Up next in 10
Chipps' last issue in charge of Singletrack is out now. Benji talks to him about the highlights and the lowlights of his 25 year tenure as Singletrack's founder and editor.
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Chipps interrogation: The Singletrack Mag Podcast is back!
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And… we’re back in the room. Apologies for the break.
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A chatty 44-minute Singletrack Mag podcast episode celebrating our 25th anniversary, pressing print on issue 166. And outgoing editor Chipps passing the dirty baton to Benji.
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What do we gab on about? We find out Chipps’ favourite ever mag features and cover shots. We also hear all about the very best/worst behaviour at notorious noughties Press Camps. Chipps also details the rather optimistic plans for Issue 1 back in 2001. And his (definitely not retirement) plans for the future.
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0:10
Hello, welcome to the Single Track
0:13
Magazine podcast
0:16
resumeuming after a winter break, should
0:20
we call it, politely? This is Chip Chip
0:22
and Dale.
0:23
>> Hello.
0:23
>> What's happening with you?
0:25
>> What's happening with me? Well, uh,
0:27
>> why are you here?
0:27
>> Why am I here? I'm I'm here to
0:30
symbolically press print print the big
0:33
red print button on issue 166 which is
0:36
our 25th anniversary and
0:38
>> to the month isn't it
0:40
>> to the
0:40
>> to the day near enough which will also
0:43
be my final one as editor of this August
0:46
publication. I'm stepping down and who
0:49
is stepping into my into my chair? I
0:52
believe it's you.
0:53
>> Yeah, I'm crabbing neck like that way
0:55
>> just sideways. Yeah, don't worry. It'll
0:58
be all right.
0:59
>> Do you get a new chair at least? Because
1:00
that old one was that was a bit
1:02
>> I'd quite like any mouse. That's all
1:04
right. Can you Can we spring for that?
1:08
>> Spring for a mouse.
1:10
>> Yeah.
1:10
>> I don't want a mouse now or anything.
1:12
That's
1:12
>> for the job.
1:13
>> Yeah. New mouse.
1:14
>> Right. So, we're going to go all retro.
1:16
What was your best bit? It's a bit like
1:17
this is your life and it has been for 25
1:21
years. What have you done? What else
1:22
have you done for 25 years? How old were
1:23
you when it started?
1:25
>> I can't remember. 33.
1:28
It's been 8.
1:29
>> So that means you're now
1:30
>> Yeah.
1:32
>> Go there.
1:32
>> Yes.
1:33
>> Old uh
1:35
>> older. Yes.
1:36
>> Right.
1:36
>> But not old enough to retire, which
1:38
everyone thinks.
1:39
>> Well, you are retiring. Just keep that
1:41
just to annoy him. Just keep asking why
1:43
he's doing his retirement. What's this?
1:44
Issue one.
1:45
>> Issue one with And what's on the back
1:48
back of it? Adverts for plastic brake
1:50
levers.
1:51
>> Yes.
1:51
>> And
1:53
to grip shift.
1:54
>> Grip shift. Yep.
1:55
Nine speed.
1:56
>> Nine speed.
1:58
>> What does that remind you of? Like what?
2:02
Terrors.
2:02
>> Terror's issue one. Um, it was
2:07
uh I think our unboundless
2:10
uh enthusiasm and naivity as to how
2:13
things worked. I'd previously worked for
2:16
other Mountainab magazines. I'd worked
2:19
for Future Publishing. And so I had been
2:22
involved in in magazines. it didn't
2:24
necessarily mean I knew kind of how they
2:27
actually went together. And when I saw
2:30
um Mark and Sha at a uh Polaris
2:34
challenge or something, they're like,
2:35
"Oh, we we're doing this website and
2:38
uh and our readers think it would be
2:40
really good if it was in print and we
2:42
don't know about print. Do you know
2:43
about print, don't you? Do you want to
2:44
come and join us?" "Okay,"
2:47
said the fateful decision 26 years ago.
2:51
I was like, "Yeah, okay. Okay. I know
2:52
about magazines obviously.
2:54
>> You were working at a magazine though
2:55
were you?
2:56
>> No. 9 F feet.
2:57
>> I was at a.com.
2:59
>> Was that it?
2:59
>> Yeah. Shortlived.com.
3:01
>> Is the trail still there? Didn't they do
3:03
Cody Bren 9 ft? Yes.
3:05
>> Trail memories.
3:06
>> It was in Afen.
3:07
>> Aphan. Right.
3:08
>> I think the trail's still there. The the
3:10
signpost thing got the signage lasted
3:13
longer than the website did. So, but
3:16
eventually it got fall away. You can
3:18
still ride the MBR trailing if you know
3:21
where to look.
3:22
>> Hack through the undergrowth. Still
3:24
pretty good actually.
3:25
>> So yeah, issue one was uh
3:27
>> How many did you print?
3:29
>> How many?
3:29
>> Yeah,
3:30
>> 10,000.
3:31
>> Right, fine.
3:32
>> Because
3:34
again, unboundless enthusiasm and and
3:37
naivity. The we went to see the printers
3:41
and if you've ever gone to a commercial
3:43
printers, they're like, "What what how
3:46
many pages?" Oh. Uh, 100. Yeah. Yeah,
3:49
that's fine. Uh, cover shiny. Yeah.
3:51
Yeah. Do you want Do you want to feel
3:53
this paper? Do you want parchment? Oh,
3:56
yeah. Yeah. That's nice. Oh, lovely. And
3:59
uh, how many do you want? Uh, 10,000.
4:02
They're like, "Yeah, no problem. You've
4:03
got to pay for it all up front."
4:05
>> Oh.
4:07
>> Before we print any of it,
4:08
>> right?
4:09
>> Oh, okay. So, we we had pre-sold um
4:13
subscriptions and we'd uh pre-sold
4:16
basically half the the cost of of
4:18
printing the magazine and then the other
4:20
half was going to be covered by um
4:23
advertising, mostly covered by
4:25
advertising. Um, but we still had to
4:29
borrow money off Sean, our third, the
4:32
mysterious third partner, Sean, um,
4:34
Sean's parents lent us five grand for a
4:38
month basically to to pay the print bill
4:40
until the ad money came in. We had I
4:45
think there was a is it inside back
4:48
cover?
4:49
Yeah, Gary Fisher bikes advert. We I
4:53
basically had one of these in um one of
4:55
their test bikes at my house,
4:57
>> right?
4:58
>> Uh from another magazine.
5:00
>> Okay.
5:00
>> And said and they said, "Oh, we'd love
5:04
an ad, but we haven't got any money." I
5:06
said, "How about if I sell this test
5:07
bike of yours and that pays for the uh
5:10
your advert?" And they went, "Yeah,
5:12
okay."
5:13
>> So, I advertised it and sold it to
5:15
somebody for
5:17
800 quid and that paid for their advert.
5:19
Get in. I think it's it's a bit like the
5:22
that everyone has a novel inside them.
5:24
You know, they've got story of a
5:26
>> Did you want to do issue two?
5:28
>> Well,
5:28
>> when you done issue one, was it?
5:30
>> You know, everyone has one issue of a
5:32
magazine, I think. And everyone here
5:34
could get really good
5:35
>> that find out. But yeah,
5:37
>> issue one because you've got all these
5:38
ideas. Oh, no one's done that. I could
5:40
do that one better.
5:41
>> And then, yeah, it's the difficult
5:43
second album,
5:45
>> right? What What else do we have? And
5:47
because we we took literally a pallet of
5:51
magazines to this bike show when we
5:53
launched the mag and we sold 248
5:59
>> about
5:59
>> 248 at
6:01
>> 295 each. We didn't take any 5p pieces
6:05
with us.
6:06
>> Okay. Yeah.
6:07
>> So we had to Pete Tomkins gave us some
6:11
crud bungs and we using that as de facto
6:14
change. That's worth fivep. There you
6:16
go.
6:17
>> That's worth That's worth about 2.95,
6:19
wasn't it?
6:20
>> Yeah. So, so we uh we ended up with
6:22
>> a pallet full of magazines after the
6:24
show that we then had to pay Hope
6:28
Technology to store in their shed. Uh
6:32
and of course all the readers were like,
6:33
"Oh, it's brilliant magazine, right?
6:35
What's what's in the next issue?" Really
6:37
looking forward to it. Oh, okay. Uh
6:40
right. Well, guess we'll have to do
6:42
another one then.
6:43
>> It was four, wasn't it? Four a year.
6:45
Four a year.
6:45
>> Four a year. Yeah.
6:46
>> And if you subscribed before we uh
6:49
published the first issue, you got five.
6:52
So
6:52
>> I did that. I got five. Did I get five?
6:54
>> You did. I remember delivering it to
6:56
your house.
6:57
>> Yeah.
6:58
>> By hand.
6:59
>> We still do that. Deliver these to
7:01
people's houses.
7:02
>> We do. Let's have some faves. Favorite.
7:06
You know, you can think for a long time.
7:07
>> Okay. Mind.
7:08
>> We can edit it out.
7:09
>> Yeah. Exactly.
7:12
>> Fave.
7:14
Top three.
7:15
>> Yes.
7:15
>> Covers.
7:16
>> Top three covers. Uh quite partial to
7:19
issue five, which was our first issue
7:22
that had a perfect bound like square
7:25
cover instead of the saddle stitch one.
7:28
And it had a picture of a flat tire.
7:30
>> Oh, yes.
7:30
>> Yeah. uh which was probably commercial
7:34
suicide on the news agents shelves
7:36
because it didn't show a great
7:38
>> right
7:39
>> positive picture of of mountain biking
7:41
but because we were mostly selling it
7:44
all by subscription it didn't really
7:45
matter and I figured that all readers
7:48
could could associate with that there
7:50
was the controversial black and white
7:52
cover where
7:54
>> Oh yes
7:55
>> where there was Johnny Woodhouse riding
7:57
down a bolty steps
8:00
>> and Yeah.
8:01
>> And our W8 Smith's consultant said,
8:03
>> "That was by Dan Barum, wasn't it? Shot
8:05
by
8:06
>> Oh, yeah. It could have been.
8:07
>> Yeah.
8:08
>> Yeah. The guy at Smith was like, "Get it
8:10
out your system now. Everyone wants to
8:12
do it. Everyone Everyone has their black
8:14
and white cover phase. You'll you'll
8:16
sell 10% fewer issues."
8:19
>> Didn't have like a slightly red foil.
8:21
>> It did have a red. Yeah. Well, good.
8:24
>> Um,
8:25
>> so that was good. I
8:26
>> stop moaning. I I did like the
8:30
there was a sort of circular image on
8:33
the cover once where someone had
8:35
basically sat in a hole while his mate
8:38
jumped over him with a with a fish angle
8:41
fish angle fisheye
8:42
>> fisheye y
8:43
>> wine angle
8:44
>> right
8:46
>> um that was that was quite nice to see.
8:48
So I I added up how many people we had
8:52
appeared on the maststead either as paid
8:56
>> people or as we owe them favors so we'll
8:59
put their name on the m came to like 50
9:01
people over the years I think if you'd
9:03
slept on my sofa bed you you got on that
9:06
list
9:07
>> if you filled a page
9:08
>> yes if we in a hurry
9:10
>> if you'd done some work for us and we
9:11
hadn't paid you
9:12
>> right yeah
9:13
>> then that
9:14
fave
9:15
>> top three
9:16
>> top three features
9:19
features. Um,
9:22
>> one of the good things about being not
9:26
or not being very strategic and not
9:29
planning loads in advance is quite often
9:32
you're like uh we need something that's
9:34
about a dozen pages and uh what anyone
9:39
got any ideas? And that's when that's
9:41
when you can swoop in with your crazy
9:43
idea and it it'll go in because you've
9:46
just volunteered to save the magazine.
9:48
Yeah.
9:49
>> Um so we've had quite quite a few I know
9:53
I'll do this kind of things where it it
9:57
wasn't sort of it wasn't what we thought
10:00
the readers would do, but it's we it's
10:04
we thought they might enjoy reading
10:05
about us doing it so that they didn't
10:07
have to. Uh so we had our series of uh
10:10
the one ton challenge where you you got
10:12
budget of 100 pounds and you had to do
10:14
something to do with bikes and we had
10:17
people getting the sleeper train from
10:19
London to Avimmore riding bikes and
10:21
getting back. I rode the Merry Townley
10:24
loop on a bike that cost us £75
10:28
and I did
10:30
>> and I managed to get a pair of SPDs for
10:32
25 quid.
10:34
my complete hike. I didn't have enough
10:36
money to replace the plastic grips.
10:38
>> Did you get round?
10:39
>> I did get around.
10:40
>> Thought it was 40 odd miles. It's longer
10:43
now, wasn't it? Right.
10:44
>> And um billion feet.
10:46
>> I had stigmata on my uh my palms from
10:49
the
10:49
>> What bike was it?
10:51
>> It was a Jupiter
10:53
>> Whoa.
10:53
>> something,
10:54
>> right?
10:55
>> Uh and I think we sold it to the postman
10:57
for 50 quid. So actually
11:00
Yeah. Tomorrow. So that was fun. I did
11:03
enjoy doing um uh we rode from Blair
11:08
Athel in Scotland to Braar Lech in the
11:12
middle of December. Um and we set off in
11:17
just low cloud. It was miserable.
11:20
And we're like, "Oh god, well, we're
11:22
here now. We better do it." And we rode
11:24
up and we rode through the cloud. We
11:27
were in an inversion and we had a whole
11:29
day of just riding, you know, frozen
11:33
rivers, pink tinged mountains, and then
11:36
we dropped into Braar, which
11:38
>> is uh is always the place that has the
11:41
lowest temperature in the UK when they
11:43
Okay. weather
11:44
>> things. Yeah.
11:45
>> And it was minus 10, I think, overnight.
11:48
>> All our all our gear cables froze on our
11:52
bikes. So I think Matt the next day only
11:54
had a three-speed at his front front
11:57
derailia.
11:58
>> Okay.
11:59
>> Right.
11:59
>> Um
12:00
>> joy.
12:01
>> And uh you had to melt yourself back
12:03
into your shoes.
12:04
>> Okay.
12:05
>> Uh that was pretty fun.
12:08
>> Memorable
12:08
>> kind of things you wouldn't do if you
12:10
weren't doing a magazine feature. That's
12:12
where you know you carry your camera
12:14
camera batteries next to your skin,
12:16
>> right?
12:16
>> Probably not very advised.
12:18
>> Still using Was that digital then?
12:20
>> Yeah, I think it was. We went digital in
12:23
the first dozen issues. I think digital
12:26
cameras just got good enough.
12:28
>> Yeah.
12:28
>> But the early issues were all on slide
12:30
film.
12:30
>> Yeah.
12:31
>> Which was that whole another world of
12:34
did I get the shot? I don't know. Let's
12:36
wait for two weeks for the pictures to
12:38
come back from the uh the photo lab.
12:41
And then you have to hold it up to the
12:43
window and go. Yeah.
12:44
>> Yeah. Yeah. That was great.
12:45
>> Yeah. Get your loop. There we go. Look
12:48
at that. No, no fondness for film
12:51
whatsoever.
12:52
>> Yeah,
12:53
>> been there. Um, press launches.
12:58
>> Yes.
12:59
>> What's the most ridiculous one like like
13:02
um that must have cost the brand
13:06
the most?
13:07
>> Uh I think I wasn't on the one that
13:10
Barney did which involved Santa Cruz
13:13
flying everyone to Chile to do a
13:16
>> Oh god. to do an enduro race. I did go
13:19
to New Zealand to for the launch of the
13:24
uh Santa Cruz. Again, there's a theme
13:26
here.
13:27
>> Santa Cruz hard tail, the highball.
13:30
>> Okay. Yeah.
13:31
>> Uh and the Stigmata cross bike. And we
13:34
went to New Zealand
13:36
and perversely because everyone says,
13:38
"Oh, well, you've got to needs at least
13:40
a month in New Zealand." And this was 5
13:43
days. So it was so perversely short I
13:47
went and it was two days of flying,
13:50
three days of riding, then two days of
13:53
flying to get back. And
13:54
>> what about the um most
13:57
>> Oh dear, I shall say messy.
13:58
>> The most um messy press launch is
14:05
>> um
14:08
Picona, was it? Yeah, I didn't go on too
14:11
many Conan ones. Strangely,
14:15
a lot of people kind of out
14:18
>> out volunteered to do those. Oh. Oh. Oh,
14:21
>> yeah.
14:21
>> Um ones with
14:24
>> Oh, no. It's Matt.
14:25
>> Usually Matt.
14:26
>> Yeah, Matt. Matt was on the
14:30
>> You you've had some This is off camera.
14:32
Mark had some injuries.
14:36
>> Well, yeah. you didn't you have to um
14:39
ride a pedalo on one of your press
14:41
launches?
14:41
>> Yeah, the very first one that was a
14:43
track launch in Gish in Germany and I'd
14:46
uh the day before we flew out I
14:48
dislocated one shoulder and so I
14:51
couldn't actually ride any bikes so when
14:53
everyone was out riding bikes I was
14:54
there was a lake nearby and I went and
14:57
read a Terry Pratchett book while
14:58
floating on a pedal.
15:00
It's
15:01
>> great. I have remembered the um
15:05
>> talking of uh was it Austria? Uh
15:09
I
15:09
>> thereabouts
15:10
>> middle of
15:11
>> middle of Europe.
15:12
>> Yeah,
15:12
>> Germanic Europe. I went on an XTRL
15:15
launch in Austria and they
15:19
they had the the usual SL size large and
15:23
XL Scott racy uh cross country bikes
15:28
with hard plastic tires. and the new XTR
15:31
group set with the brakes the wrong way
15:33
around or not the English way around.
15:35
>> Yeah.
15:35
>> And uh even though we were the the Brits
15:38
were the first peoples, they hadn't
15:41
>> changed it and we said, "Well, then
15:44
we're going to swap them." And it was in
15:46
the days when all the British
15:48
journalists would would reach into their
15:50
bags and pull out wide bars and a short
15:52
stem,
15:53
>> start swapping things. and the the
15:55
Shimano guys were like, "No, this is the
15:57
pro. We had a special 120 mil stem we
16:00
wanted you to try."
16:01
>> So, we swapped those.
16:03
>> Then we ended up Paul Burwell was on
16:06
that that trip and he made the the
16:10
marketing guy drive him to all the bike
16:12
shops to see if he could buy buy us some
16:16
decent tires. And of course in uh the
16:20
mountains of Austria, no one had
16:22
>> no
16:22
>> no one had uh decent tires. But luckily
16:25
Jeff Kabush
16:26
>> Oh yeah.
16:27
>> Olympic uh cross country racer was there
16:30
in his van. He'd been racing around
16:32
Europe.
16:32
>> So we borrowed part worn Maxis tires off
16:35
him and put them on our on our test
16:38
bikes which is very good. Yeah.
16:39
>> And then they'd found this really good
16:42
hotel, but hadn't really researched any
16:44
of the trails. And because they were all
16:46
from Shimano Europe in Holland, they
16:48
were like, "Well, this cycle path is
16:51
great."
16:52
>> And we were out exploring uh before the
16:55
launch and we found one of the Shimano
16:57
guys jogging
16:59
>> and we said, "Oh, are there any
17:00
footpaths around here?" And he said,
17:01
"Oh, the one trail there. It is
17:03
impossible to ride on a bicycle." Oh,
17:06
yeah. That's the one we want. So, we did
17:07
that. It was quite a fun trail. Um, and
17:11
that was okay, but the we kind of got
17:13
carried away in the evening with Steins
17:16
of wine and and the Shimano marketing
17:20
guy didn't keep his room number secret.
17:23
>> Oh.
17:23
>> So you could put it all the drinks on
17:25
his room.
17:26
>> Benji.
17:27
>> Yes.
17:28
>> You being an editor as well.
17:29
>> Yes.
17:30
>> Longstanding.
17:31
>> Yeah.
17:31
>> Because you were here
17:33
>> a long time ago. Then you took a break.
17:35
>> Yep.
17:37
wandering the earth.
17:37
>> What's your best press launch?
17:40
>> Uh, manu.
17:42
Um, it's always suspension.
17:44
>> Oh, yes.
17:44
>> People like Rock Manu Christianson who's
17:47
no longer around.
17:49
>> Really?
17:49
>> Yeah. He used to be
17:50
>> I have a story about
17:52
>> Manu
17:54
keen
17:56
party guy.
17:58
>> What happened?
17:58
>> That one. I don't know where we were. I
18:00
had no idea. I just remember being in a
18:01
cave drinking something.
18:04
>> I think it was a bar. I don't know. They
18:07
just used to find they didn't know
18:08
anywhere where they were. They just used
18:10
to go out. We're going to go and find
18:12
some action. But yeah, that one I can't
18:16
don't even remember where it was, but I
18:18
remember it was for the um
18:21
I can't remember the fork either. I'm
18:22
sorry. But yeah, that's probably why I
18:25
like Manet so much still. I had a a
18:28
similar experience with Billy because
18:31
they would they would just like rent a
18:33
hotel because it was it was for two
18:36
weeks of uh manufacturer testing
18:39
products and then and then another week
18:41
of journalists coming in. So it was
18:42
three weeks and they were there for like
18:44
the same marketing crew were there for
18:46
three weeks in this golf hotel because
18:48
it was just simpler because it was next
18:51
to the trails and so they were like,
18:53
"Yeah, we'll just have this wing and
18:55
we'll have 20 rooms for 3 weeks." And so
18:58
they had reasonable freedom. Uh but
19:01
equally they got pretty bored. And then
19:04
Billy found out that the key for the
19:06
mini bar fitted the golf carts that the
19:11
staff drove around. Right. They had
19:13
these like pickup truck golf carts.
19:16
>> So he was like, "Right, last night we're
19:18
going out for Mexican. Be outside your
19:20
room at at 6 p.m. So he rolls up in this
19:23
in this pickup truck golf cart that he
19:25
hotwired." He's like, "Hop on." And we
19:28
drove down, bumped up the curb straight
19:32
across the front lawn with about eight
19:34
of us on this. Oh, it won't go over the
19:37
bridge to the Mexican restaurant. Oh,
19:38
we'll leave it here. So, we went out,
19:41
had margaritas and uh chim changangers.
19:44
>> And then we came back and he's like,
19:45
"Oh, brilliant. It's still here."
19:48
As he touched it, we got lit up by by
19:52
the local police. The resort police were
19:56
like, "Don't move."
20:00
And and
20:03
Billy was like, "Oh, we just found this.
20:06
We're just going to take it back."
20:08
>> Yeah. Yeah.
20:10
>> Okay. And because we were so obviously
20:14
stupid and drunk, uh, their a lot of
20:18
paperwork,
20:18
>> their attempts to to escalate the
20:20
situation, didn't they just like, "Oh,
20:22
go it. these idiots. And
20:26
so much so that it got to Billy saying,
20:30
uh, they said, "Look, just say say you
20:32
took it and you're sorry."
20:33
>> Right.
20:34
>> All right. We're sorry. Okay.
20:37
Well, say nothing else.
20:39
>> He said, "Do you want me to take it
20:40
back?" Well, would you? Okay. Well,
20:43
jumped on again if that's quite a good
20:48
gap.
20:49
>> What? Very wide question. What has
20:52
changed? Not in the world. That's too
20:54
much of a bigger question. What's
20:55
changed in the bike world since 2001?
20:58
>> Oh my god.
21:01
>> How long have you got?
21:02
>> I don't know how long left on SD card.
21:05
>> When we when we started it was uh disc
21:08
brakes were coming in.
21:11
>> Right.
21:12
>> Disc brakes have been around for a
21:13
while, but they weren't certainly
21:14
weren't common place. M
21:16
>> I came up here on I brought my Soulcraft
21:19
steel hardail that had brake disc
21:21
brakes, but that was pretty pretty rare.
21:25
>> Um forks were starting to come with with
21:27
disc brake mounts,
21:29
>> but it was still very much rim brakes,
21:32
mechanical shifting, um long stems, Lyra
21:37
shorts. Even looking at the the
21:38
pictures, there's a lot of, you know,
21:41
the just the general uniform of mountain
21:46
biking, the the identity of mountain
21:48
biking hadn't really coalesed.
21:52
So, there were some, you know, some rad
21:54
>> Yeah.
21:55
rad Swiss dudes in in shorts and um but
22:02
it was you know there was still a lot of
22:05
um Lyra trousers like trousers Lyra
22:09
shorts XTRV brakes.
22:11
>> Yeah.
22:12
>> And everyone had a camel back even
22:13
though it was had nothing in it. You
22:16
would have a little slim
22:17
>> Well, someone would have a massive one,
22:19
wouldn't they? Yeah. Like a massive
22:21
everything.
22:22
>> A spare rear derailer. Yeah.
22:25
>> Oh, this pace bike has
22:26
>> someone would have a brook site laden
22:28
with loads of stuff. Nothing useful.
22:33
>> Yes.
22:33
>> That you needed at the time.
22:35
>> Just everything else like the wrong size
22:36
in a tube
22:38
>> or a pair of extra gloves. Yes.
22:41
>> In like the hottest day. Or a leather
22:43
man.
22:43
>> Always a leather man.
22:44
>> Yeah.
22:45
>> We
22:45
>> So you can wreck your bike even more.
22:48
>> Kids nowadays.
22:49
>> Oh yes. Um Yeah. Yeah, I think I think
22:53
that's what what what's one of the
22:54
things that hasn't changed is I'm not
22:56
repairing my bike all the soding time
22:58
mid ride.
22:59
>> Mid ride. Yes. Like
23:00
>> get down to the bottom right.
23:01
>> Yeah. Three stops on a ride for a
23:05
puncture or some terrible mechanical
23:07
bikes and tires and drivetrains have all
23:11
got so much more reliable. And
23:15
bikes bikes are safer to ride. That's
23:18
not very
23:18
>> cool thing to say, but
23:21
>> um people aren't crashing their brains
23:22
out as much unless they're really
23:24
trying.
23:24
>> Yeah,
23:25
>> you you're not being punished for just
23:27
trying to hop off a curb.
23:29
>> Are bikes more expensive these days?
23:33
>> Oh, that's a good one. And I don't I
23:36
haven't done the the maths, the
23:39
prorated maths.
23:40
>> I've done
23:41
>> maths.
23:43
Higher.
23:43
>> All of it.
23:44
>> Higher. There's a there's a there's a a
23:47
Fox 36 fork I think in issue 30 and the
23:51
retail price is $699
23:53
>> right
23:54
>> according to the Bank of England's
23:55
inflationary
23:57
um calculator that should be £1,300 now
24:01
>> which is about what they are
24:03
>> well it wasn't a factory
24:04
>> okay
24:04
>> it was like mid-range my closest
24:06
equivalent I could find was around about
24:08
sort of 900 to a,000
24:10
>> right
24:10
>> so the maths actually points that the
24:13
cost of bikes
24:14
has been below inflation.
24:17
>> No. When my builder came, I have a
24:18
builder. The guy does our building
24:20
occasionally. He used to ride bikes.
24:21
He's falling out of favor. And he was
24:23
trying to get back into it. He was
24:25
looking at bikes. Why are these like
24:27
seven or eight grand? So, what are you
24:29
looking at? So, carbon bike with XT and
24:33
Kashima.
24:34
Don't look at that then. It's like just
24:37
you're looking at XT and high-end
24:39
things. They've got more expensive. But
24:42
if you kept the function the same, like
24:45
your bike from 10 years ago,
24:47
>> Yeah.
24:48
>> is now
24:51
a 2,000 bike's better.
24:53
>> Yeah. I think that the cheap cheaper
24:55
bikes have got more reliable. You don't
24:57
need the expensive stuff
24:58
>> and the expensive bikes have got more
24:59
expensive, but that's always going to be
25:01
the um because
25:04
because as Keep on Trager puts it,
25:07
you're you're slicing finer slices of
25:10
pie to improve bikes year on year. So
25:14
you're um you're not making massive
25:18
you're not going from 8 speed to nine
25:20
speed.
25:20
>> Yeah.
25:21
>> You're th those kind of big changes
25:24
>> and everything goes up, doesn't it? You
25:26
can't get if you look at our bikes
25:28
whatever they'd probably be a theme like
25:32
alloy
25:33
like quite expensive suspension
25:36
drivetrain don't care uh cockpit don't
25:40
care seat posts don't care it's like
25:42
wheels
25:44
>> eight years old
25:45
>> yeah but you can't buy
25:48
but if you want like if you want the
25:49
good suspension you have to get off the
25:52
peg on about whole bike you have to get
25:55
anything else that level that is doesn't
25:58
add anything to it, does it?
26:00
>> The the you know how companies do a like
26:03
a lunch ride version of their bikes
26:05
where you know this is what
26:06
>> Yeti you mean?
26:07
>> Yeah. This this is what we do you know
26:10
at the weekends or or Specialized did
26:12
with the Evo kind of thing.
26:14
>> Um maybe they need to do a a version of
26:18
that but where it'll have the cheapest
26:20
frame in the range, the most expensive
26:23
suspension. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
26:25
>> Um and and some mismatched.
26:27
>> Yeah.
26:28
>> Yeah. I'll have I'll have Rock Shocks
26:30
Ultimate and I'll put DB8 brakes,
26:32
please.
26:33
>> Yeah.
26:34
>> And just like GX. That's probably a
26:36
million quid as well, isn't it? I rode a
26:38
bike today, which is not it's not rare,
26:40
but none of it needed charging when I
26:42
got back.
26:44
Could just put it away.
26:45
>> Wow.
26:47
>> Amazing.
26:49
Uh what else can we talk about? What's
26:50
next? And what are these coffee beans
26:52
doing here as well?
26:53
>> Um what you're going to do.
26:55
>> That's that's how I wh away the lonely
26:58
evenings in
27:00
>> That's what I'm thinking. I'm going to
27:00
become
27:02
>> the new Maxwell House
27:05
>> to the
27:08
>> 73 Ethiopia.
27:10
Good album.
27:11
>> Yeah.
27:12
>> By uh Yeah.
27:14
>> So, what is what 73 mean?
27:16
>> That's uh batch number 73.
27:18
>> 73.
27:19
>> Yeah.
27:19
>> 73 of them. Yeah.
27:20
>> That's about Well, what what's that? 500
27:23
>> kilo 500.
27:24
>> So I've done I've roasted about 40 kilos
27:27
of coffee.
27:28
>> De
27:30
that is one of the the
27:33
>> Does it get held up in customs a lot?
27:35
>> Uh I
27:36
>> do they not like I think it's some like
27:37
a cover for
27:39
>> smuggling things to the dogs off the
27:41
scent.
27:42
>> Yeah.
27:43
>> Um I did strange did get stopped twice
27:46
on my way in. So
27:47
>> Oh surprise. Right. Good.
27:49
>> Yeah. There you go.
27:50
>> You flogging it? Uh, you might only to
27:53
uh Well, currently only to all the
27:54
villages. I got hooked.
27:56
>> First one's free.
27:57
>> First one's free.
27:58
>> Yeah.
27:58
>> Come around. I'll make you a coffee.
28:00
>> Yeah.
28:00
>> Have you got any of that stuff?
28:02
>> It's not It's not addictive.
28:03
>> Can I Can if you got any You're going
28:05
away. Can Can I have Can I have a kilo?
28:08
>> What else are you doing?
28:09
>> What am I doing? That's going to really
28:10
pay the bills.
28:12
>> Not at all. Because
28:13
>> Doesn't it cost more than it
28:14
>> I uh I get high on my own supply.
28:17
>> Yes.
28:17
>> So, it it doesn't doesn't help. Um,
28:21
well, as you may know or or may not, I I
28:24
now live in the in the Pyrenees in
28:26
France. Uh, and we have three jeets. So,
28:29
we've got three self-catering
28:32
uh cottages that we rent out in summer.
28:34
And that's my um my kingdom. So, I end
28:37
up I do all the uh pillowcase ironing,
28:41
toilet cleaning, all that kind of stuff.
28:43
So, that will keep me busy.
28:44
>> It's just summer from when?
28:46
>> Yeah. from sort of April from about now
28:49
until end of September,
28:51
>> right?
28:52
>> Um because in the winter there are fewer
28:54
tourists.
28:55
>> We're in an area I would say a bit like
28:58
Cderale except obviously it isn't but
29:00
>> in that it's great but overlooked in
29:05
terms of more
29:06
>> okay
29:06
>> better known places.
29:08
>> Um so there aren't as many people just
29:11
wandering through going oh this that
29:13
let's stay here.
29:14
>> There you go. Um,
29:15
>> what's the URL? Do we have URLs anymore?
29:18
>> What's your handle?
29:22
>> Uh, I watched Cannon Cannonball run the
29:24
other day. Christ,
29:26
>> don't break 14. Good.
29:30
>> Got your ears on.
29:31
>> That's right. Convoy.
29:33
>> Christmas. Anyway,
29:35
>> uh I um we're in the village of Puya Fui
29:40
L in France. And we're on Airbnb. You'll
29:44
probably find us.
29:45
>> Links in the show notes, folks. Oh,
29:46
there we go. The show notes
29:48
>> here. That's it. Down
29:49
>> here.
29:51
>> Click on this.
29:52
>> Yeah, smash that like.
29:54
>> Um
29:54
>> if you want to.
29:56
>> So, I'll be I'll be doing that in the
29:57
summer. And then I will see what's um
30:01
I've got loads of trails to to clear as
30:04
well. So, I'm hoping that
30:06
>> with your silky big boy.
30:07
>> With my silky big boy. I've just got a
30:09
new blade for it. Uh,
30:11
>> can you just expand on what a silky big
30:12
boy is?
30:13
>> Is it obvious?
30:14
>> Some misunderstanding.
30:15
>> Links in show notes.
30:17
>> It's by everywhere.
30:19
>> It's a folding saw, but
30:20
>> yeah.
30:21
>> Uh, [ __ ] Japanese steel from Hattori
30:24
Hanza. You can get very coarse blade and
30:27
it fair rips through trees. Uh, they do
30:31
longer one. They do a 500 mil blade
30:34
called the Silky Katana Boy. Yeah,
30:38
>> everyone wants one now, except it's
30:40
quite expensive.
30:41
>> How's your French these days? Chips.
30:43
>> Uh, pal.
30:45
Not bad. Um, I I can read asterisks in
30:50
the original French.
30:51
>> Oh,
30:52
>> asterisk lol. I have another year until
30:57
I can apply for some either a long-term
31:01
residence permit or uh or citizenship,
31:05
in which case my French needs to be
31:06
better. So, I'll be hosting lots of
31:09
French coffee mornings with the little
31:10
old ladies from the village.
31:12
>> Did they test it? She do it.
31:15
>> Yeah, you have to.
31:17
>> There's a test on French. There's a
31:20
written test. There's a there's a a test
31:23
on your French speaking. There's a test
31:26
on your understanding of French culture
31:29
and
31:30
>> civics and things. And
31:33
>> do they go through your wardrobe? Look
31:35
for suitable
31:38
>> clothing. I
31:39
>> I think No, I think that comes
31:41
afterwards. you get you you know
31:43
initially you're allowed to wear the
31:45
stripey
31:46
>> top and then after a couple more years
31:48
the the beret
31:50
>> um and uh
31:53
>> sailing close to the wind here guys
31:55
>> we're trying we're trying
31:57
>> my overt racism
31:59
>> well yeah
32:00
>> but uh no I I will say that I absolutely
32:04
love where I live and everyone's been
32:05
super nice for us kind of clueless
32:08
foreigners turning up so Yes.
32:12
Right. Which one? Right.
32:14
>> It's up to you.
32:15
>> [ __ ] it. I mean, forget it.
32:18
Let's give some things
32:21
to give away cuz we don't think we're
32:23
ever seeing you again. Is that right?
32:25
>> Not ever.
32:26
>> Like never.
32:28
>> And you're getting rid of the internet,
32:29
aren't you? I believe.
32:30
>> Right. Yeah.
32:32
>> Don't even have it in France.
32:33
>> I do do still have a front door kit.
32:35
>> Right. Okay. I know all the numbers are
32:37
the same. That's why I noticed when I
32:38
came back. All the burger unlock. Is it
32:41
still? Yeah.
32:42
>> Yeah, it is.
32:43
>> Is the password still? Yeah.
32:45
>> Shh. It's not. We change it. It used to
32:47
be. Not anymore. Right. There you go.
32:49
That's one thing.
32:51
>> Wow.
32:52
>> Now, I'm not just saying this. I think
32:54
that might be the best cover we've ever
32:56
done.
32:56
>> I am.
32:57
>> It's up there.
32:58
>> I am a big fan of this. This was one of
33:00
those.
33:00
>> This is the cover for issue for
33:03
>> 166.
33:03
>> 166.
33:05
>> And it was
33:06
>> Is it a new contributor guy?
33:09
Wakefield
33:10
>> Wakefield
33:12
>> based in Squamish in BC
33:16
>> and that's a
33:17
>> not Wakefield then.
33:19
>> No Squamish Joe Squamish
33:24
>> from Wakefield.
33:25
>> Yeah.
33:26
>> But yeah,
33:27
>> it is never looks so good.
33:30
>> And usually our our designer Jim will
33:33
will give us three or four options and
33:35
we're all like, "Oh, I like number two."
33:37
And and everyone's like, "No, that one."
33:39
>> I think.
33:40
>> Did even you choose that one this time?
33:42
>> Entirely Chips's choice, this one.
33:43
>> Yeah,
33:44
>> it was. Yeah. It would have been really
33:46
bad if he chose another one, wouldn't
33:47
it? And be like, "We might have to
33:48
resend that decision cuz that's got to
33:51
We'll just put it next one, won't we?"
33:52
Really?
33:52
>> That's it. Well, you know, Jame Vincent
33:55
for his final issue was like, "Oh, I'm
33:57
I'm nominating a photo that I took."
33:59
>> Yeah.
33:59
>> So,
34:00
>> there's only one more with loads. You
34:03
know,
34:03
>> one more.
34:04
>> One more.
34:06
>> Look at this. and good luck in all
34:08
future things.
34:09
>> For those listening in black and white
34:10
chips has got
34:11
>> past the parcel.
34:12
>> Yes. So now this is do we have to
34:16
>> I did notice that's our wrapping paper.
34:18
>> Yeah. Single trunk wrapping paper.
34:20
>> Do we actually sell
34:21
>> very little expense spent?
34:23
>> Yes. Right.
34:25
>> In our merchandise history, we've had
34:28
some slightly shony bits of merchandise.
34:30
Usually we've had some really cool
34:32
t-shirts and some fun things, some
34:34
amazing mugs. And there was one year
34:37
when Mark said, "Oh, well, we'll get
34:40
some uh
34:42
>> Is this going to be the beer mats?
34:43
>> We'll get some beer mats.
34:44
>> You're not gonna ever let me forget
34:45
this?"
34:46
>> No, let's order some beer mats cuz then
34:48
we can go through Mountain Mayhem. We
34:49
just put them on the tables, give them
34:51
out, and everyone be reminded of how
34:52
great we are. And he ticked the box, you
34:56
know, order a thousand beer mats. Except
34:58
he ticked coasters instead of beer mats.
35:01
So, we ended up with was it 500 quid
35:05
worth of
35:06
>> 500 quid
35:06
>> plastic coasters that were too expensive
35:09
to give away but not nice enough to sell
35:11
to anyone.
35:13
>> So, we It's a bit like she we just had a
35:15
stack of them in the cupboard for a long
35:17
time. Oh, look at this.
35:19
>> You got to you got to narrate this.
35:22
>> Okay. Notice the uh
35:25
>> the strapping.
35:26
>> The strapping. Look at it's got a
35:28
leather strap.
35:29
>> Leather aspect. It is an apron
35:33
for those watching in black and white
35:35
with single track and that raspberry.
35:40
>> My little signature that appears on
35:42
every editorial. Hope you've been
35:44
practicing your signature, Benji.
35:45
>> Yes. Yeah.
35:46
>> Good.
35:47
>> Yeah, we have to. As a parent, I'm
35:48
always signing stuff. She banged her
35:50
head today. Whatever.
35:55
>> Well, very fine. Thank you very much.
35:57
that I will uh I can roast me beans.
36:00
>> Indeed.
36:01
>> And chop me chilies.
36:02
>> Yeah. When is 166 out? Look, I've just
36:05
switched straight to retail.
36:07
>> Yeah. Finish on the finish on the promo.
36:09
>> Yeah,
36:09
>> that's it. Uh April the 7th. I'm going
36:13
to say it with confidence because it's
36:16
it's around men whenever it turns out.
36:19
>> Oh, let's rewind. What's your fave? I
36:22
know we're just going to be giving grief
36:24
for merch. Yeah.
36:25
>> What's your favorite merch items
36:27
>> or jerseys?
36:29
>> Uh, I was a big fan of the heavy New
36:33
York style dynams that we coffee coffee
36:36
mugs
36:37
>> where
36:38
>> Yeah. They they weigh a ton and you have
36:41
to sort of preheat them otherwise they
36:43
rob all the heat out the coffee. But
36:45
>> if any listeners or viewers wanted to
36:47
know more about our um history of merch,
36:50
where could they where could they find
36:51
that?
36:52
>> Could they find it?
36:52
>> Wikipedia. Could they find it in the
36:55
next issue?
36:56
>> They certainly
36:56
>> I think in issue 166.
36:58
>> Yeah. Great.
36:59
>> There's there's a some samples of our
37:03
previous mugs.
37:05
>> Uh previous jerseys. We've done many
37:07
jerseys. I quite like the the newest
37:09
jersey I got which is the just the long
37:11
sleeve thing but in a
37:13
>> don't shoot me Hunter orange.
37:15
>> It's a good one though actually. Yeah.
37:16
>> Um which is really nice. Y
37:18
>> um so I was very good.
37:23
The STP ones, the uh spark plug ripoff
37:26
ones. There we go.
37:27
>> 2007 2000. They'll be 20 years old. So,
37:32
time for time for a revamp. Time to wash
37:34
it. Should
37:34
>> we should we revisit those?
37:37
>> I'm sure.
37:38
>> I think one of Sims, was it Sims?
37:40
>> Dean Taylor.
37:41
>> Oh, was it right? Oh, yeah.
37:42
>> Dean Taylor did those.
37:45
>> Pink camo. and the pink camo which was
37:47
which was done as a joke but we did 25
37:51
limited edition and no one bought any
37:54
>> and then suddenly they all sold out.
37:56
>> Yeah.
37:57
>> Yeah.
37:58
>> That was the one the famous one with the
38:00
black belly band.
38:01
>> Yes.
38:02
>> The uh nonflattering horizontal
38:05
>> stripe around the mid rift.
38:08
>> Apparently no one told us about the the
38:10
difference between vertical stripes and
38:12
horizontal stripes. Any final questions
38:15
from the audience?
38:16
>> Yes. Yes. You,
38:17
>> Tom, do you have a question?
38:18
>> The audience won.
38:19
>> Ross is there.
38:20
>> We got Ross here.
38:21
>> Yeah, Ross pretending to work.
38:23
>> He He was tapping loudly.
38:24
>> Go and speak here next to the
38:26
microphone.
38:26
>> Yeah. Don't Don't speak. Don't forget
38:28
the microphones. That would be
38:29
ridiculous. Actually,
38:30
>> hello.
38:32
>> I get a bit of time. You can just edit
38:34
this now.
38:34
>> Oh, yeah.
38:36
>> Putting you on the spot. He's just
38:38
sauntering up to the
38:39
>> just slowly walking across the huge
38:42
offices banks of people working away
38:45
>> down the long corridor.
38:47
>> Yeah.
38:47
>> Yes. Has Has anyone ever been impressed
38:49
when they've come to the office?
38:52
>> Has everyone's like, "Oh, this is Oh.
38:54
Oh, it's just some screens and computers
38:57
and
38:58
I think my brother has because he just
39:00
had very low expectations.
39:02
Didn't realize there was an upstairs. I
39:04
don't."
39:05
>> So, there's a good question actually.
39:06
Who's been your favorite guest that's
39:08
visited the single track offices?
39:11
>> Oh, visited here.
39:13
>> Former prince, now King Charles, did
39:15
walk past the office once.
39:16
>> Yeah, he gave you quite a look, didn't
39:18
he?
39:19
>> Yes. Like, who would you? Um, Dre,
39:23
Andreas Hesler from uh an Olympian
39:26
mountain bike racer from
39:29
>> uh Rocky Mountain BC bike race.
39:31
>> He he turned up and we went for went for
39:35
a bike ride. We were riding down the
39:36
canal and there were two old boys with
39:40
ebikes with sort of early ebikes and
39:42
they'd broken a chain and they were just
39:45
sort of stood there and one of them had
39:47
a Leatherman
39:49
and they were just just staring at this
39:51
bike and it had nutted axles and there
39:53
was no way they were going to fix it.
39:54
And we were like, "Jump, do you want a
39:56
hand?" And they were like, "Oh yeah, do
39:57
you know anything about it?" And it was
40:01
very close on the canal to where I used
40:03
to get my car fixed. So I popped in,
40:06
went, "Can I borrow two 15 mil
40:08
spanners?" And they were like, "Yeah,
40:09
sure." So appeared from from this hedge
40:12
in the on the canal with spanners,
40:14
whipped the wheel off, Dre fixed the
40:16
guy's chain, you know, an Olympian
40:19
fixing your chain cuz you're like, "He
40:21
was in the Olympics, you know," and
40:22
they're like, "Oh yeah, that yeah, of
40:23
course he was."
40:26
>> And uh and then sent them on their way
40:27
and they uh and they made it to the pub
40:30
in time for lunch.
40:31
>> Yeah.
40:32
>> So good. Speaking of the pub. Oh.
40:36
>> Oh, yes.
40:36
>> We're all Segways here.
40:38
>> Well, thank you very much for your loyal
40:40
service.
40:42
>> What's 25 years? Diamond silver.
40:46
>> Do I get a pocket watch?
40:47
>> Yeah.
40:48
>> Do for my waste coat.
40:50
>> Only I believe it's not a retirement
40:52
though.
40:53
>> There's your blogger of the year award
40:55
made out of solid freaking uranium.
40:59
>> Well, country music.
41:00
>> Hold that one up. We'll have that as the
41:01
thumbnail. Beautiful.
41:06
>> Beautiful.
41:07
>> There we go. Blogger of the year.
41:08
>> Yeah.
41:09
>> The CAS, the the country music awards.
41:12
>> Yes, I believe so. Yeah.
41:13
>> Yeah. I won a CMA in 2016.
41:17
>> Okay. We
41:18
>> Yeah. Let's wrap up and we'll go to
41:20
where are we going? Thgate
41:22
Evers.
41:23
>> And then we're going to Matt's bar in
41:24
Mroy to Barbber's.
41:26
>> Yeah. for more links in the show notes.
41:29
can tell tell t tell t tell t tell t
41:30
t tell t tell t tell t tell t tell t
41:30
tell t tell t tell t tell t tell t tells
41:31
>> the root guide
41:33
>> root in there Matt Lech's uh yeah all
41:37
the best stories about Matt le
41:39
>> yeah war to come
41:40
>> there was there was our overenthusiastic
41:45
it all worked perfectly and it made so
41:48
much sense to make it as complicated as
41:51
possible that we I think we finished the
41:53
magazine on a Thursday night we got in a
41:56
van that we'd loaded for all of our
41:59
stuff for the World Championships in
42:02
Fort William in 2017.
42:04
2007,
42:06
>> one of those.
42:06
>> I think it was 2007.
42:07
>> 2007. And um then we drove to
42:13
Manchester, no Glasgow airport.
42:17
Got there at midnight, 1 in the morning.
42:21
Uh slept on a bench. got a two planes
42:26
and a ferry and a train and a bus to
42:30
Eurobike
42:32
>> with our with our bags for camping. We
42:35
camped at Eurobike and then four days
42:38
later we were on the 6 a.m. ferry train,
42:42
two flights back to Glasgow to then
42:44
drive to Avimmore, the single speed
42:47
world champs. And then we went on to to
42:50
Fort William for the for the worlds. And
42:53
we got to Avimmore, we were so wired
42:56
that everyone was like, "Hey, how's it
42:59
going?" Well, don't talk to us.
43:01
And it took us well about three points
43:04
to to slow down to catch up with
43:07
everyone. And then we went to the the
43:09
World Champs and we we were so over it.
43:13
I think the last 10 guys were coming
43:15
down the hill on the downhill and it was
43:17
raining and it was all tense, you know,
43:20
who's who's going to win? Matt was like,
43:22
"Should we just go?"
43:25
Actually, yeah. So, we just loaded the
43:27
van up and just kind of snuck off while
43:30
everyone was watching. We got got past
43:32
lock lmen before everyone had let out.
43:35
>> So that's
43:36
>> nice moves.
43:37
>> Thank you very much. Good luck with your
43:39
ventures.
43:39
>> Thank you very much.
43:40
>> And you the the key of the magazine USB
43:43
key.
43:43
>> The number I know all the numbers. It's
43:46
passwords.
43:48
Goodbye for now.
43:49
>> Yes.
43:50
>> Ambientento.
43:51
>> Abento
43:52
alushen
43:55
zoot.
44:00
What's wrong with that?
44:03
>> I did French at a level.
44:06
I don't remember any of it.
44:07
>> Did you? Wow.
44:08
>> I shouldn't have done, but I did. I got
44:11
an E.
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