The Northwoods Ramble

After an injury that kept Seeley Dave off the bike for a few months, he is back rambling with a new co host and new direction for the show. In the intro to this episode, Dave is joined by his dog Cowboy. Later in the show Dave visits Greg Smith at Everyday Cycles in Milwaukee, where they look over Dave's new Omnium Cargo V3, which is set up specifically for dogpacking. Greg also shows off a new Omnium E Mini-Max V3 and some cool Omnium accessories.

Thanks as always to my buddy from Butternut, Hugh Robert Masterson for allowing me to use the Northwoods song by ⁠Hugh Bob and the Hustle⁠.

Sawmill Saloon⁠

⁠Old Man Mountain Divide Racks⁠

Hayes Dominion A4 Brakes

⁠Bikepacking Gear Library⁠

⁠Manitou ⁠Suspension Bar Stools

Well, it’s been a month since the last Ramble. I guess that is better than the two months between show 9 and 10. Anyway, Seeley Dave and TJ are back for Northwoods Ramble Show 11 and a review of the winter that wasn’t. 2024 started with a New Year's Day paddle down the Namekagon River for Dave and Liz. With almost no snow this winter, we go snow whale (swale?) watching to see the huge piles of manmade snow the Birkie has stored and intends to spread out to create a 10K loop for the 50th-anniversary. TJ explains how labor-intensive the Birkie’s snowmaking capabilities are. We discuss the huge economic hit the area has taken from winter's lack of visitors. Dave gives an update on his frozen lake riding goals.

Sawmill Saloon

Trek Trails powered by OTM at Telemark 

Old Man Mountain Divide Racks

Bikepacking Gear Library

Santa Cycle Rampage

Lake Owen Resort

Skating on Thin Ice Science Yogo man video 

Manitou Suspension Bar Stools

Waco Brothers Northwoods

After a hiatus of almost two months, Seeley Dave and TJ are back on another Northwoods Ramble. In this episode, TJ gives an end-of-the-year overview of the new Trek Trails powered by OTM at Telemark. Dave goes back to the 414 for the 22nd annual Santa Cycle Rampage. The show includes some Santa Shenanigans, but Dave misses out on perfect black ice on the south end of Lake Owen while in Milwaukee, and wonders if chasing the ephemeral is a healthy behavior. Dave also gets out the packraft and does his first winter bikerafting trip. TJ then talks about skiing the Birkie course with a packraft. The bikepacking gear lending library also now includes Old Man Mountain Divide racks for mountain and fat bikes.

In this episode, Seeley Dave heads to Wausau for the Ironbull Red Granite Grinder to photograph the 144-mile course and interview participants at the finish. After those interviews, Dave talks with Ben Welnak at his cool A-frame Airbnb about this year's Acorn Mast, deer hunting, and fishing Slab Crappies on Moose Lake with Drew from the Sawmill and recants a tall tale or two about wolves. The intro and hyperborean update on Life Above 8 is recorded in his 'Merica garage for a change of pace.

Waco Brothers Northwoods

This episode features an interview with return guest Josh Rizzo of The Nxrth.com website. We record that interview outside at Home Base Lodging at Mt Telemark and discuss the cool new trailside lodging there as well as go through the remaining regional gravel races of the season on his website’s calendar. First though, Seeley Dave gives a fall seasonal update on Life Above 8 that includes the Cable Fall Festival, his recon rides on the 2023 Tour de Chequamegon route and he gets into the modifications he has been making to his Yuba Sweet Curry to turn it from an urban utility ride to a Northwoods capable UTV also good for dogpacking with Cowboy.  Dave also mentions the Northwoods Ramble will be at the Ironbull Red Granite Grinder the weekend of Oct. 14th to record some race reports at the finish for a future podcast. So be sure to look for Dave somewhere near the finish, most likely close to wherever Redeye Brewing is serving up their latest beer release!

Iron Bull Red Granite Grinder⁠  presented by Travel Wisconsin and Redeye Brewing

This episode opens with an update on Life Above 8 that includes a discussion of the Chequamegon MTB Festival that just finished, including the new route. The intro also includes some photos of current flora and a couple of photos from Seeley professional nature photographer Paul Ostrum. Dave then interviews Michelle and Dwayne Allgire of Pedal Power Adventures after they complete riding the Wisconsin Waterfall Loop he developed.

In this episode, Seeley Dave gives the latest Update on Life Above 8, including some news about the Valhalla Beach Party Route, then has an interview Josh Rizzo of The Nxrth.com. Josh was up from Eau Claire with his brother and both of them were "working from ROAM" at ROAM Adventure Basecamp. He lets us know how that went, talks about the amenities at ROAM and then we get into his website, and ramble about some different bikepacking topics.

In the closing segment, Dave gives a shout out for the new Standing Rocks Enduro, Aug. 19th.

In episode 5, Seeley Dave interviews Ben Welnak, who started the popular Mountain Bike Radio podcast. Ben talks about how he landed in Hayward after living in Colorado, the guys also ramble about the similarities between Durango and Hayward.

Ben's sauna rentals: Northwoods Sauna

Ben's vacation rental properties: Up North Stays

Turtle Flambeau Flowage Camping Sites

Dave also welcomes back TJ, who gives and update on the new green trail up to the top of Telemark and the new downhill runs that are part of the Trek Trails Powered by OTM at Telemark Village. They share a video of them riding, the new green trail up and back down, discuss the next green and blue downhill trails that Rock Solid will soon have two crews building at Telemark. TJ also talks about a new Enduro series he is planning at the downhill parks around Lake Superior.

Superior Shore MTB Tour Trailhead Map

In this show Seeley Dave interviews Joel Harrison and Daryl McNutt from New Moon Ski & Bike Shop in Hayward, WI. They chat about New Moon taking over the Hungry Bear gravel race, some improvements New Moon can make with their greater resources and what is going to stay the same.

After the interview, Dave reviews the different sleeping pads available to borrow from the Bikepacking Gear Lending Library.

Thanks as always to my buddy from Butternut, Hugh Robert Masterson for allowing me to use the Northwoods song by Hugh Bob and the Hustle.

In this shorter solo episode of the Northwoods Ramble, Seeley Dave goes through all the things in the bikepacking gear lending library that he has put together. Seeley area community members and visitors can borrow or rent this gear to try bikepacking without having to invest in all the expensive camping equipment and bikepacking-specific bags for something they may not like or have time to do often enough to justify the expense of owning everything. In this episode Dave describes the tents, quilts, air mattresses, bags and other gear, explains how they work, and their benefits and features.

Below is a list of the Bikepacking Gear Lending Library Equipment I have available to loan as of this podcast. Email me at [email protected] if you are interested in borrowing any of it.

Visit ⁠the episode webpage on LifeAboveEight.com for more info⁠.

Watch this on our Life Above 8 YouTube Channel