Cold Open And Show Welcome

SPEAKER_01 0:30

And so there I was, about ready to enjoy some really good Spanish cheese. And I was excited about it when through the door the manager came running in and screaming, we've got to evacuate.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

There's a kind of adventure you only find when you're not in a hurry. This is Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. Stories from the open road where routes are questionable. The stops are intentional, and leisure isn't a reward. It's the plan. If you're looking for speed, well, you're lost. But if you're looking for laid-back adventure, good stories, and even better company, welcome home.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. My name is Adam. I am lucky enough to be joined with my good friend, Mr. Michael Sharp, who was telling us a great story.

Conference Laughs And Rooster Jennifer

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Oh, yes. And let me tell you, I'll get back to that story in a little bit, but it was a funny situation, an enlightening situation, and just a lot of fun. But we'll talk about that later. How you been, buddy?

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Oh man, I'm good. Guess where I was?

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Uh I'm gonna guess some conference somewhere because that seems to be where you've been the whole year. Ladies and gentlemen. Learning about the yellow standee line.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It is a real thing. Ladies and gentlemen, the federal yellow standee line. If you no, it's real. If you just look it up at home. But, anyways, yes, this one uh was in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Sir, you and I have been to Mount Pleasant, Michigan. I have been there, yes, sir. Uh, this was uh what they call well, short term is RTMW. Now, what the heck does that mean? Rural Transit Managers Workshop. And so uh this was more of a state of Michigan. So other conferences I've been to have been, you know, um uh countrywide or nationwide, you know, all kinds of different people from all kinds of places. This was more focused on just if you run a transportation in the state of Michigan. Some uh really wasn't an option, but I was at a conference, that's not a lie. Um but I am back. Um but I have to tell you a funny story. We were, you know, of course, we always finish, we usually finish a long day of listening to how there's no funds and how the funding is going away, which I don't blame you for not taking that bus driving job. Um, but um um and normally we find ourselves somewhere to have a little watering hole, and this my friend Chad told one of the funniest stories. I I I truly I just think is just funny, and I want to share a little piece. I'm never gonna tell the story like him, but they decided to go to their local Rule King last year. You know what a Rule King is? No, is that a grocery store? Yeah, it's like what's that farm place you have by behind behind your Casey's?

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Oh, it's like a tractor supply or a bum guard, what we've got around here.

SPEAKER_03 4:06

And so you can go there and you can put in your order for chickens or chicks or or whatever. It's the time of season. And so last year he and his family decided they were gonna get a hundred chickens and raise the chickens, and and um his he's got a young boy, and his young boy had named all the chickens. And this one chicken they named Jennifer. Well, it turned out Jennifer was not a female chicken. Jennifer happened to be a rooster later on. Well, he told some funny stories about Jennifer, and Jennifer happened to be a really mean, nasty rooster. And so yeah, they named her Jennifer, or named him Jennifer. That would trick anybody off, wouldn't it? That's correct. So um, as any good friend would do with the rest of the conference, we decided to find images online of roosters, and then we put like chain chain necklaces on it that said Jennifer, and then and we were sending them back and forth, but it was it was uh childish and stupid, but then so so is conferences sometimes. But we had to and this is how the taxpayers' money was spent. Hey, hey, hey. I'm a legend, so can't argue with a shirt, can we? No, look at that. For those of you on YouTube, my wife bought me a present. It says legend since April 1976. We'll get into that a little bit. We'll get in a little bit. So thank you, Lauren, for the wonderful gift. So I wonder what happened in 1976.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Nothing good, I'm quite sure. No, no, no, no. Oh, 76. Uh, well, the big thing would have been the uh bicentennial. 1976 would have been United States Bicentennial. So that's that's what's probably about 76. That's what's out.

SPEAKER_03 6:03

That's probably what that's probably what she meant with the shirt that she gave me. I'm sure it is. I'm sure down at the bottom it says USA. So we're gonna get into some of the top 25 things celebrating 50 years this year. And uh lucky me, I made the list.

SPEAKER_01 6:21

So wow, where's that viewfinder that I need to use here in a little bit to entertain myself while you uh take over the show?

SPEAKER_03 6:34

By the time this show comes out that big. You're pretty happy about that, aren't you? It's all right, things happen. Um yeah, anyways, welcome to 50.

SPEAKER_01 7:02

Things will start happening, yes.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:05

Things will start creaking that didn't make noise before. You'll have random things hurt that have never hurt before.

Listener Spotlight Guesses Nailed

SPEAKER_03 7:13

That happened at 41 and 234. There's more to come. I know. That was just a preview. That's right. I got uh my shingle shots to look forward to, so uh, but I I gotta tell you, I I'm excited. So last episode we teased, not teased, but we told people about a new feature we had, which is gonna lead into uh one of our favorite segments, and it's Listener Spotlight. So we had someone actually use the fan mail. If you don't know what this is, and you when you were unable to use the last listen to the last episode, go back, listen to it. Um, and on every podcast in the notes down below, there's a little link that says fan mail. And if you would like to leave us a voice uh guess for a listener spotlight, and or anything you want to just tell us, you can tell us, hey, good to hear you guys, blah blah blah. We're here, we're thinking about you, whatever. Uh, we can actually play your voice. Now, I don't want to play the voice yet. So, our teammate, good friend, um, and subscriber, uh Alex Bell, uh, he was the first one to try it out. He he did make a guess. Thank you. But I'm gonna let you absolutely thank you. But I would like to let you read the clues first because I am ecstatic. We got uh one, two, three, four, four. Wait, yeah, five. Four people oh yeah, five. Thank you. Five people uh so far that made guesses. Um now I don't want to give it away. I'm gonna let you give the clues first.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

But you either made it way too easy. Uh there was there was a couple of big ones on this one that that pretty much led would have led most people down a certain road, or should have maybe led people down a certain road. Uh, I thought they were kind of giveaways, but apparently five, six, seven people thought so. So here are the clues from last episode. Um, the city was established after a treaty in the 1830s. It started as a center of trade. Um, Alice Cooper, the rock singer, may or may not know something about this city. German settlers played a large part in the city's development. Uh, it could be said that this town was the original, the OG Blue Ribbon City, and this city is not San Juan, but one president did overcome adversity there. Perfect.

SPEAKER_03 10:12

Now, uh, we got a lot of people guessing. Let me first play the Alex Bell clip. Okay. And uh by the way, if you do make a guess with fan mail and you don't want your voice on the show, just lead with that. Say, hey, I don't prefer this to have you know, I don't please don't play this on the show. Um but if you don't want to hear that, that's no problem. But uh let me lead with that so I know for sure. But let me give you the Alex Bell clip here. Ready? Do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Hey guys, this is Alex down in Georgia. Trying out this new feature on fan mail. My guest for this episode's listener spotlight is Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Okay, so there's the voice. Uh, hopefully we were able to hear that pretty clearly, sir. I I heard it. Perfect. Okay, so we also got, um, let me come here. We also received our good friend Wade Paul, who is a regular person who of our community likes to guess. He said listener spotlight is Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There's a reference to Theodore Roosevelt getting shot, but his speech in glasses case caused the bullet uh to not be fatal. Fun fact the speech was entitled Progressive Cause Greater Than Any Individual. And I'm pretty sure the blue ribbon is a reference to Paps Blue Ribbon Beer. Sorry about that. Um, and let's see here. Then we got my cousin Mark. Um, and he said it's definitely Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Um, do you remember our good friend from Ohio, Matt, who gave us a ride for our first brag? Absolutely. He says, Listener Spotlight, thank you for an easy one. Oh boy. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, established after a treaty in the 1830s. 1833 Treaty of Chicago, a Native American uh removal treaty, started uh as a center of the trade port city, incorporated in 1846. It could be said that this town was an original blue ribbon city, Paps with Rubin Beer, also Miller and Schlitz. The city is not San Juan, but one president did overcome adversity here. Theodore Roosevelt uh survived an assassination attempt. Alice Cooper may or may not know something about this city's Waynes World reference, with Alice describing a possible origin of the name. German settlers paid a large part of this city's development, like many in this area, arriving in distinct waves. Um our good friend uh Mr. Armando Armando said, Hey guys, sorry it's been a while, things have been a little hectic around here, nothing bad, thankfully. Just listened to the latest episode, and I was listening to Clues, the blue ribbon reference screamed beer at me. Um we've enjoyed many a beer with Mr. We have indeed, yes. Uh the Alice Cooper reference hit home Wayne's World, so it's Milwaukee, or is explained and pronounced Milwaukee in the uh in the Alleghen language. Um and the rest of it is not for the show, just as I said, if you don't want on the show. So the rest of it's not for the show. So uh it was just a message to us, sir. So um, so I believe I may have missed somebody, but I think I have all the guesses. Uh Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, and lastly but not least, Milwaukee. All right.

SPEAKER_01 13:53

Uh the city for last episode's uh listener spot night was Sheboygan. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Uh that would have been funny if it was. No, I mean, you know, it's Milwaukee. And we all knew that at this point in time because great job, everyone. Uh yes. It started as a trading center after a uh Native American removal treaty in the 1830s. Alice Cooper in Wayne's World explained to Wayne that Milwaukee uh translates to the good land in Alguancan, um, which is one of several uh ideas of how it got named. They uh can't pinpoint it down to the exact reason why it's called Milwaukee. German settlers came in three waves between 1845 and 1893. Uh yeah, the Blue Ribbon, uh Paps Blue Ribbon, and Schlitz Breweries are that was the home to both of them. I don't believe Schlitz has opened anymore, but uh and the city is not San Juan, which is a dead giveaway when they were talking about presidents, because that would be Theodore Roosevelt. And uh there was an attempted assassination uh while he was in Milwaukee to give a speech, and uh uh the bullet was uh was blocked. It didn't cause, you know, cause any uh major problems, and he went on to deliver that speech as we would expect Theodore Roosevelt to do. So there you have it.

SPEAKER_03 15:41

Thank you, listeners.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

One more thing. I'm sorry, go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

Sorry. I don't know. I was just gonna say thank you, listeners from Milwaukee. Thank you, all listeners, but thank you for those who are from Milwaukee.

SPEAKER_01 15:53

And I do want to welcome a few new countries to our listenership. Um, welcome to listeners from Syria, our listeners from Iraq, our listeners from Saudi Arabia, and our listeners from Palestine. Those are uh four new countries that people have started listening from. And I'm starting to wonder, I'm looking at all those countries and I know where they're located in the world, and uh it seems to me that uh maybe the conflict going over there is good for our show. Um or maybe we're the only thing they can get while uh they're in the uh the fallout shelters or what have you.

SPEAKER_03 16:42

I'm thinking maybe people from the military who have been called over maybe enjoy our show.

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, but they wouldn't be in Syria or Powell. Well, I mean, you're always gonna have military people in a couple of these countries, but maybe so. Maybe so.

Cycling Story That Went Viral

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Well, in honor of the five guesses and maybe six if I miss somebody. Flawless victory five out of five. There we go. So uh wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. Um all right. Moving on. Just to make sure, Mr. Sharp, okay to move on? Let's move on. Let's move on. All right. You have um you have some bourbon stories for us, some some things in the bourbon world.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

Well, I've got uh a couple uh pieces of leisure news I'd like to share with everybody. It's not all about bourbon. The first one is definitely not about bourbon, it's about cycling. So I thought I'd talk a little bit about it. It's a uh it's a really cool story. So this story takes place in Fort Scott, Kansas, which is just right down the road south uh here. You've actually been through it when we went to the Pittsburgh ride. Um it's where my wife's family is from. And they have a community college there. They are uh home of the Greyhounds. Gizmo is their mascot. And back in February, um the team somehow found out that Taylor Frost, a freshman uh on that basketball team, uh, didn't know how to ride a bicycle. And uh the coach, Matt Glover, found out about this, and he decided that it would be a great team-building activity and a way to celebrate success if the team taught him how to ride a bicycle. So he got a bicycle and a helmet. They took time, and the team went out and uh taught him how to ride a bicycle. And it was really a cool story. Uh, I know it went viral and it was on some of the big news, news things, but um, I just really thought that was cool how they, a basketball team, utilized cycling as a way to, again, celebrate the success, do some team building, uh, and do something other than, you know, get off the court and do some things different. Um, and they use bicycling for that. So that I thought that was kind of cool. The other thing I wanted to bring up about um Fort Scott Community College is they actually have developed a free, excuse me, free bike share program. And they have 10 bikes available at different hub locations around Fort Scott. And you sign up for this, and you can, if you're in one of those locations, they're not all on campus, uh, and there's a bicycle out there, you can go uh take the bicycle and and ride it to uh to another location. So I thought that was kind of an innovative way of uh you know getting around Fort Scott. It's not a huge city, um, definitely manageable on a bicycle, but um, I just thought that was cool as well.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

So that's you're careful, you're starting to sound like transportation. We talk about scooter share, bike share.

SPEAKER_01 20:02

No, no, it's just an interesting thing. Let's not like you know, get me into a full-blown uh transportation gig.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

Uh, what's that? Wait a minute. I said lot of turnover in transit. Wonder why.

Bourbon Market Shifts And Big Deals

SPEAKER_01 20:21

Uh you were just talking about budget cuts, so you know, yeah. Uh another thing I wanted to bring up, I don't know if you've been watching the news lately, but uh one of the things that uh we enjoy doing, as our listeners and uh you know viewers know, is we enjoy a little bourbon and whiskey here and there after rides and such. Um due to the economy and tariffs and things like that, and also uh the millennials are drinking less. So, due to all those factors, um the whiskey and the distilled spirits uh markets have really been decreasing, um, which for you and I is a good thing because now we're starting to find stuff on shelves that we haven't been able to find on shelves before. Um, and the price is definitely going down. So it's a it's a win for us. But there was a couple of stories that came through. Um, you ever heard of the uh I and J Gallo company?

SPEAKER_03 21:21

ENJ Gallo?

SPEAKER_01 21:23

Ernest and Julio Gallo. No. And that's okay. Uh they're a winery, Ernest and Julio Gallo. Um they just finalized an acquisition uh for Four Roses Distillery. Um so this month they paid$775 million, and so now they own Four Roses. So I thought that was interesting. Um before it was owned by a Japanese company that decided to get out of the uh the distilling market and focus more on healthcare and pharmaceuticals. Um honestly, I think they could have you know pushed the whiskey as uh some kind of healthcare remedy, but maybe that's uh already passed and we can't do that anymore after prohibition. But uh but there are they are planning uh a 100-proof um whiskey to be coming out here shortly, and also just to point out, Gallo also owns Horse Horse Soldier, which I know you're familiar with.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

Yes, yes, I do enjoy them. Normally I would go back to my rack here, grab a bottle, and say this is it.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

No visual aids today, huh? No, and the last one. That I think I'm really excited about is Sazerac just announced that they are proposing a$15 billion deal to acquire Brown Foreman. And if you don't know who Brown Foreman is, which I know you do, what's that?

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Jack Daniels.

How To Score Allocated Bottles

SPEAKER_01 22:53

They own Jack Daniels, they own Old Forester, and they own one of our favorites, Woodford Reserve. Yeah. So Sazarak is the owner of Buffalo Trace, and they're trying to get a hold of Jack Daniels, uh Old Forester and Woodford Reserve, and there's several other brands in there. But um, so I thought that was uh kind of interesting. Um, they've been buying like crazy because back in 2020 they also bought Early Times and Canadian Myths. So um the market's kind of uh shrinking a little bit, but it's interesting to see what might have happened, might be happening uh with that moving forward. So the good news is I've you and I have been to these distilleries, and there is plenty of barrels sitting in barrel houses, rick houses. So we are not going to be out of whiskey anytime soon.

SPEAKER_03 23:43

No, it's interesting that you talk about um some of the availability because you know I have made it my mission, and I truly believe if you are into bourbon or trying to get something special, make friends with your liquor manager, um, beverage manager, whatever, whatever your local um store, depending if your state store or grocery store or whatever you however you buy your liquor. Um, one of the best ways is is to befriend them. I mean, make make make a connection. Uh talk to them. Uh talk to them not just because you want something, ask them what's going, what's selling. Just uh believe it or not, I find that that 95% of them uh they enjoy talking to you. I mean, they they're in there because that's their everyday job. And uh some of them, you know, they may have a personality of a stapler, but I mean, from for the most part, uh truly believe that people enjoy that. So I always get a feel of what is what is selling, um, what what is the hot mover uh if they get something special in. Um, and every now and then I have bought items that really weren't that special to me, but because the beverage manager was so excited and I'm trying to work a connection, I bought I had purchased bottles, to be honest, sure, that that really weren't you know at the top of my list and turned out to be real secret gems. I get home and you know, I enjoy them within it with my neighbor or or whatever. Um, and but yeah, I mean sometimes they're really educated, but if you're trying to find something, one of those allocated bottles, they do get them. They get them all the time, and then they select who they give that to. And if you make friends with them, um that's how I got my George T stag. I would go in there, you know, day after day after day and and just communicate. And and then one time at Christmas he waved me over and said, Here, I want I want you to have this. And uh he still made me pay for it. Well, yeah.

Top Things Turning Fifty

SPEAKER_01 25:38

Uh it was a fine, fine bottle. So uh a little jealous there, by the way. But um, yeah, it's it's always a good thing to do that. Uh it's an interesting market. I mean, it's not like uh most things where they just throw everything out on the shelves, you got this allocated versus the non-allocated. So um, but no, I I uh those couple stories have been big in uh the news lately, so I thought I would share.

SPEAKER_03 26:06

So I appreciate that. Um I know you've got the cheese story, but before we get before we get to the cheese story, um I decided to do a little research of of the top 25 things turning 50 in 2026. Top fift top 25 things to be clear turning 50. And I'll roll through these pretty quick. Um Apple. Apple was founded April 1st, 1976. Baransky, Adam, April 21st, 1976. No, shameless plug. Uh the U.S. Bicentennial, as you mentioned, reached its main celebration on July 4th, 1976. Now, side note, throughout my life, many, many people have purchased items for me um bicentennial proof sets, bicentennial coins, bicenten individual coins, bicentennial license plates. Um, my mother has one of the really I mean, I'm sure this probably a lot of people have something like this, but my mother at some time acquired a really neat thing, which was uh a printout of the top 50 textiles uh in 1976 and what the price was, like a loaf of bread and things of this nature.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

And oh I really wish you don't mean textiles, you mean products. Products, I'm sorry. I apologize. I was like, yeah, top 25 textiles. We got you know, nylon and polyester and oops, oops, yes, products, top 25 products and their prices, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:48

Like a loaf of bread and and flour, you know, gallum of milk, things like that. So um, but uh I don't have that right there with me. I wish I did, but uh, she's got it at her house. But um the modern modern two-dollar bill uh was uh reintroduced in a series for 1976 for the bicentennial. The Concorde began scheduling passenger service July 21st, 1976. Ironically, my father actually got to fly on the Concorde uh when he was doing international. They needed him in Europe like yesterday, and he he was able to fly on the Concord.

SPEAKER_01 28:26

So now that's cool. Now he wasn't piloting it, he was just flying it to get to an airport that he needed to fly. Still, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 28:34

Yeah, he commuted and told me that uh in the front of the front of the plane they had like you know how fast they were going. There's there was a sign like Mach Mach 3 or whatever of whatever it was. Or did fly. Um Viking 1 landed on Mars on July 20th, 1976. Uh NASA publicly rolled out the Space Shuttle Enterprise on September 17th, 1976. Montreal Summer Olympics were held July 17th through August 1st. Jimmy Carter won the 1976 U.S. presidential election. Black History Month was officially recognized for the presidential level in 1976 under Gerald Ford. The Muppet Show, my favorite is the Animal. I used to be a drummer and loved animal going a little crazy. It may or may not have been why I went to military school. Uh, but it debuted in 1976 uh and ran through 1981. Rocky was released in 1976 and later won Best Picture. Taxi Driver was released in 1976. Network came out in 1976 and became one of the defining media satires ever made. The movie Carrie hit theaters in 1976.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

All the president's men and Stephen King about the car?

SPEAKER_03 30:00

Yes. Yep.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 30:03

All the President's Men, 1976. The Eagles, Hotel California, arrived in 1976. I would sing it for you, but people probably are driving. We don't want them to uh Stevie Wonder's song in the Key of Life. Uh Anne Rice's interview with the vampire was published in 1976. Now listen to this. VHS was introduced by JVC in 1976. Kicking off a format war, it eventually won. Uh do you remember Divix? Divix was those one-time play DVDs. You rented it, you you rented it and it only played one time, and like you better and you better not fall asleep.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Yeah, I remember uh the VHS and what was it, beta.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

Beta Max or Betax.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

I think it was beta max, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Uh Atari's Breakout was released in 1976. The first recognized Legioneers Disease outbreak in Philadelphia in July of 1976. Um Vietnam was formally unified as a socialist republic of Vietnam. Um and the first son of Sam attack was in New York City in 1976. So uh there we go, uh in honor of my uh special birthday where things are gonna slowly go downhill now.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

We're on the downhill side now, yeah.

Spanish Cheese Meets Tornado Warning

SPEAKER_03 31:38

I uh I thought I'd give you a little play-by-play. So uh very cool. Well, um tell us about some cheese, my friend. I I mean you got me intrigued now. Yeah, the cheese, the evacuation.

Charcuterie Essentials And Whiskey Pairings

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Here's the whole story. This is how it went down. My wife attended high school, as many of us did, um, with a foreign exchange student some at some point in time. There was a foreign exchange student, probably not in military school, but if you went to a public high school, a lot of times, one of your four years, there was a foreign exchange student. In fact, my wife and I hosted a foreign exchange student uh several years ago. And um his name was Alberto. She came from a little high school down here, actually not too far from Fort Scott. And I mean, it I think there's like 40, 35 uh kids in her graduating class, but not a big school. But um, Alberto, and he was from Spain. Well, he recently decided he wanted to come back, see the school, see the town, and try to get together with some of his fellow classmates. So uh you put together and made all these arrangements, and they decided to have a get together, and they had it actually here in Louisburg up at our steakhouse. They have a uh you know, special event room or whatever. And so I went with her, and this guy, I gotta say, very high energy. Um, he's one of those people that that uh you know is just fun to listen to because he's just high energy and very exuberant and just you know full of life. Very interesting guy. After high school, he went back to Spain, and he is now the CEO of a company called Queso um Queso Sierra di Al let me see if I know how to pronounce uh queso Sierra di La Baruna. I'm probably slaughtering that, but um that is the name of this cheese company, and they make uh artisanal cheeses out of uh sheep milk and goat milk, and it was just really, really interesting because he brought some of different maturities, different ages, and let us try. And it was really, really a unique experience. So he had sliced some up there and was passing it around, and we were all trying it. And um, fantastic. If you have not had really good high-quality artisanal cheese, um, you got to try it because it tastes like nothing you've ever had. I mean, it is not Sargento or Kraft or you know, Velveeta or any of that. I mean, this is like really good high-quality stuff. It was incredible. Well, it just so happened that in the middle of this, uh, him reminiscing us eating cheese, that kind of thing, the manager came in and it's like, we need to evacuate. All you guys need to go to the bathroom. The uh sirens started going off, and there was a tornado hitting heading our way. So then we all had to evacuate out the room and hang out in the safest room in the building, which apparently is the bathroom. And so we were in there um for probably 10 minutes. We came back out, we started eating again, and we ordered dinner. And 20 minutes later, she came back in. It's like, we got to go back in. So then we wound up going back in for you know 20 more minutes. So I spent a lot of time in the bathroom uh just hanging out that night uh because tornadoes were coming through the area. In fact, one hit Hillsdale, which is a town probably, you know, 15 minutes away from us, and uh did quite a bit of damage. But it was really, really uh an interesting experience to uh you know talk with this guy and find out a little bit about the cheese and that type of thing. And so I did a little bit of uh thought I'd provide you with a little bit of uh cheese information. Um I've tried it, I loved it. Did you know what's that? This sounds cheesy. Oh, this is good. This is good. Um cheese is over 7,000 years old. Wow, I mean, it's old. Um they uh cheese does a 10 to 1 ratio where it takes approximately 10 pounds of milk to produce one pound of cheese. Wow. And then it's a lot of science involved. In fact, you could appreciate this because this will sound very familiar to you. Um, you know, obviously it's got a flavor profile and a texture profile. Um, it's all done with um some scientific process with microbes, which are cultures, uh, which turn lactose um into lactic acid. And as it ages, the lactose is consumed. And so actually, aged cheese, even if you're lactose intolerant, you can eat it because the lactose is gone. Um as cheese ages, it gets um a bit crush, crunchy, like crunchy bits, kind of crystalline. Um and those are actually uh amino acids that have uh kind of hardened up. Um but it's really interesting when you also look at the cheese process, because they age cheese and they age cheese for the purpose of transforming flavors and textures, um, creating a product with personality. And when I started looking into this, it's like that sounds very familiar. The aging process. Why do they age why do they age whiskey? Because they want to give it, uh they want to transform the flavors and the texture, and they want to create um a product that you can't just create by adding, you know, brown dye to it, or you can't just get after, you know, after it comes out of the still, it's got to age uh and that type of thing. So it was really an interesting uh evening. I really enjoyed uh meeting Alberto. Uh if you have not tried uh Spanish cheese or certainly artisanal cheese, um, you know, give it a try. Uh I would highly suggest it. But as uh I was eating it and you know, smelling it and tasting it, I kind of felt like uh we were at a uh you know a whiskey tasting. That's pretty cool. You know, really taste it, the flavor, uh, that type of thing. In fact, Alberto, if you happen to come across this or listen to this, uh you need to look at pairing your cheeses, not just with wine and things, but pair them with whiskey because I think it would be really, really cool. And I think it could get some interesting pairings with whiskey and cheese. So um, but we survived after the second time. They were kind of like, let's hurry up so we can everybody can go home, but um survived just one of the many rounds of horrible weather we've been having out here in the Midwest. So there is my cheese story.

SPEAKER_03 39:30

You have definitely been having some weather out there. Um uh the other day at my conference, I received a text message and it was a radar picture, and I was like, What am I looking at? And I happen to see Paola in the picture, and my friend Jeff, who loves the weather, had sent me a picture of your area and what was going on. So you were you guys had a little uh touchdown recently.

SPEAKER_01 39:58

So had a lot of them right around our area, not just to Hillsdale, but we also had them down south. And the my wife works at nights uh about 45 minutes away in a small community hospital in the town that she works in, um, had a lot of damage, roof ripped off of a church, things like that. So, and unfortunately, according to the uh the weather uh forecasters, uh, we're supposed to have some more rounds tomorrow. So let's uh let's hope uh everyone stays nice and safe.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

Oh, I will I will think positive thoughts for you. Um while you were telling us about the cheese, uh, it made me think of uh something leisure in cheese, like a charcuterie board. And I thought just for fun, I would look at what every charcuterie board should have. I wanted to go right along. I like it. So the charcuterie board should have sharp cheddar, which is a crowd pleaser, great with salami and crackers. They recommend gouda, which is creamy, slightly sweet, easy to pair. They recommend some brie, which is soft and rich, uh, nice with a prosciutto or fruit. Um, I'm hoping I'm pronouncing this correct. Uh manchengo, firm uh buttery, excellent with uh Charziro. Charziro? I'm probably blown.

SPEAKER_01 41:23

Uh cherized. Sure. Uh that's what they yeah. Um it's sausage. It's like a spicy Portuguese sausage.

SPEAKER_03 41:32

That makes sense. Uh now that you say that. Um, blue cheese, bold option for people who want something stronger. Uh parmesan or a jaciago, which is a salty, nutty, and great in chunks. Uh, goat cheese, tangy good with honey or jam, and uh Harvati, uh mild and creamy, very approachable. And so uh that's what every charcuterie board should have. So I just I like that.

SPEAKER_01 42:02

That's very interesting. Um, it's interesting that as cheese is cheese ages, it gets harder. So uh you'll notice that when you're having a piece of like cheese, like the inner stuff will be soft, and as you get out to the outside, it gets it gets harder. Um but one thing I would say on your chiccuterie board is get good quality cheese. I'd never really thought about it. I mean, I am a cheese guy, I just like cheese, but once I've eaten like really good cheese, I'm like, oh, there's a big difference.

SPEAKER_03 42:32

So yeah, for sure. Uh for meats, they recommend uh salami, prosciutto, and summer sausage, um almonds, uh honey, some jams, higher end jams. It says higher end jams. So um so smokers, smokers won't do it. I guess smokers is out. So um one of my uh beverages play the liquor, it's actually it's actually a grocery store, but they have a whole beverage center. Right as you pass the beverage, they always have like fancy cheeses and uh sometimes there's pre-made charcuterie boards, but I understand those are kind of taboo.

SPEAKER_01 43:13

Those are like uh that's yeah, come on. Put them put them together yourself. Yeah, put a little effort in. Now, now what kind of uh what kind of whiskey would we be drinking with a charcuterie board?

SPEAKER_03 43:26

You didn't have that idea. No, but I could tell you that I have enjoyed um uh an angel's envy old-fashioned one time with a charcuterie board. It was a smoked old-fashioned actually.

SPEAKER_01 43:39

Um yeah, I'll just didn't we have a charcuterie board uh back in January.

SPEAKER_03 43:48

Yes, yes, we did. And and uh and our in our Buzz Sprout uh Podfest trip. So which side note, I thought about you because um the conference I was just at used uh Hoover, H W O V A.

SPEAKER_01 44:09

Communication, uh, you know, get in touch with people at your conference application.

SPEAKER_03 44:16

And then they were giving away a hundred dollar Amazon gift card for the top person who had the most points. And then it was funny because I would get these messages from someone like, hey Adam, are you going? I'm like, I'm sitting at the table with you, but they would get points from from messaging me. And I'm like, uh, yeah, I'm I am going, but it was crazy like. Like one girl had like 10,000 points more than anybody else.

SPEAKER_01 44:41

And so um because she was just there saying hi to everybody. Can't wait to meet you. See, that's that's like we talked last uh last episode about it when we were there. You know, I was just like, How you doing? Can't wait to meet you, you know, things like that. And they all count as points. So you can you can really work the Hoover system.

Fan Mail How To Join In

SPEAKER_03 45:02

Yeah, well, I think probably her boss probably forced her to go to said conference, and she's like, Well, I'm gonna have some fun. That's right.

SPEAKER_01 45:11

Gotta be here.

SPEAKER_03 45:14

Well, I've got a couple things. Um, let's talk about that fan mail. I just want to be crystal clear uh for anyone who's interested. Um really, really uh hoping that people will take advantage. I would love to be able to, some of our community members who um repetitively uh are willing to pipe in for the show. Let's hear your invoice. You get 60 seconds. Uh, we'd love to put you on. Um, actually, if you want to be a guest, we'll do that too. Uh, we'd love to have you as a guest. But um um fan mail, um any podcast platform that you listen to currently, all of them that we that we partake in, uh has a fan mail link. Just go to the show notes, like hey, what the show is about. It's right there at the top of the line. Click fan mail, it'll open up into a web page, and you can uh record something and give us your give us your voice. If you're not a person who is able to give your voice for one way or another, maybe you uh live a secret life, maybe the FBI won't allow you. Um, then of course that would be that don't do that, but uh uh you can type still fan mail. So we can actually write back now.

SPEAKER_01 46:27

Um which I I please do, because then we won't have to listen to Adam read your emails and text. Please. Well, I could please you didn't know, Adam had a lot of free time last week and programmed a lot of his speed buttons to have new sounds. So I I apologize right now for him. Oh, that's okay. No, I'm apologizing to them for you.

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Uh Adam's voice toys. That reminded me of the old gong show.

SPEAKER_01 47:13

The old gong show. That's right.

SPEAKER_03 47:14

That's right. Well, I appreciate the uh the information on the cheese, the story. Um I uh I'm glad everybody was okay, nobody was hurt. Um anyone who knows that we went to Ragbri knows that uh we uh ended in Muscatane, and guess what? My wife was watching YouTube yesterday. She enjoys some uh gentlemen who do storm chasing, like these live action storm chasers. Um, and as she was watching, they were watching um a live feed of Muscatane, and it I was like, man, I hope the people of Iowa are okay. So you guys are in that area, man, that whole Midwest area, you guys are really getting boomed on.

SPEAKER_01 47:59

So well, last time we were at Ragbri, we narrowly missed uh the tornado. So, or the tornado narrowly missed us, I guess we should say.

Subscribers And Donation Shoutouts

SPEAKER_03 48:10

So yeah, not good. It's a real deal. Not good. Um okay, so we uh have some subscribers to thank.

SPEAKER_01 48:23

Yes, we do.

SPEAKER_03 48:25

All right. I am gonna go here and give you, ladies and gentlemen, for our subscription service. If you do not know, you get a 48-hour jump on the verbal part of the show. Uh, to be clear, that is not the YouTube. They don't have any way for me to set that up. YouTube will come out normal on Sunday at 4 o'clock Eastern, every other Sunday. Uh, that's her goal anyway. If something happens, we'll let you know. Um, but we would like to thank Alex Bell. Wow, Barbara Sharp. You know her? Yeah, I did thanks, Mom. Appreciate the support. Mandy Johnson, uh, Kip, Ryan, Joe, and Dennis Keeler. Uh, we appreciate your support. Um, and I do know for 100% fact that the whole system is working, because you know, when you set something up, you're like, I wonder if that's working. Because our good friend Mr. Alex Bell on Saturday, a day before anyone else could have the show, put the verbal guest in. So it's it does work. So I know I know that it's working. So cool. Um that being said, the guests of listener spotlight. Uh just a second. Didn't we also get oh yes, I am so sorry. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. So every now and then um we have some wonderful people who open their wallet, and we appreciate you doing that, uh, especially under our circum circumstances, uh our current circumstances. Um and these individuals left us, uh, I won't say how much, but a pretty hefty donation. Um, and I just want to say that I truly believe that a debrim really, really, really helps uh think about you know the quality of life, the things you enjoy, such as the Road Adventures of Cycling Man of Leisure podcast, because Keith and Melanie, uh, I cannot tell you how much we appreciate uh your your your very large donation.

SPEAKER_01 50:37

So yes, certainly thank you. Um I'm a DeBrim is still not a good fashion choice, but hey, you know what? Um looks better on you guys than it does on Adam, so we'll leave it at that.

New Listener Spotlight Clues

SPEAKER_03 51:01

Uh ladies and gentlemen, we thank Keith and Melanie. Okay. Anyways, so Keith and Melanie, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Uh, you definitely helped keep the show uh going on. Thank you, Michael, for reminding me about that. So now ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce my good friend, Mr. Michael Sharp, to give us the uh listener spotlight.

SPEAKER_01 51:36

All right. The clues for this episode's listener spotlight are as follows. Uh it started as a trading post in the mid-1800s. Uh this town is named after another town in the United States. Uh, I'm not saying it has the same name. What I'm saying is it was literally named after another town. We're naming it because we like this other town, apparently. Uh the town takes balloons seriously. People who like Bait Goods should spend some extra time here. And it could be said that this town is electrifying. No Alice Cooper, no San Juan Hill. This one's probably a little tougher than the last one. You want me to give you another clue? Yes. I will guarantee you Adam has never been to this town. In fact, I don't even know if you've been to this state. I'm gonna say you haven't. But we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 52:57

Hmm. Well, when you say balloons, um because they want the community to guess. I wanna say it's like New Mexico or Nevada area or something like that. Uh New Mexico. Because they're the only ones that have balloons.

SPEAKER_01 53:22

No, but they have a I think it's the largest balloon festival Santa Fe, or is it Albuquerque? Santa Fe Balloon Festival, if I remember correctly. Yeah, they have a big balloon festival down there. But this town takes balloons seriously, so we'll see.

SPEAKER_03 53:39

Well, let me tell you something. When I go to work tomorrow and I tell Jeff that balloon and the town and taking it serious, he will put a guess in. I guarantee it.

unknown 53:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 53:53

He could teach me everything about hot air balloons. We are talking about hot air balloons, right?

SPEAKER_01 53:59

The guess or the clue is this town takes balloons seriously. So you have the clue there.

SPEAKER_03 54:13

Okay, that's good to do.

SPEAKER_01 54:14

Maybe they're cold air balloons. I don't know. Maybe they're water balloons. Maybe they're 99 red balloons.

SPEAKER_03 54:21

99 red balloons. Move along. Wait.

FBI Callback Apple Video Outro

SPEAKER_04 54:26

99 red balloons.

SPEAKER_01 54:29

Okay, never mind. This is why children should never be left unattended around electronics.

SPEAKER_03 54:36

Hey, you remember our uh FBI story? How we went to Disney two years ago?

SPEAKER_01 54:42

The FBI will be knocking at the door any minute, and then the housekeeper knocked on the door.

SPEAKER_03 54:51

So as I was setting up all my things, I found this clip and I it reminded me. So we were, for those of you who don't know, we were recording the show and and um we made a joke that because we had lights and cameras and uh pipe clamps uh wood clamps, wood clamps clamping all the equipment to this uh one of those coffee tables that you can raise and lower. That's on like a spring level thing. And we made a joke that any minute the FBI is gonna be here. And so when I found this clip, FBI opened up.

SPEAKER_01 55:26

Uh maybe But it was I mean, it was recorded, it was be we could not have staged it any better. As soon as we say the FBI will be knocking any time, the guy from you know had to do a visual check of our room is like like there's the FBI. I mean, we couldn't have staged that any better if we'd have tried.

SPEAKER_03 55:43

No, it was definitely, definitely uh interesting. So I'm sure he walked in, went home to his family, and was like, I don't know what them boys were doing.

SPEAKER_01 55:52

I visually looked around real quick. There was no one dead, there was no one dying. I saw no drugs, no weapons. I just left very quickly.

SPEAKER_03 56:03

I'm leaving. Well, uh, listen, I've uh I've got something to play us out here a little bit. Um had to change a little the uh way we're doing things with the Apple podcast uh being video as well as audio. You get your choice. Um if anyone has uh 26.4 or higher on the iOS, um, you can watch us if you choose to on Apple Podcast. You now can watch us on YouTube and Apple Podcast. You have to have 26.4 or higher. But if you go there, you can choose to turn the video on or off. So you get kind of your you get your own choice. I mean, it's just like um we'd like to give choices. So uh had to change a little bit of things. But before I do that, I just wanted to make sure that you have any closing thoughts for us today, sir.

SPEAKER_01 57:01

I don't, but thanks for giving me the opportunity.

SPEAKER_03 57:04

Absolutely. Well, let me tell you something. Besides the weather that you're having, and besides the rain that we've been having here, I'm sure somewhere, somehow, it's a great day for a bike ride. It is a great day for a bike ride.

SPEAKER_02 57:22

Thank you for riding along with Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. However, you travel, find the leisure your way. See you next time.