey, racey tire? Uh, the Jumbo Jim. 48:07 Oh, right on. Yep. 4.0. Yep. Yep. Beautiful. It's a proven, it's a proven winner there. Fantastic. Yeah. But I think, uh- Is the... And is that the same tire that you won the previous year? Yeah. Nice. Back to back. 48:23 So speaking of that, why don't you, uh, like tell us your race story from the point of your training cycle leading up and how you felt before the race, all the way through the nitty-gritty of the tactics and how it played out. 48:37 Sure. Sure. So going all the way back to fall of 2019, uh, this year I decided to, to do a, a proper fat bike, you know, full winter race season and end my cyclocross racing a little bit early. 48:54 So I think I raced cyclocross through October.Took most of November as kind of my off season, um, and then started training, uh, for my fat bike racing, um, right after Thanksgiving. Mm-hmm. And, uh, 49:11 so just kind of building fitness throughout the winter. Uh, we had a couple high-profile fat bike races in mind. Uh, there was a, 49:20 um, a new event, or I guess it wasn't new this year, but new to us was, uh, the Fat Tire Lopet in, in Minneapolis. Sure. And then, um, there was, uh, Polar Roll, of course. Mm-hmm. 49:35 And Fat Bike Birkie, I guess, are kind of the, the three big ones, and then, uh, combined with some local races in between there. Um, so yeah, putting in some big training miles in December. We were really lucky. 49:50 I think everybody in, in the Midwest at least experienced a, a great winter for fat biking- Oh, yeah... 49:57 in that we really had consistent snowfall, and we didn't get the, the big storm, you know, of, of a foot of like really dry powder that was hard to groom. So even here in Madison, we had great riding all winter from 50:14 the holidays all the way, all the way through pretty much Fat Birkie. Um, and then combined that with, uh, some trips up north, uh, up to the Eau Claire and Hayward area for some other training rides. 50:27 Um, just able to get in a lot of, lot of great riding. Um, so we were pretty- And-... fortunate in our choice of, uh, winters to really go after the fat bike cycle. So. 50:40 Yeah, this is the best winter in the last five years at least. Yeah. For sure. Yeah, probably the best one since like 2014, I think, that I-- in my memory anyway. Yeah. Um, so that worked out really well. 50:53 Just kind of felt like fitness was building all throughout the winter. Had some, some near misses at, uh, at Fat Tire, uh, Fat Bike, uh, Lopet in the cities and, uh, in Polar Roll. But, uh, yeah, 51:10 I had a good feeling going to Fat Bike Birkie. Yeah. Um, 51:14 yeah, just kinda gauging how I'd been feeling and, and, you know, how my, my training was coming and finally having a chance to back off on some of the, the hard training in the couple weeks leading up to, to Fat Birkie. 51:28 Um, you kind of get that balance when you can get the, the fresh legs back. So, but- Well, I was telling everybody that would listen. I was like, "You and Chris are the two to beat." 51:40 And like the- [laughs] You're two-- the two, uh, and I-- you know, you train in a similar way. You, you have a similar, uh, outlook on the bike. It's like... But the, the wild cards- Yeah, that-... 51:56 are out there, you know? Like if it- Oh, sure... it depends on conditions, right? If it's a slop fest or a, or you're riding the rut, man, you know, you gotta... Yeah. Definitely. 52:08 Yeah, that's certainly been the way it's played out the last three years now with Chris and I. Mm-hmm. And a couple wild cards in there. Yep. But, uh, yeah, you, you never know, and 52:21 there's always the chance that, uh, some people that have raced the past couple years are in much better shape. I know, um, you know, Peter Leshak, um, who was third this year, was way stronger than I'd ever seen him 52:38 there. And, you know, there was a couple points in the race where I thought he could win. Mm-hmm. And you never-- And like Will Ross, again, like he- Right. Yeah... 52:47 didn't have the race he had hoped for last year, but I could tell this year he was a little more focused on it, and, I mean, he's, he's won this race before too, always a threat. Um, 52:58 and you never know when somebody like Ted King is gonna show up like, like happened last year. Yeah. So, uh, yeah, I ne-never count on, uh, never count on having an easy time of it. That's for sure. 53:13 So you're in the, you're in the, uh, the starting chute. Uh, anybody talking? Anybody, [laughs] anybody making any predictions there? That's- No. I always love to- No. [laughs] No? 53:28 I think everybody just kind-- You know, at least I can just speak for myself and a few people I know on, on the front line there. I think everybody's just trying to kind of keep their nerves in check and- Yeah... 53:40 uh, stay loose and stay warm and- Sure... uh, pa-pay attention to the countdown of the race. 53:46 You know, how, how many minutes before the start do you take your jacket off and, uh, maybe have your- So no words of wisdom from Cole House or, you know, like... [laughs] No, no. There's not a lot of chitchat. 53:59 I think- Not a lot of chatter going on. Yeah, just kind of maybe some, some handshakes, some, uh, some good luck wishes, but, uh, you know, not, uh, not a lot of like race strategy discussion or anything like that. 54:14 So I think everybody pretty much knows what they're in for. Yeah. Um, how, how things are gonna go and, um, 54:22 yeah, just trying to get yourself ready and at least I, I just always think that, um, I just try to, to pay attention to how I'm feeling and, and just worry about myself and, and my own 54:37 race strategy and, uh, prepare the body for a- Yeah... suffer fest. Yeah. So there's just a, well, a few mental gymnastics to go through there, uh, the last few minutes before the start. Sure. 54:48 And then it's a neutral rollout with, with a snowmobile four by four in front of you, and then three K in you're into the trail, right? Right. Yep. So yeah, neutral rollout, um-Pretty, pretty standard. Um, 55:05 everybody's kind of forming up around the snowmobile there, and then they turn you loose- Mm-hmm... on the, uh, the power line section, which is really maybe the first decisive portion of the race. 55:15 And it, it kind of depends on the year and, um, you know, how the, how the wind is blowing and who's willing to go to the front really- Mm-hmm... put the power down. 55:26 But some years you, you- the orig- or, um, the first lead selection is made there, where maybe a dozen people separate themselves and start rolling up the trail once it turns into the, the, the classic Birke ski trail, uh, when you enter the woods. 55:43 But this year I think it, maybe we had a headwind going out to that section. Um, it seemed a little bit more controlled, and the lead group was much larger. 55:54 Um, I didn't get a good look at it, but it seemed maybe 20, 30 riders all at least, you know, with- within, uh, a wheel, you know, not more than a wheel gap between each one. Um- Yikes. That's nerve-wracking. 56:12 [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, it is. It is a little nerve-wracking 'cause, you know, you try to stay right near the front. Um, you don't wanna be the person leading the, the whole race right from the start. 56:25 But then sometimes if you find yourself back in 10th or 12th, well, 56:31 somebody ahead of you takes a corner slowly or, um, has to sit up on an uphill and you're, you're on the wrong line, you hit some soft snow, and then all of a sudden you're in 25th, you know? Yeah. 56:43 Um, and that can be a problem. So it- it's, it's definitely kind of an, an art to meter- metering your effort, um, to, to stay near the front, not 56:59 at the front the whole time, but- Sure... enough to stay safe. Yeah. Now, I see, I see Isaac Neff was in-- your teammate, was in the, uh, in the top 10. Was he in this elite group? And can- Yeah... 57:13 were, were you guys working a little tactics? Um- Um, I mean, not really. I think-- I don't think either of us were really on the front too much. Um, yeah. 57:24 So I, I convinced Isaac to, to come up and give this race a try this year. It's his first shot at it. We've been riding fat bike together a lot of all winter. Um, and he had a great ride. Um, I think he ended up ninth. 57:36 Ninth. And- Yeah... yeah, and it was-- he was very close to, to holding on for fourth, as I understand it. 57:42 I think he was kinda caught in no man's land and got caught by the chase group right before the finish, maybe with a mile or two to go. Um, so really good ride by him. Uh, 57:55 but yeah, he, he was definitely in, in that group all the way until the, the selection of three was made- Mm-hmm... over, uh, over Fire Tower on the return leg. 58:08 So probably two-thirds of the race he was right up at the front. Cool. And now, um, you had started, before we talked about Isaac, you were in a group of 25 on the power line on your way towards the turnaround. 58:24 How did that- Right... how did that group whittle down, or did it? So, 58:31 um, I c- I couldn't see the whole group all the time, but, uh, I would take a peek back every now and again, and it seemed like a lot of riders, the, the train was kinda yo-yoing or, um, you know, you kind of have the, the ela... 58:45 it was like a giant elastic cord. Mm-hmm. 58:47 So every time somebody went to the front and, and went hard, whether it was Chris or myself or Peter or somebody else, uh, the elastic would stretch, and that group of 25 would go from being all bunched together to being strung out over, you know, 200 meters maybe. 59:04 And then, well, 59:06 the, the pace would slow, and it would all just snap back together again, and, um, all the riders would come posting back up to the front, and you just hear all the, all the FreeHubs buzzing, you know, behind you. 59:18 Mm-hmm. And, uh, kinda everybody gets a little nervous, and, um, you don't wanna get swarmed. But, uh, as you go on the... it's... 59:28 I, I kinda look at the course, it's, it's like a stair step roller coaster on the way out, you know. There's uphills and downhills, but there's more up than down on the way out. Mm-hmm. 59:38 And, uh, the elastic cord was stretching and snapping back together as we were making our way out to Double O. Um, and 59:49 you just kinda look at it, you know, everybody's, everybody's burning fuel, um, on the way out, and, and you, you just, you get to the turnaround and 1:00:01 you head up over Fire Tower on the way back, and I'm always kind of thinking how much gas does everybody have left in the tank when they get to that point. Mm-hmm. 1:00:09 Um, and while everybody's together, some people are a lot more tired than others. Uh, and at the turnaround I still felt like I had quite a bit of gas left in the tank, and I could tell a few other people did also. Um, 1:00:25 some of the people towards the, the back of the elastic band, I think, were, uh, getting, getting close to the low fuel light coming on. Mm-hmm. And then when, when a decisive move went, um, 1:00:40 the pack broke apart a little bit more. Yeah. Historically, it's always been attacks after Double O. Like, up to like- Mm-hmm... 1:00:49 five or six attacks that go back years in this Birke- well, that's where this race seems to be won every year is through breaking, busting up that elite group to maybe two or three, and then winning. 1:01:04 But it'll, it'll- Yeah. YeahYou know, except for two, you know, two years ago, Chris and I rode pretty much the whole race, just the two of us. Yeah. 1:01:14 But, um, yeah, I think back to some of the first years I did it when Ned Overend won. Right. 1:01:20 I think he attacked right after Double O, and I think he, he attacked several times very hard, and it took him three or four attacks to, to break it apart. Mm-hmm. 1:01:31 But he eventually did, and then I think rode a lot of the way in with a narrow gap on the rest of the field. Um, and, and there's, there's been other years that's really come down to the last 5K or even, even less. 1:01:46 Um, I know a year, three years ago when, when Jordan won on the short, the circuit course, it was more or less a sprint right at the end. Mm-hmm. So, um, yeah, you just gotta be pr- prepared for everything. So 1:02:04 in that portion of the race after the Double O, are you reacting to moves, or are you being aggressive and laying down attacks? Hmm. I try to stay pretty much within myself. 1:02:18 I had a few key portions of the course picked out where I knew I was gonna spend my energy to try to get away, and if not get away, at least sap the energy of a lot of my competitors. Mm-hmm. 1:02:34 And so, you know, the way out is there's a few opportunities because it is, it's climbing. It's, there's a lot of difficult trail with snow. It's softer, so it takes more energy to, to pedal through. 1:02:47 Um, so there's a, you know, there's always a few opportunities people can get away on the way out, like when two years ago, um, Chris and I got away. Mm-hmm. Uh, w-was with a, with a move like that. 1:02:58 And then, um, after Double O, you hit, uh, you hit a big climb coming over Fire Tower on, on the return leg. And so last year that, um, I kind of went over the top of someone else's attack 1:03:12 and was able to get away and hold it all the way to the end. 1:03:15 Um, this year I put in a pretty big effort going up Fire Tower on the way back and, uh, was not able to get away, but I was able to get it down to three of us, so it was up Peter, Chris, and, and myself. Gotcha. 1:03:27 Uh, and we had a pretty good gap over the top of Fire Tower. Um, and then probably the last really decisive point in the course is, uh, there's a, there's a really steep little 1:03:41 nasty pitch maybe just 5K before the finish. And so, um, I kind of had that in the back of my mind too, just in case other plans didn't work out to, to keep that point in mind as 1:03:55 somewhere to really go all in and see if you, see if you can make something happen. Mm-hmm. Yeah, but then after the turnaround at Double O, 1:04:05 it does, it does get, uh, pretty decisive, and y-yeah, a lot of winning moves have gone there, thinking back over the years. Right. Yeah, yeah, I, that... 1:04:17 I, I always remember the story that, that Ned Overend told that, you know, it took him five attacks, I think to, to put a gap into Will Ross. Yeah. So. Yeah. That sounds about right. Yep. So only 1:04:32 10 seconds between you and Chris at the finish. I know. It was close. It was close. I... There was a couple points I thought I might get caught. Have you been working on your sprint? That has come a [laughs] Uh, n-no. 1:04:48 [laughs] No, I don't want sprint. I don't have a sprint hardly. Uh, yeah, no, really it's, uh, it- it's a race of attrition, I think, and, um, I don't think either Chris or I really fancy ourselves, uh, sprinters. 1:05:03 You won't, won't confuse either of us for a, a Mark Cavendish. But, uh, yeah, if it comes down to the end, I think probably the person who's the most fresh is, is gonna win. Yeah. 1:05:16 Um- It's almost like a boxer's body blows. You know, you, uh, you make the field feel all of those punctuation points like a boxer hitting somebody in the ribs 15 times- Mm... during the course. 1:05:32 And, uh, when it comes time to face the bell at the end, you know, the guy who's the freshest wins. Yeah. Eh? 10 seconds, dude. Yeah, that's a good analogy. Yeah. 1:05:43 I know, and I thought it was even closer than that because going over the power line section just in the last few miles, I swear Chris and I were both coming over the crest of the hill at the same time. 1:05:55 You know, I was on one side of the crest of the hill, and he was on the other. I could look back and see him just right there, but- Man... 1:06:03 I always think getting into that last downhill section, a few K to go, there's kind of a fast, twisty, it's the last section of kind of the first ski trail you're on, 1:06:16 um, the section where you go right before you make the final right-hand. If you can get through that section and someone, and someone not on your wheel, then I think you can hold them off, you know? Mm. 1:06:27 So it's just kind of a countdown to, to get to that point. But yeah, that, that is how it played out. Pretty incredible. You know, pretty incredible- Yeah, it was... that Madison, Wisconsin, has, uh, 1:06:43 such a talented field of athletes. So congratulations to you both. Thank you. Thank you. You guys, uh- There's, there's a lot of good riders in town. 1:06:53 Um, every, every time I go out and, and ride, there's always the opportunity to ride with other people who are, you know, as strong or stronger than I am, so, um, yeah, I'm blessed with that. 1:07:07 Yeah, Madison is a great bike town, that is for sure. And, uh, so, uh, w-Let's, uh, th- thank, thank your sponsors for, uh, I know NEFF Cycle Sport is, uh, is- Sure, yeah... your team, right? 1:07:20 First and foremost, NEFF, NEFF Cycle Service. Um, they make it all happen, and, uh, really excited to work with Otso this year on the new Voi- Voitack bike was amazing. 1:07:34 Um, had just some great results and some great riding all winter on it. I was really impressed with, with the way it handled. Um, so big, big shout-out to those guys. And HED Wheels- Right on... 1:07:49 coming through with the ultimate race wheel. Um, couldn't have done it without those guys. And, uh, and of course SRAM, 1:08:01 um, and some of the other players we work with through, through the NEFF team. Um, big thanks to all those guys. Cool. And of course Double Chocolate Championship Cookies dot com. 1:08:16 [laughs] Can't, can't make it happen without the cookies. [laughs] Mm-hmm. Yeah. Heather, you got any- And those things actually- You got anybody to add there? 1:08:26 No, I mean, I'll just, uh, you know, as Cory was just speaking there, I wanted to just say hear, hear. I mean, um, 1:08:35 Otso and HED, they're just such sweet, sweet products, um, that I think just anybody who jumps on those and uses the... They make you a better cyclist, I swear. Um, and I've just been super, uh... 1:08:50 I, I just got a new Wahoo C from Otso about a week- Oh, right on, yeah. Yeah. 1:08:56 And, um, you know, she's only been out for a few rides, but I was thinking the other day, I was like, man, this, I, the geometry of these bikes I feel like were just made for me, both of the Voitack and that Wahila C. 1:09:09 So I just super impressed with the quality, um- Very cool. Well, we'll, we'll have to have you back on the, on the program because, uh, we're, we're reviewing some, some, uh, gravel bikes. We'll be 1:09:21 re- uh, we'll be reviewing the Wahila Stainless bike. Ooh. Um, and I just built up yesterday a framed Basswood, all carbon, carbon wheels, and just roll. Man, 1:09:36 oh, my thumbs are not strong enough to, to deal with gravel bike, uh, narrower rims. And I had to heat up the tires, and I put the tires in front of a... 1:09:45 And, like, I had to use bead slip and, and black magic to get those tires on, but they're on now. [laughs] But, uh- Good to go... I really appreciate you guys being on the, uh, the program, and good luck to you. 1:10:01 And stay safe. Thank you. And you know what? I forgot to do a couple of the things that we had talked about because- Yeah. I, yeah, no problem... 1:10:09 so before I, before I go into my little closing there, uh, Cory, I wanted to, uh, bring up the, uh, the hand, wrist, elbow, uh, trail deal that you have going with Madison and IMBA. 1:10:25 Why don't you tell us a little bit about that now that I murdered it [laughs] with the title? You had such a nice transition there, Gomez. You were talking about what a great town Madison was to ride in- Oh, I know. 1:10:35 Bull... and it is, and I saw it was coming. Oh, man. 1:10:40 Yeah, so an exciting project I'm working on as part of my, my day job is, uh, developing or planning at, at this stage, um, an urban single tr- single track network in the city of Madison. 1:10:54 So I've, uh, put this on social media a little bit. It's been out there through IMBA's website, but, uh, City of Madison applied for and received a trail planning grant from IMBA last year. Mm-hmm. 1:11:08 And it's, it's kind of a, a new venture for, for both the city and, uh, IMBA and their, um, their arm. It's called, uh, IMBA Trail Solutions, and it's, uh, it's a service, uh, of, 1:11:25 of a design firm, I guess you could say- Mm-hmm... an arm of, of IMBA that, uh, is, is trying to grow the, the service of helping municipalities and landowners, uh, establish trail networks on, on their property. Um, 1:11:43 and so they are in the process now, and then we're working together through this process of starting, uh, in the spring of, of, or pretty much first of the year 2020, of going through, uh, a lot of the, 1:12:00 uh, green spaces in the city and creating, um, a, a proposed trail network, kind of a master plan. Mm-hmm. And 1:12:12 it's- This is- It's, it's on the underway right now, but, um, yeah, we'll, we'll get to a point at, at some, at some point where I'll, 1:12:21 we'll have a series of public meetings and, um, you know, people will get to come advocate for trails or, you know, maybe other residents will come and, you know, be opposed to them and, um, and we'll kind of work together w- with everyone to, 1:12:38 to outline future potential sites for both parallel single track and, um, single track nodes or bike parks or kind of, uh, small destinations, uh, scattered throughout the city that, uh, people can ride to 1:12:56 hopefully, uh, at least somewhat on, on a combination of dirt trail and, um, existing bike routes, uh, whether it be paved paths or, um, shared use, uh, you know, on, on city streets, things like that. This is, 1:13:12 uh, it, it had, it always re-Reminded me of what I had read about and seen on the internet that they had done in Bentonville and- Yeah... 1:13:22 uh, the, the video that I'm thinking of, if it's, if it's like that, oh man, that would just be so sweet. Yeah, Bentonville's really kind of... 1:13:31 Yeah, um, Bentonville's really the gold standard for this style of trail system. 1:13:36 Um, when landowners, cities, municipalities talk about developing mountain bike trails or facilities, there's a couple models they could really look to, and, um, probably the best-known model of, of the urban single track net- network is, is Bentonville. 1:13:52 And, you know, another model, for example, might be like a, uh, a destination bike park, and maybe the best example of that is Valmont Park in, in Boulder. Mm-hmm. 1:14:01 So, uh, we've been working with the local IMBA chapter here in Madison, uh, corp, uh, to survey members going back all the way to maybe 2016, 2017, uh, 1:14:12 deciding what our, our best foot forward was, and I think there was a lot of en- enthusiasm for the, the urban single track model. And so this grant is really pursuing that model. 1:14:26 It's not really closing the door on other larger facilities or, um, destination bike parks, for example. Um, all those things could, could still potentially happen. 1:14:38 It's just outlining how they m- might all fit together so that, uh, the, the combination of different trails can be, uh, something that's greater than the sum of the parts. Right on. 1:14:51 Well, I- Yeah, so it- My hat's off to you, amigo. Yeah, that's such a huge- Thanks. Thanks... undertaking, and, uh, it- It is... is so good. Um- Thank you, and I hope that, uh, I hope it ends up being successful. 1:15:04 Um, it's just in the very preliminary stages right now, and, and hopefully if we talk again next year I'll have some, some more and, and better news to share. Cool. 1:15:13 Then there's just one other thing that, that I was curious about. I, I follow you on the, on the social networks, and you had posted- Sure... about, uh, about how because of, uh, COVID-19, 1:15:28 the, uh, pandemic, that many of the events are closed, uh, being canceled, and, and some postponed, but you're still training and, uh... So I'm, I'm just curious to see, you know, like, how this has affected 1:15:47 your output or, or your attitude, or what motivates you to put these training, uh, the eight-week or six-week, these, uh, stages together. Sure. Yeah, well, you know, it's, it's different. 1:16:04 These are unprecedented times, I think, and it's, it's different for everyone. And as, 1:16:09 as the COVID was descending upon us and we were kind of coming to grasps with h- what this was gonna mean for, for all of our lives, um, you know, of course the first concern is your health and well-being, and then your livelihood, and then after that how it, how it affects your, 1:16:33 your hobbies and your passions in life. And, um, 1:16:39 so it, I think probably everyone's making different decisions based on that matrix, but Heather and I are lucky enough that we haven't, our health and our, our livelihood haven't been drastically affected yet, so we still had the ability to go out and train. 1:16:55 And then I think, um, at some point this is, this is going to pass and, and right now it looks like a lot of the racing in the first half of 2020 is not going to proceed as planned. 1:17:10 But at some point it, it will resume, and I still love racing, and I wanna be as ready as possible when the racing does resume. And I was thinking about this a little bit and, and talking with some friends, 1:17:26 um, and when you do a big training block like this, whether it's, you know, three-week block, a six-week block, or multiple blocks stacked upon one another, even if you don't have a, a race at the end of that block, 1:17:39 you still make gains, and the next block builds upon the previous one. And maybe this is an opportunity, since you don't have racing to interrupt, um, your, what you would describe as an ideal training block. 1:17:55 It's, it's an opportunity to work and build on some things that you wouldn't otherwise have a chance to work and build on, and then when this does finally pass, you can come out the other side better than you were. 1:18:07 Well, right on. Now, have you- Yeah, I was just- Yeah, go ahead. Sorry. 1:18:12 I was just gonna add, I mean, I think the other part, um, you know, is that it still brings about a, this bit of normalcy [laughs] into what are very abnormal times. And so I think that's, um, 1:18:26 I think that's also a key part of it and, uh, you know, that, that kind of keeps the motivation. It's like, yep, you know, this is, we're still gonna be able to use this fitness at some point. Mm-hmm. 1:18:37 Um, so you might as well go. And this is what we do. Um, so I think that, that normalcy and that, you know, that we are privileged to not have that, uh, interrupted at this moment in time is pretty outstanding. 1:18:53 Um, and I'll also say that, you know, for me, I'm not putting down, I'm not putting down the, the blocks that I might be [laughs] uh, otherwise at this moment, and, and I'm welcoming that too. 1:19:05 So I think, you know, for people who are like, "Oh, well, I'm, you know, I'm about the process and the end game and the racing," you know, I think, you know, you can also say, "Hey, use this, use this time to reconnect so that when you-When that race is on the calendar, you're gonna be ready and, and, and raring to go. 1:19:24 I mean, I think it's sort of like, you know, if you get, if you get injured and you're not able to do what, what you love, or you have to postpone a race, oftentimes [phone ringing] you come back 1:19:36 fired up and more focused and more determined than other-- than ever before. 1:19:41 And so I think that's, it-- I-- that would be sort of my words of wisdom to folks who are being like, "Listen, I got nothing 'cause I don't know when I'm gonna race." Mm-hmm. 1:19:50 Is, okay, keep some level of fitness for your hea- you know, for you and your health, both physical and mental. Right. 1:19:57 And know that this time away can also be really useful, um, as well to, you know, whether it's you, you're focusing on your core or, you know, just kind of enjoying being out, um, and moving your body. 1:20:13 I think there's also benefits and, and viewpoints from that way as well. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. That for me, it's such a good mental therapy to go out and ride and just empty your mind and- Mm-hmm... 1:20:23 turn off your brain and have fun, so. Hear, hear. Well, Cool Cats, thanks for being on the show. You're a delight as always. [laughs] Thanks for having us. This is my game show host personality coming out here. 1:20:39 [laughs] Like it. Yeah, Glen, we're happy to be a part of it. Happy we could get the results that we got, uh, and invite back. Oh, cool. We're gonna be honest. Heck yeah. So, uh, thanks, thanks again. Take care. Yeah. 1:20:53 Yeah. Take care. Take care. All right. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Check us out on Instagram @fatbike.com. Till then [instrumental music playing] 1:21:08 My mom restored us with the fact that Papa doesn't do skin names [instrumental music playing]
