It's magic. It is magic. And we got to see where the magic was made. We got an opportunity to get behind the curtain, if you will. It was like getting a peek into Willy Wonka's factory. Feel the burn baby. Oh yeah. It's a slam dunk. Absolutely breathtaking. Hello everyone. I'm Garrett Best, the host of the television series, bike to Bites on Earth, XT V. And I'm excited to announce it's companion the Bike to Bites podcast. It is here in these podcasts, we're going to get a chance to dive a little bit deeper to find out where the world of cycling meets up with culinary culture. Meet up with some chefs, some restaurateurs, geek out a little bit on the bikes that we ride and why we ride which bike, and where we're excited to have you on this journey with us. And right now in the studio with me is my other executive producer for the Bike The Bites television series, John Crowley. John, thanks for being in the studio today. Thanks for having me. Well, it's really exciting. We're talking about season one. Season two is premiering in April, 2024, but we wanted to kind of have this moment to talk about season one in case people haven't had a chance to check out those episodes. I'd like them to go check those out in advance of season two coming out in just a few months. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, this whole enterprise, we've all gone away for shoots, right? Travel just comes part and parcel with it, but I don't know if everybody knows that. We actually, we drive, you ride the route in every town, and then we drove the route from town to state to state. We did like 6,500 miles in our caravan rather. On season one. On season one we did 23 states, 16 hotels. It's a blur, but I was a little nervous to begin with thinking about that. We're going to be on the road for two months and the road trip was every bit as fun as doing the actual production of the show. And I love the fact that we started season one in Boston. And as you know, Boston is very near and dear to my heart. It's where I went to college. I went to Emerson College in Boston. I lived there. Do you know the fight song? No. Do. You remember the fight song? Is there a mascot or anything? No. There is a lion. There is a lion mascot. I believe. Nobody even thought Emerson had sports teams, but we do. Field hockey. They're small, but we have them. Foosball. But now a little bit better than that. Great basketball team actually, and soccer team. So they're there. I want to take a moment to thank our sponsor. Plus for the support of the Bike to Bites podcast. When your tomorrows are built on technology, you need to partner with superior insight, with expertise in cutting edge innovation across ai, security cloud and workplace transformation. Plus is on the frontline of today's modern enterprise E plus where technology means more. We started in Boston and I have a friend who owns a very well established little tiny shop in the North end. Thank God you do, my friend. Yes. That was my favorite stop. Oh boy. So Angelo from Mike's Pastry, and if you're not familiar with what pastry is, just walk into the north end of Boston and get in line. It's magic. It is magic. And we got to see where the magic was made. We got an opportunity to get behind the curtain, if you will. How many people get that chance? I mean, that was a candy factory. I said this at a different time, but it was like getting a peek into Willy Wonka's factory, and I had never, ever, ever heard of a thing called the Lobster Tail, the pastry. Right? Oh my God. That was fantastic. And that was fun trying that on camera and having you try it because that was, you were. My one and only time on camera in the show because I had a taste of it and I was like, I have to try this and I have to let the man know how incredible it was. Oh, that was fantastic. And Angelo is amazing, and what a great story they have. They've opened a couple more shops in the Boston area, one in the garden. They've got an online business. You can actually order the lobster tail and cannolis as kits that you can make at home, which is a lot of fun. And if you haven't been to Boston, you're planning a trip that's a twofer. Because what I mean is you go and you can get a great pastry from an iconic bakery in Boston, but you're in the north end and you're surrounded by all that great architecture in the history. I mean, it's an overload. It's a must do. Yeah. And also from there, I really, I loved, it was fun kind of trying a roast beef sandwich at Sers. Dylan is our production manager and he's from the Boston area. He's a New Englander and constantly had been talking about the North Sho and where you had to go and get a traditional Boston beef roast beef sandwich. And Cusser is not on the North shore. It's right smack in the middle of Boston. But boy, that was a pretty. Incredible, really good. Roast beef sandwich. Really good. So we went to Boston. With their own new spin. With their own new spin. And we went to Boston and we then visited Asheville and Asheville also. Spectacular. And those donuts. Whole donuts. The whole donuts, incredible. Really. Good. Incredible. And what a story, they were both actors. They left the H Hollywood establishment. They picked a point, literally arbitrarily on a map as to where they wanted to relocate their life. And they landed in Asheville and they found this donut shop that was up for sale and they took it on as their own. And boy are they knocking it out of the park. I thought personally, I've always thought of myself as preferring the cake A yeast donut. This is the yeast donut. And it was so airy, not over. As we're talking about it, I really feel like a donut right now. I know, right? When you think about that place and when you watch the show, if you haven't watched it, it tastes every bit as good as it looks. I mean, it looks, and everything's handmade. And they go and remember they were telling us, they go and they pick locally some. Of the herbs. And of course I got to learn how to play Patton with Chef Michelle. And that was a real street. I mean, he has this unbelievable flare of what he called very simple French country cuisine. This is stuff that you would have on a table in France. And I love the line that he said is food tastes better with friends with his French accent. And it was so eloquent. And he's gone out of his way. The dining room is very, it's very low key. Very simple lines, simple old church. But then he's created this area outside. For you to go play. To. Go play with your friends. Yeah, bocce or Paton, which pick your poison. And they have quartz for everybody to play in. And of course, his three traditional French ingredients that he reminded me that I must recall, do you know? Or he asked me, do you know the three main ingredients in French cuisine? And I was answered. I did answer correctly. Butter, butter and. Butter. Butter. And boy, everything tastes better with butter. And it was really, really good. And of course we went to Sunshine Sam's where they had those incredible homemade cookies and homemade ice cream. Sandwich. And the cookies were just as good as the ice cream. Just as good. Nothing overpowered. The other was perfectly balanced. And of course, sunny Point Cafe where if you're going to have breakfast in Nashville, that's the place to go. That is the place to go. Get there early. Get there. Beat the lines, but great little outdoor dining areas. And then she's got that beautiful garden where she's. G raising where she uses everything in the garden in the restaurant, which is really, you talk about sustainability, she's knocking it out of the park and I really. She's walking the walk. Yeah, I really, April, I really enjoyed meeting with April. Sweet lady. Yeah, very, very sweet. And just the passion, you definitely, you saw it and you ate it. And one of the best burgers I've ever had, crew has a little lunch sometimes afterwards at some of these places. One of the best burgers. And she made a, was he. Top five? I would say? I would say. And you know what? She blends a lot of different ingredients. And look, my wife will tell you I have the taste buds of a toddler. I don't venture too far off. I have a comfort zone. But on this show, I forced myself to try new things. And she had some sweet and savory and it worked. And she made a dessert. I want to say it was a cobbler. Was it a peach cobbler? It was a cobbler, yep. Peach cobbler. Oh boy. Yeah, fresh. Well, if you definitely want to experience Asheville, you'll get a really solid taste of it. Check out the Asheville episode on Bike to Bites on Earth X tv. You will love it. You'll eat a donut. You'll have some breakfast, you'll have some nice French cuisine and place some Patton. And of course, did I miss something there? No, no, you got it all. Covered. Oh, and a Sunshine Sammy ice cream. And some ice cream. And the thing about the show too is we spend an equal amount of time in the restaurants with our chefs talking with our chefs or our owners as we do with you on the bike. So it's fun because you really do get a look at the town. You get a sense of what it is. I'd never been to Asheville. And so for me it was important when we landed there to take in everything that I wasn't expecting that was new to me, and then be able to try to put that into the show. Yeah, speaking about cycling, because I want to talk about that because Asheville was the epitome of a cyclist dream. It is. Just exploring downtown on a bicycle is amazing. But I got a chance to do something I've always wanted to do, which was ride the Blue Ridge Parkway. And I got to do it with a friend who we met, our new friend, our new friend who we met while we were there, which was Willie, who is the innkeeper at the place that. We were all there where we stayed. And he met me halfway. I didn't ride the full way up to our descent, to the summit. We drove and then he met us halfway, but I still had to climb half of it with him. So we climbed half of it together. And John, I will never forget coming down on the switchbacks, coming down the Blue Ridge Parkway on the descent. I remember at one point looking down at my speedometer and seeing I was doing 37 miles an hour. And for me that was fast. I mean, for most people that's fast. As a friend of mine would say to me, somebody in the cycling industry at 37 miles an hour, if you fall, you're going to break something. So you have to let those thoughts know that trust in yourself on the bicycle and that you've got a good bike underneath you and that you know how to handle it and trust and not allow the fear to get into your head. Otherwise it will mess you up. People that watch the show, they can go online and they can get your route map. Oh yeah. Every one of the routes that we ride, we're going to make available to everybody so that they can go and they can experience the exact ride that we did. And I would encourage people, yes, we've denoted the restaurants that we visited on that route, but there's so many other places in between. It's not difficult to get off the track and try something else along the way and then get back. On. Well, we try to design your routes also so that you're not just going from A to B2C to D. You. Seeing things. That we're looping off and we go off little tangents sense of each town. And Asheville is a perfect example of how we went through that arts district and we saw all those beautiful murals on the wall. So moving on to Savannah, fun. Another place I had never been to that I was really excited to go. To. Nice celebrating Forest Gump in the little park. That was fun. Yes. The park is there. It exists. But a great ride. We started out along the water and then we made our way through Savannah, through downtown Savannah's. Very cool. In that everything is a square. It's a city made up of a bunch of squares. And so you really can get lost from, and every square has kind of got its own kind neighborhood feel. And we got to explore a bunch of those. I'll tell you, I'm curious from your standpoint, what was the one restaurant from Savannah that you think stands out for you? I have a couple, but. Well, I'm a real fan of barbecue. So being able to go to Randy's, because I'd heard all about it was important for me. Iconic. Iconic sweet guy. Doesn't share secrets. No. And talk about sustainability. That was a car wash that could have just been abandoned. And he has turned into something, into a stopping point for anybody in that neighborhood. But I think crystal beer. That was mine too, because that to me, epitomized southern hospitality. Oh boy. She did not want, we said, share with us a signature dish. And of course you say that to a woman who specializes in wanting to make you have an experience. She's not going to bring out just one dish. And nor did she brought out dish after dish after dish, after dish, dish. And every one of 'em was better than the. Next. And I don't know what your experience is, but when I go to a restaurant and it's a big menu, I think they can't possibly. Do all of that. Right? Do all of it. And they did all of it, right? Every dish they brought out was incredible. Incredible. I think that's a well intended point there that you just made. One that I want to kind of highlight because it does talk about all of these restaurant tours in season one, they're all putting out food, they all get accolades. You always want to know, is this place going to live up to what I've heard about it? And I'll tell you, some of these restaurants, we don't pick necessarily the restaurant that has got the most press. We pick the restaurants where we're hearing from local reconnaissance on the ground where people are telling us, oh, this is a great local favorite and you want to try it. They might not have gotten a lot of press, but the locals love it. And then you hear them talk about it and then you are like, oh, I don't know. Is this going to be as good as they say it's going to? And then you go. And inevitably, I think everywhere we went, whether it was St. Louis, whether it was Bozeman, Montana, Eugene, Oregon, or Eugene, depending on how you say. It, yes. And I think you get, I have been really wonderfully, I don't want to call it surprised, but really wonderfully treated by the experiences that we've had in each one of these places. One of the reasons I set out to create this series was to put a spotlight on some of those people that don't always necessarily get the love. And also to pick cities that don't always get the love of media attention. And these are cities. If you remember when we were chatting about this, when we were in the early stages of planning, there was two kind of things that had to kind of check boxes. It had to have a good food scene, a good culinary scene, but it also had to be good biking, cycling infrastructure where we could actually go and enjoy a city. And every one of these places that we've picked, people are like, wait a second, St. Louis, why would you pick St. Louis gets, in some instances, some people say things about St. Louis and I sit there and if you allow yourself to believe it, you might never go. But if you do go to St. Louis, it's got everything. It's got culture, it's got sports, it's got a great food scene, it's got great biking infrastructure. Those ribs that I had in St. Louis, I will never forget those ribs. I mean apricot glaze on ribs and then torched with a roofing torch to create the, I mean, it was incredible. So I think these are the things that you remember about the places that we go and visit Minneapolis, one of the best biking infrastructures in the country, and people scratch their head and say, why? You can only ride. A bike in Minneapolis. You're in Minneapolis, it's freezing most of the time. Do you know they ride their bikes all year round. They ride their bikes with fat tire bikes. The city clears those bike lanes as much as they clear the car lanes and people are riding in them. One of the other great things about Minneapolis was I got to catch up with a friend of mine who owns Belco Bakery. He's a James Beard Award-winning chef, chef Gavin Cason. He also owns Spoon and Stable great restaurant in Minneapolis. It's just a city in my opinion, that people might not think, oh, does it have a great culinary scene? Oh, it has a really good biking scene. And you go there and it's got all of it. And that's the thing about the show is when we first met and you were telling me some of the cities that you were looking, lemme do it one more time. That was the interesting thing for me coming onto the show is when you were telling me some of the towns that you wanted to go to, Minneapolis might've been one of those places where it was like, really? I didn't know there was a food scene there. But I mean, look, the other interesting thing about the show is that you're meeting really creative people. This is an industry, it's hard. It's a really tough industry to make a go out of. And the ones that are able to keep going, the ones that get noticed by the locals, there's something going on and they're bringing a lot of creativity to their menus. Like you were saying, a roof torch for barbecue, people taking dishes. That was the other common thread of seeing dishes that are very common sort of dishes. And how are these people flipping the script on it and transforming something that a traditional dish and their new take and meeting all these personalities and seeing their passion because let's be honest, it's a service related industry. Long hours. A lot of work. And look at Wise Acre Eatery in Minneapolis. I mean talk about a closed ecosystem. They have their own farm, their farm's 40 miles away, they work the farm, talk about hard work. They're working the farm. Everything in that restaurant comes directly from the farm. They have their own greenhouses on the farm, they have their own livestock on the farm. It is a closed loop and it's truly farm to table. I don't think people think about it. You can go home and you can look at your 3D printer and you hit a button and it produces something for you. It is not like that, right? Raising produce or your proteins takes a lot of time, a lot of effort and. A lot of love and passion, a. Lot of love and passion. We learned on one of the shows, you're doing a protein shake. There's often, what do we hear, seven pounds of produce that goes into a shake. I mean, think about the time and the effort and the manpower to grow all that into one meal. And people just used to it just being delivered at their table. And you don't really think about how important it's to support your farmers. And people don't realize too how hard it is getting you around from town to town because as I said, we drove cross country from Boston all the way to Solvang out in California with that bike on the back of a car with a caravan of two vehicles and 6,500 miles. And then it's very important, everybody needs to know, this is very important to Garrett that he does every route. So when you see him on the bike, he's really not just riding up to the front door, he's done the entire route, which are often like 15, 20 miles, know sometimes a little more each town and you really do it. And that's important to you. And there's no shortcuts on that. Well, it's important to me because it's about being authentic. I want to, if I'm going to tell people this is a route that we've designed for you, ride the route, then I would be hypocritical if I wasn't riding the route. And I love riding the route. It's not like it's work for me. It's something that I enjoy. So while the rest of the crew is having a day off and rightfully and well earned, it's a day off for me too. But I'm spending it riding the route, enjoying myself on my bicycle, capturing some footage that we can use in the show. And it's been a complete joy. We're talking about all of the hard work of these people, these restaurateurs, these chefs in Minneapolis, for example. We were just talking about Wiseacre Eatery and how it's this ecosystem and how hard it is to do what they do and how we as people who consume what they serve should really appreciate what goes into doing what they do. This passion there. And it reminds me of why I got into wanting to do Bike to Bites. I've spent the better part of 30 years producing food and travel television from behind the camera. And I was always enamored with how hard these people work. It is not easy being in the hospitality business. And when the pandemic hit and the world kind of slowed a bit, and it's when I decided I needed to get out and do something else kind of drive my creativity to clear my head. I started cycling and it was never a thing of mine prior to the pandemic. I would do it occasionally, but it became an obsession. And more than an obsession, it became a passion. I started riding my bike and I'll never forget, I was riding the first time I really rode more than one day in a week where I rode two days in a week. It was a big deal. And I rode along. I rode that second day, I rode 12 miles and I got off the bike and I was like, this is hurts. Why am I hurting? And I went to the local bike shop where a friend of mine from high school was managing the shop and the pandemic was just in the midst of being what it was. And so bikes were flying off the shelves because people were wanting to get outside because that was the only thing that they could do. And so he's like, I go, why am I hurting after I ride on this bicycle? And he goes, well, how far are you riding? And I was about 12 miles on this bike and it was an aluminum frame bike. And he goes, Garrett, that's not the kind of bike you want to be doing long distance with. You want something a little bit lighter, a little bit more, and your favorite word, John, because I've used this word when I described the bikes, but a little bit more supple, a little bit more give. And so he put me into a carbon fiber bike, a major brand of this bike, and what was amazing, and it was a gravel bike and I started going longer distances and I wasn't feeling any discomfort. And I kept on going longer. And now the two days a week became three days a week, which became four days a week. And I became passionate about it. And this was good because it was during a time where business was pretty interesting. We own a production company. We produce both original content and we produce a lot of corporate video. And the corporate marketplace, which we specialize in, which is in the tech industry, it was kind of going through a slowdown of live events because nobody was going to live events. And yet our clients still needed to communicate. So we started doing these virtual events, broadcast events, and it was great and we were helping them out. And that made me feel good. I felt very fulfilled by that. But at the same time, I felt like stifled because it wasn't the kind of creativity when you actually go visit a place and you sit down with a person and do a one-on-one interview in real time, not just through a Zoom screen or a Zoom call. And I was feeling soul sucked. That's the best way to describe it. It was soul sucked. I felt like the creativity was being literally as the pandemic was kind of draining who we were as a society. I was feeling like my creativity draining. And at the same time I dove deeper into writing more to try to get me out of this kind of slump that I was in. And my wife had this incredible insight to send me away incredible insight. It's called Self Preservation. That's self preservation. So she sends me away to this retreat and it's no phones. And basically you give yourself to the experience. And I was doing things that I had never really done before, like sound therapy, meditation, massage, clean eating. And then I brought my bike with me and I started riding my bike. And this happened to be up in the Berkshires in Massachusetts. And it was liberating, absolutely liberating. And at the same time I started journaling. And in this journal that I was writing over these five days that I was there, the idea of Bike to Bikes was birthed. Basically I thought of this idea, how can I take all the things that I love, food, travel, and now cycling and marry it into a concept that I think people would find interesting and would want to enjoy. And the other thing that was driving me was like, how can I put a spotlight on some of these people that I know work their rear ends off doing what they do and give them some spotlight, put the spotlight on them. And I think in our show, I think what's really special about it, and from both the way in which it's produced and the material to the viewer is that we really don't make it about us. We're a conduit, if you will. We make it about the people that we're featuring in the show. We make it about the bike route, we make it about the people, the stops along the way and the people that we meet and the work that they're doing and the incredible things that they're putting And to me so fulfilling, it's not a job for me. We talked about this before. It truly is a gift to be able to show other people who are watching this show, watching this podcast, look at what these other people are doing and you should go try it and you should go take your bike and ride in this city that you might not have thought was a cool city to ride in. But maybe the show kind of changes your mind a little bit. And if there was ever a reason to come back and watch season one, it was our first attempt to do all of these things that I've kind of talked about wanting to set out to do. One of the things that I like about the show and about you, is that what you're saying? You want to put a spotlight on these people. A lot of interview shows, and look, our show is partly travel log, it's food, it's cycling, but it's also an interview show too, right? Is a lot of interviewers, and we've talked about this just recently, is a lot of interviewers the interrupt. And you're sort of like, as a viewer, you're like, why do you have this person on your show if you don't even let them finish their thought? You've asked the question, let 'em answer it. And you always put the spotlight on the people that you're with. It's never on you. It's you're really trying to draw the best and the most information that you can from each of the people. And that's something that I appreciate when I watch the show is that you share that space with them and you really let 'em share with us what their passion is and why they do what they do. Because my mom and dad were in the restaurant business for many years in Los Angeles, and I know firsthand watching them, the hours that they put in and the work and trying to invent things for the menu and keeping their existing customers happy, but drawing a new audience as well. So it's a lot of work. I think when people watch the show, I think that's something that they appreciate. And I think every time you watch these interviews, you pick up some other little detail that you didn't notice the first time about how did they get into this and where does their inspiration come for particular dishes. It's interesting to me that you're, and we're talking about this and one of the things that keeps popping into my head as you're speaking, one, I'm listening to you, which I love listening to you and hearing your thoughts on things. But as you're speaking and talking about what specifically you're talking about, the one episode, the one restaurant, and the one person that pops into my head is Colleen from Milk Toast in St. Louis. Yes. And an incredible moving interview. Touching. Where she gets choked up. I do too. When I watch it. I do. And. I've seen that show how many times. She gets choked up and she really, because she loves what she does, and she loves the community that she serves, her. Community. Her customers. Yeah. It's so important to her. And she feels so privileged to be doing what she's doing. Even right now, I'm thinking about it. That is an interview that I will never forget because it was just so raw and real. Yep. It's right there on the. Surface and lovely. And she's doing incredible things in St. Louis. And I think that's most of the people that we met. Everybody. Everybody. There was not one. People ask that question all the time, was everybody good? Was all, were all the interviews good? Was all the food good? Come on, Gary. Isn't there one that you just was like, yeah, that's not that. No. And I think you can be your own judge. Come watch season one. Take the journey with us, explore these eight cities with us. Go and see for yourself and hear these interviews and see the food that they're putting out. And then actually go and try to go to one of those places and experience one of these things on two wheels. And I think it's the combination of all of it that gets served on the plate for me. I'm just speaking for me, when that food is put in front of me, it's not just food that came out of a kitchen. It's the context of sense of place, sense of who whose hard work went into envisioning, creating the place that I'm actually able to sit now and enjoy this meal, who actually worked on the meal and what were the stories of their journey to get them to this place in which I'm able to do that. When I take that bite, it's all in there. And so it's not. Just the food when he does this. Yeah, when I pound the. Table when he does that, then you know that they really hit the mark. But you know, say it and you hear it all the time. People say, oh, that was made with love. And you're like, okay, that's a Hallmark card greeting. No, it's not. Because what that really means is the amount of time and thought that went into what is something new that I can do and put on the plate and then experimenting with the different ingredients to try to find the right combination to create that whole taste explosion, as you say. So there's all that thought, the trial and error of testing it. And then what are they going for? They're going for the big smile at the end from their customers saying that was incredible. And knowing that their customer walked out feeling like they had a great night. That's why they keep doing what they do. So that's the passion of doing it. And look at Bozeman, look at Julie at the Western Cafe. Cafe. Talk about love. There's three generations working in that restaurant. There's the grandmother, Julie's mom. Julie's mom, there's Julie, and then there's her daughter. Who's serving, and then her son. And her son's in kitchen. And that place has been an institution in Bozeman. It's been there for over, I think it's over a century. That establishment has been there. Establishment has been there. And it was an amazing story. The same in Bozeman again, the two sisters that have the. Farmer's daughter. Farmer's daughter whose father was a grain farmer and who was very meticulous about how things should be done. That's right. They learn from him. They learn from him. And then you have red tractor pizza. Where his dad was the inspiration. Exactly. When you brought it up about people say, oh, it's made with love. Yes, it is. In every one of the instances of every one of these episodes in season one with every one of these people that we experienced something with having a meal with, and even in the last place that we visited in Bozeman with Rainer at Bodde Farms, right? The whole family is involved in that experience. There's the wife and she does massages at the massage tent that you, so this is a place that you actually get, you can stay, you can have a culinary experience. You can. Bozeman was, that was the thread that was running through everything. In terms of the cycling, my gosh. Beautiful. One mountain view after another mountain view after. And I think we talk about cycling and some of the challenging things in the rides that we've done. Bozeman presented some challenges. And do you recall the challenge that I had in Bozeman? Bozeman? I'll save you if you don't remember. Altitude. No, when we were filming, when I was on my way. To raining. Snowing. Snowing. So I was on my way to Bodhi Farms, right? This is like April or May. Right? It was in May. And then we'll talk about the other snowing part of that trip. But this part, I was on the road, the weather dropped temperature wise, like 20 some odd, 30 some odd degrees in an instant. Very quick. The clouds came in. And the next thing you know, there's this swell of snow showers, right as I'm on the bike and you guys are flying the drone to grab shots of me going along the mountainside. And the wind was so bad. Now, in this particular case, in season one, I'm on a titanium frame bike, but it was the first time I had ever ridden a bike like that. This was a custom built bike. And I'm on this bike and I'm riding on this mountain road. The snow picks up, the wind picks up, and I had to learn how to ride that bike differently because the bike is so light that when the wind hit me, it literally can push the wheels out from underneath me. So you actually have to lean into the wind and ride a little cocke because the wind is blowing and you have to counterbalance the wind, which to me that was incredibly fun and scary and challenging all at the same time. And what was really interesting is that no sooner did we film that you had me film it again because of you needed the additional shots. And then. When he behaves badly, folks, I always make him do it a second time. There you go. Until you get back to torture and then the snow went away. Yes, it did very quickly. And the snow went away. And then on our day off, if you. Recall, we always try to do something a little fun. There's generally one day off, we shoot very quickly. We're only in a town for about three days and we try to do something fun on our off day, our travel day. So what do we do? We were on our way to go to Yellowstone and we were going to go to the Yellowstone on the side. That was not the Wyoming side. On the Montana side. On. The Montana side. So we were driving and we're literally about 30 minutes into our drive a blizzard. Dumping. A little in May. In May. A literal blizzard. And so. We all wanted to go see Old Faithful. But I. Had to be. So we going to go on that entrance. I had to be that person in the car, the voice of reason to say the dad. Kids were not going. If we get stuck and we have to film tomorrow and we are stuck and we can't get there, it's all for nothing. So we turned around and we went to Yellowstone on the other side, on the Wyoming side, but it was equally as lovely and. Beautiful. Beautiful. And we saw the. Hot. Yes. The. It's good. We retained it. It was good. We're moving quick, ladies and gentlemen on these trips. It was, when you go to Disneyland, it's the hot pots from, what do you call that? The sulfur? Sulfur coming out of the ground. Yes. Coming out of the ground. The hot. Springs. The hot. Springs. Hot springs. There. Go John. There we go. Took us a while. John, you found your words. Yes. We found my words. Which is what John always says to me when we're doing some takes of opening and closings of restaurants, Garrett, it's okay. You're just finding your words. Find your words. And by the way, nothing is scripted. We should say that relatively speaking. Nothing is scripted. We don't script until we get into post and then we write the. Voiceovers to bridge moments. But everything that we're saying, we. Work it out right there. So it's kind of fun. You're inspired by what you're seeing, what you're surrounded by, what you're tasting. I want to go back, you talked about during the pandemic and coming up with the idea and how could you combine the things that you love and you expert turned you on to getting a composite bike bike that makes more sense for the type of riding that you're doing. Carbon fiber. Carbon fiber, and let's talk about the bikes for just a moment because I love them and I hate them because. My babies we're driving. You made my children. Thousands there. He said it. It's finally, it's out in the open. Thank you for saying that because I was one of those people who was like, I think he likes the bike more than he likes me. They get pampered and God help you. If there's a scratch or a smudge, you'll see it. He just breaks down and it's like, oh gosh. And so they're pampered. They get their own room sometimes at night. Sometimes they go up to the hotel room with Garrett and I used to say, take a picture. I bet he drags 'em into bed with them and sleeps next to them and covers them and comforts them and make sure that they're well taken. Care of. Our DP was going to come to the room and ask me to place the. I wanted to do a series of photographs, take some pictures of what is the real life of the bicycle in between shots. Certain things are just left. Best of the imagination. Best to the imagination. They were leading their best life. Those bikes, they were leading their best life. And don't think that I wasn't panicked the entire time that we were on the road of like, please don't let them fall off the back of the car, don't let somebody back into it. And we locked them up and make sure that they were taken care. We would go in and do rest stops along the way for food breaks and things of that. Nature. But it is fun to see people that are also passionate about cycling. See you on the bike and they go gaga over the bikes. Beautiful bikes. Oh, they are. And we've got, they're custom built in season one. We ride a titanium frame bike and it is made by a company up in Boston called. Season two. It's platinum. Yeah, no, it's called Seven Cycles up in Boston. It's an all Shimano drive train and really nice bike, different ride than riding a carbon fiber bike. And so in season two, I'll probably end up going back to carbon fiber. Not to say I don't like the titanium, I love it, but I love being able to kind of try 'em out and try 'em out in different places in different terrain. And I love having now for season. Two and we try getting more shots of the bike too, so that people can see some of the parts up close and get a better sense. And if you're a cyclist, that's cool. If you're somebody that's new to cycling, I'm not a cyclist, obviously, you can probably tell, I don't think they make a carbon fiber bike big enough for me. But I appreciate it and I appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into it. So seeing the different parts and the specific parts and the detail I think is fun that you'll see that. And I love that you bring up the craftsmanship because some content that you can check out on our YouTube channel or you'll get to actually see how the bikes are built from the ground up. And that's a lot of fun. And then we have some other content on our YouTube channel as well, like some content that might not have made it into an episode in season one, we've created some little pieces of. Value added. Value added that you can watch special. And they're really cool because that's the challenge when you do people who are watching and listening, when we do a half hour episodic series, episodic is like every episode has a beginning and middle and end. You don't have to watch one to watch and enjoy the other, which is what this series is. It's a series of episodes that can stand alone. But 30 minutes means after you take commercial time and everything else, it's 23 minutes of content. And we're featuring four restaurants and cycling in 23 minutes. And some things unfortunately, don't get to make it into the show that I find unbelievably. And I know you do as well, John. Oh, it's. Hard. Unbelievably difficult. But also the stuff that doesn't make it into the show is unbelievably interesting and deserves a place to live. And I think we'll have an opportunity to explore some of that additional content as well on our YouTube channel. Moving through the journey we had, we talked about almost every place that we visited. We have two left. I think that we didn't cover Eugene and Solvang, and I think Eugene was kind of, and I'm going to say it, everyone's going to correct me on how I say it. So I'll say it both ways. Eugene and then Eugene. Okay, so I've said it both ways, for those of you who don't know how to say it correctly. Duck country. Yeah, you can go on and check it out. But it was fun being in a college town, a. Lot of fun. We were in there. Fun energy. We were there as a college town as well, and Bozeman, but not like the Ducks. And I don't want to say that. I'm saying there's something about the energy in Eugene that was in Eugene. There's something about the energy in Eugene that was just, you just felt it. You know what I mean? Oh. Yeah. It was a great energy vibe. It's fun. A lot of fun. And my son just started college about a year ago, and he got accepted to University of Oregon. And after I went there, I was like. Dude, you should have gone. There. This is a great. Town. But he's doing very well where he is. He's doing very well. Where he is, he loves it. But going to Eugene, it is a great college town. There's so many restaurants and so many fun things to do. Beautiful part of the country with the water running through it. Great town for cycling. Oh yeah. The. Paths are. Incredible. All along the river. And how do you say the river's name? John? Don't. Ask me. Willamette. Yeah, Willamette. Yeah. That's right. You reminded me. Willamette. But that one restaurant there, the lion in the owl where you walk into this breakfast place and it's run by these two women who are partners in business and partners in life. And they started in. An Airstream trailer. An truck is a trailer which is now inside the restaurant and. A lounge. And it's a lounge and a bar. So you can actually dine in the restaurant and then you can also dine in the Airstream that is inside the restaurant. And it's an experience. And those buckwheat pancakes were you love them. Oh my gosh, those were really good. And we had a lot of other great visits in Eugene. And as a side note, I think it made it in the show, one of our favorite movies was film there. Animal. House. Animal House. And so we visited one of the fraternity houses. Which one is it again? Was it Delta? Delta Delta. No, that was there, which is torn down. It's a new apartment building next door. It's the other guys, the snooty guys. Alpha. No. Now. Omega House. Omega House. Went, we visited the Omega house and then on one of our days off, you and I found the original dining. Room where the food fight was, where the food fight was, where John Belushi takes his cheeks and squeezes 'em together to imitate a pimple being popped with cottage cheese flying out of his mouth or whatever it was that was in there. And it's still, I think it was a donut. I think it was a cream filled donut. And that is still, it just looked like cottage cheese. It looked like cottage cheese, but that's still there. So you can go see that. But all sorts of fun architecture there. Great town. Yeah. So that dining room where they shot the food fight is still there at the University of Oregon. You can go visit it. So there's plenty to do if you go to that part. Of Plenty to Do. So we have one more place where we visited before our. Last stop. Our last stop where we ended our season one journey in Solvang, California. And this is one of those things where if you've already seen these eight episodes of season one, I strongly encourage you, watch 'em again. Every time I watch I see something different. Even after all this time, even after having seen these episodes over and over again, I glean something different from each one of them. And it also is a reminder of that's a place I want to go back to. I'd like to do that ride again or I'd like to go to that restaurant again. And if you haven't seen season one, I strongly encourage you to take the time to kind of dive into those episodes that we've been talking about here on today's podcast. So last stop on the Journey was Solvang and one of my favorite movies, one of my favorite movies, takes place in Solvang, California. You. Sideways. Sideways. And we stayed at the hotel where they stayed, which has been redone, but the exterior looks the. Same. It was still an experience. The rooms have been upgraded. And we opened the show where. At the. Hitching post. At the hitching post. Which is where he goes in and says, I will not have. And he puts his, I will not have a Merlot. That's right, that's right. But. You do, I think that. Day I think had just sparkling water. Remember. I told, oh, you were on the bike. I. Was on the bike. But we had, if you look, we tried very hard to recreate one of the camera angles that they used for that scene in Sideways. And we're looking down the bar and the bar is unchanged. And the owners were there, the owners of. The bar, the owners were there and you see them in the background. They toast for us. They were a lot of fun. And some of the artwork you can see on the walls is exactly as it was in the movie. And then, I mean, I'll say too about solving, solving holds a lot of very special memories for me because as a kid, I'd pile into the car. From California. I'm originally from California and I moved out here on the East coast about 15 years ago to start a show. But I would go with my mom and my grandmother and my uncle and I have a lot of memories. And if you remember, we went to the Solvang Diner and that's where you made the. Ble Skivers. And I pointed at you. I knew I would screw up how to say that, but that. Is something so delicious. You absolutely have to go there and experiencing. And it was for yourself. It's a fine memory of me having those because we would get them. I would get them as a kid with my family and right at that place, at that very same diner and loved them so much that I bought one of the skillets and the mix and the powdered sugar. You. Brought 'em home. As a kid. I brought 'em home and so I could make'em on the weekend mornings for my mom. So. Did they taste as good? You know what, eventually it took a little practice. It does take practice. You saw me making 'em in the You have to use, you got to spin it. Yeah, this little long toothpick thing and you have to spin them and it's not as easy as it looks. It takes, and he did a ridiculous amount of those in a given day. It's insane what. They said he says in the show and you think, how can he manufacture that many? But solving's one of those episodes that if you're thinking about taking a trip to California, you want to go to San Francisco or you want to go to la, solving is. Kind of right smack in the middle, close. Almost right in the middle close. And it is a fantastic day trip or an overnight trip. It's trippy. Pretty trippy. It's trippy that you need. To do it. I think there's more windmills there per square mile then. Actually in Denmark. Then In Denmark. Yes. But the architecture is so much fun, such a quaint town built by the locals. It's been there for a century at least, right? Lots of great bakeries and a lot of very good restaurants. And then just outside of Solvang, we went to a winery. Sunstone winery and Chef Brittany Rice put out a spread like no other, never ending, never ending. One thing after another. It. Just was amazing. And everything was paired with a specific wine from the winery and it was absolutely delicious. And I just want to go back, I don't want to gloss over Solv without at least bringing up the fact that we went to this one place seer with Chef Nathan. And he used to have a place in Los Angeles at the Beverly Center, I think. And then he packed it all up and moved to Solvang and was in search of a restaurant for a long time and landed on this restaurant that he turned into Sr. John, that steak, I mean the name says it all, but that steak that I had there, I will tell you top three, top. Three. Steaks I think I've ever eaten. And we talk about chefs and their desire to not want to overly complicate how they do dishes. Simple preparation, salt, pepper, some light seasoning. He lets the piece, the cut of meat speak for itself cooked perfectly. It was delicious. It was incredibly memorable. He was a great, great persona. And I remember he told the story about his dad and what an inspiration his dad was to him getting into his field. And I remember he had a tattoo, that. Kind of memory. Was something in memory of his dad. But what people may not know is that Garrett has this meal on camera and then we have the chef recreate the meal. And that's how we get those beauty shots that you see in the show. We get the really nice closeups and all that stuff. And that's when the crew gets to have a bite is after we shoot the beauty shots. And steak was. Perfect. It was perfect. And what's interesting about that place is it's not just steaks. He does unbelievably locally sourced seafood there as well. And I think in that episode we sampled some tuna, which he did, which was amazing. Absolutely. Amazing. And all the veggies. And all the vegetables. Come from local source, locally sourced farmers and farms. A lot of things packed into a great season. Season one. If you've seen it, check it out again. It's well worth a revisit. If you haven't seen it, then kind of sit back in your couch or your chair or whatever, turn on the tv, EARTHx tv and take in some of these episodes because it's a great ride. Or watch the show from an Xer cycle in your house and you can take a ride with Garrett and lose pounds at the same time. Exactly. So by the way, no joke since I started cycling, I'm not the thinnest in the world right now, but I am proud of myself in that. I've lost 30 pounds in cycling a couple of years ago and I need to cycle more is all I need to say because I keep eating this great food and that's okay. It's part of life. I want to thank you, John for joining me here today on this episode of The Bike The Bike podcast. Thanks for having me. This is just the beginning. We have some amazing stories left to tell as we approach the premiere of season two coming in April, 2024. I'd like to take the time to thank our sponsor e plus. They are a huge supporter of the Bike de Bites television series and this Bike de Bites podcast. And without them, this would not be possible. So we are incredibly grateful. Plus is a company helping organizations harness the power of technology for truly transformative results. From AI and security to cloud and workplace transformation. Plus brings you the right solutions at the right time in the most efficient way. Plus is on the front line of today's modern enterprise. Check them out@eplus.com. For more information on this episode as well as other episodes in this series, head over to our website at bike to bytes podcast.com. You can also find us on YouTube at Bike to Bytes. Be sure to give us a like and subscribe while you're there. And if you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, we would appreciate a five star rating and a glowing review. It really does help spread the word. Check out our Instagram at Bike to bytes tv and be sure to follow my personal Instagram at Garrett Abe, where I post shots of my daily rides in interesting places I visit. If you're interested in watching the Bike to Bites TV show, please visit bike to bites.com. We also have some really cool stuff of Bike to Bites, apparel and some other things that you can check out while you're there. So for all of us here at Bike the Bites, we encourage you to pedal, eat, and repeat. We'll see you next time. Thanks.