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Photo by – Dan F Skovli. Northern Norway Burfjord. Absolutely stunning photograph!
Weekly Dose of Fat – Show Number 90 – Friday, January 22nd 2016
Welcome to this week’s show with Sven, Gomez and JK Livin’ in the studio and call-in guests on the phone lines. Plus, we award the Gnomies for the best fat-bike products of 2015!
Fat-Bike Radio, and The Weekly Dose of Fat, is sponsored by Surly Bikes – Learn more at http://surlybikes.com.
On the show this week
- We Start the show with the Event of the Week with our special guest Fattie Lumpkin!
- We welcome listeners from around the fatisphere to behold the elegant grandeur of Fat-Bikes biggest stars at the very first Gnomies!- Fat dash bike dot com’s premier awards show for fat-bike stuff.
- We award the final grand prize in our Essay Contest with Becker Sewing & Precision Beer Drinking
- We check in with the Fatty Farm Field Report brought to by The Winter RUSH Fat-Bike Series, The Michigan State Fat-Bike Championships and the 2017 USA Cycling – Fat-Bike National Championships.
The Fat-Bike Event of the week is the I AM FAT snow bike enduro! That’s Iowa’s Annual Majestic Fat Ride Around Trueblood. Adam Blake gives us a heads up on the event. Check out more at – http://worldofbikes.com
A bit of beverage talk.
Sven and Uncle Gomez host the Gnomies and announce the winners of:
Best Fat Bike Tire!
- 4”
- 5”
- Studded
Best Fat Bike Rim
- Wide
- Wider
Best Fat Bike Accessory
- Pogie
- Frame bag
Fatty Farm Field Report
This week’s Fatty Farm Field Report is presented by The Winter RUSH Fat-Bike Series. Winter Rush is the home of The Michigan State Fat-Bike Championships and will be your hosts of the 2017 USA Cycling Fat-Bike National Championships. For more information visit – http://winterrush.com/
The Becker Sewing Bag Contest!
We Have a Winner! Our Essay Grand Prize Winner get a Camouflage, 40-below down tube bag from Tupper & Becker Bags of Fairbanks Alaska. Our winner is, Evan LarSSon!
Why I Ride A Fat-Bike
By: Evan LarSSon
Going back to my very first fat-bike ride is a fond memory I can always see with my mind’s eye. I was lucky to have friends who gave me the opportunity to try not one, but three fatties in one glorious winter afternoon. A 3” Krampus opened my eyes to why plus is better than not, a 4” 9-ZERO-7 showed me what flotation really means, and a Pugsley with a 5” front tire that let me blaze a trail of goodness across the Midwest landscape. Pure awesomeness was suddenly in my vocabulary and the understanding of what can be swept over me with a wave of excitement. I can ride in the snow, I can rip in the snow! The smile I had couldn’t be contained and stretched from ear to ear. The kind of smile that makes others smile just seeing it. No longer am I restricted to 3 seasons, I can ride all year long. I can go out at any time, any day, hop on my fat-bike and choose my own adventure. Just like the books we read as kids, every ride is different and no one takes the exact same path. I feel like a kid again, allowed to venture out of the neighborhood, and now the whole world is my playground.
Now that you know how it all started, I would like to express what I feel is most important. To me it’s one word, FUN. We all work hard and if we’re lucky we enjoy what we do. After the work is done, I want fun. The bicycle is such a great tool to leave the world behind and disappear into my own mind for a bit. I plug into nature and listen, I listen to animals and I listen to the Gnomes as they labor around me. I never quite know where they are or what they’re up to, but I assure you that they, along with nature, are aware of my presence. If you didn’t know, Gnomes fix things. They fix the trail system to benefit our ride and some choose to play with us. Drop a chain, Gnomes. Get a flat, Gnomes. Somehow survive that crazy drop-off you didn’t see, thank the Gnomes. They are the pranksters and the pursers. They are the true land managers that let us use their resources for personal enjoyment. So remember, whatever the ride was, it was thanks to the efforts of our woodland friends.
One cannot be told about riding a fat-bike. It MUST be experienced to appreciate what the fat-bike really offers. So much more than a “snowbike” or a “training tool”. The fat-bike gives me 4 seasons of pure bicycle bliss. When I look into my stable of two wheeled fun machines I will most likely reach for my single speed Pugsley. My decision is based on how many “smiles-per-mile” will I accumulate in the time I’m riding. Not about how long will this ride be, but completely forgetting about time in general. My lovely and patient wife will attest to me loosing track of time, why? Because as they say, time flies when you’re having fun.
My riding style varies on conditions. No, not weather related but of a personal state. I ask myself, “What kind of ride do I want to have”? A hard push that lets me release all my frustrations. A technical challenge to stimulate my visual cortex and hand-eye coordination. Perhaps a relaxed pace with a select class of individuals and let’s not forget the libations for all. The fat-bike crowd seem to just want the same thing, a good time. And I agree, I ride the way I want, whether I’m solo or in a group. We’re all doing the same thing, riding our own ride.
Everyone has something that can bring them back to a place in time. To a time the world was your oyster and behind every turn an adventure. We didn’t care about what tomorrow would bring because we had right now. My fat-bike took me back to that way of living and I’ve applied it to the rest of my life. Religious experience, maybe? It’s hard not to get caught up in what might happen. It’s difficult to stop and just appreciate being here, being with loved ones, enjoying this gift that we call life. The world is a loud place filled with terrible distractions, but I’ve learned to listen to the Gnomes while I ride. Use what they teach you, and know whatever kind of ride you want, you’ll have. I want fun, I want happiness, I want to play bikes with my friends, and I have my fat-bike to thank for that. Why do I ride a fat-bike? For the fucking fffun of it!
Borealis Fat Bikes sent us a video from the event of the Week from a couple of weeks ago – Ullr-Fest – and it looks like it was a riot!
Fat-bike Links
Ellsworth Buddha Fat-bike
http://ellsworthbikes.com/bike/buddha/
New Fat-Bike Storage for Home/Garage/Apartment
https://steadyrack.com/learn-more/
JoBoo is looking for some answers about what makes a winter Fat-bike trail fun to you? Weigh in on his blog.
https://joboo1967.wordpress.com/2016/01/14/what-makes-a-winter-fatbike-trail-fun-to-you/
Fresh Tracks
https://joboo1967.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/subzero-temps-and/
Bruce finds some snow.
http://coastkid.blogspot.com/2016/01/in-search-of-snow-found-some-on-lammer.html
CHUMBA USA – Special Operations Charity Auction
http://multicampattern.com/fat-tire-multicam-bike-from-chumba-wanderlust/
Follow us on Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/fatbikedotcom/
Plus Bike Links
Bruce is experimenting with 29+ on the beach to see how soft he can go
http://coastkid.blogspot.com/2016/01/is-29-29-x-50mm-wide-rims-with-3-wide.html
Thanks again to Surly for sponsoring the radio portion of today’s broadcast. Surly Bikes are sold at better bicycle retailers across the galaxy – Learn more at http://surlybikes.com.
Adios Amigos!