In this episode of the Mama Tried x Flat Out Friday Podcast, we’re catching up after the madness of the Mama Tried Show and diving into what’s been going on behind the scenes.
Warren tells the story of getting stuck in Dubai on his way to the Motorcycle Sherpa trip , we talk about everything we’ve been up to since the show wrapped, and start looking ahead to what this summer has in store.
From travel mishaps to upcoming plans, it’s a classic hang – some laughs, some chaos, and a look at what’s next for Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday.
Or – WATCH the show on our YouTubes
Episode 73: Warren Got Stuck In Dubai and Other Tales
Full Transcript
Episode 73: The Scott Point
Full Transcript
Warren: Yes, AI is rapidly becoming like the movie Terminator. I had a hard time when I got stuck in Dubai with the internet general. I might — save this — we’re rolling.
Scott: We’re rolling.
Warren: I might have hit my fucking like Scott point.
Jeremy: Wait, wait. You’re — so what do you call that point?
Warren: My Scott point.
Jeremy: I like that word. What is — what’s the — what do you mean like fuck it society? Like this is fucked point.
Scott: Yeah, but Scott came back. Look at him. He’s a functioning human being in society.
Warren: Might be heading down.
Scott: We had — what do you mean? We had to go to his house and feed him soup. He was in the basement.
Jeremy: Why did I never — did I check out?
Scott: You checked out?
Jeremy: Yeah.
Scott: Yeah. But that’s — I think you’ve always checked out. It’s not — this is just you.
Jeremy: Yeah. I was going to say, isn’t that normal for me? Isn’t that what I’ve been doing my whole life?
Scott: Yeah.
Warren: I think I might have like taken a step towards your — yeah. Because — but what I was — I was very disappointed in and like I’m still trying to work through it. But sitting on a rooftop in Dubai, sunshine and, you know, ice latte in my hand, chilling next to a pool in a war zone, watching jets — watch that whole thing up.
Scott: Yeah. Watching jets streak over.
Warren: Yeah, but then looking at the internet at the same time like — weird. But what? But why? You zoom in on this. None of it’s happening. None of it’s fucking happening.
Jeremy: Yeah, let’s — let’s back it up. I got — well, after the show, I got on a jet plane and was on my way to Nepal for a Motorcycle Sherpa Mama Tried ride through the mountains, ride through the Himalayas, and we got shanghaied to — you had to stop over in Dubai.
Warren: Yeah. And it was just going to be — it was a 20-hour layover in Dubai. Enjoy Dubai and check it out. Had a nice evening. Went to the beach. Did all this stuff. Got a cab, went to the airport. And then they were like, “Uh, no, airport’s closed. Get out.” There’s a war. I’m like, “There’s a war?” Huh?
Jeremy: Let me zoom in right there. So, the airport wasn’t closed? You’re in the airport and then—
Warren: No, the airport — yeah, the airport was closed.
Jeremy: Got it.
Warren: And they were booting everybody out. It was like 2 am at the bar because I pulled up and there was 3,000 people on the sidewalk. I was like, “This is weird.” It’s kind of — maybe there’s just a big flight that showed up and, you know, the terminal that I was in looked like a regional terminal. So, and then I walked in. Doug was leading and Dan was behind me. Doug’s just kind of walking in. I’m behind him. I’m looking around like this is weird. Something’s going on. And then we went and just found somebody — like a dumb American — like, “Hey, where do I check in?” And then they’re like, “No, get out of here. There’s a war.”
Jeremy: Damn. Okay. You didn’t get any — like you didn’t get a text message your flight’s being cancelled or your flight’s being—
Warren: Nope. I think because we hit it at the exact — I’m thinking back now. So we got back from the beach and we were in our hotel room and we had a late checkout. So, we’re kind of like dragging our feet to leave just so we get enough time to get on the plane and, you know, I’m like clicking through the TV and I see, you know who, with his red hat on and like every other channel. I’m like, you know, at that point I could have stopped and listened to what he was saying and realized that there was a war, but I wasn’t going to do that.
Scott: You’re like, “I ain’t got time for this.”
Warren: I ain’t got time for that guy. I don’t want to deal with it. You know, I’m in Dubai on vacation.
Jeremy: Well, so finish. So you got to the airport, they kicked you out. Is it a hard time to even get a cab out of there at that point?
Warren: Yes. It was very chaotic.
Jeremy: So at that point — cuz you had — so your cab pulled up. Yep. You got out of the cab. Now you realize we got to get out of here.
Warren: Yes.
Jeremy: And how do you get—
Warren: Well, I just find a shady spot — like on a chopper trip when it broke down — and gathered my thoughts and out of the corner of my eye saw an empty cab, so I just bolted for it and all three of us got in the cab. He — nobody’s supposed to pick up right there. He’s supposed to just pull away. And he kind of got like a little nervous. I’m like, “Dude, just take me here.” And I gave him my phone and I just picked out a Hilton that was within a couple miles just to get out of the airport, right? And, you know, he’s like, “Ah, I can’t — I can’t—” like, “Yes, you can. How much?” You know, so he hustled us for 50 bucks, you know, like fine, get me the fuck out of here. We went to that hotel and just kind of sat there and watching the internet and trying to figure out what’s going on and trying to make an educated decision as to what to do because I’ve never been in that situation.
Jeremy: And what could you do? What were your options there?
Warren: The options were changing at like light speed every 10 minutes, you know. Ultimately what my options were — were sit on my hands because — sit tight because you weren’t going anywhere.
Jeremy: No, we weren’t going anywhere.
Warren: And that was the hardest part for me was not being able to do anything. Kind of brought out a little bit of the type A in me, I guess. And it was like, so, you know, you go down this — you go down the hole of like trying to figure it out. I was like reading into people that were driving to Oman and then taking another transfer and get on another cab there and take the Oman to the airport in Oman cuz there was a deal with Iran and Oman.
Jeremy: I was going to say you could go overland, right?
Warren: Yeah. But then I — but then you hear like they’re not letting flights out of Oman either. So like, so I — in my mind I go straight to like as soon as I get in that car to head to Oman, my flight’s going to be on and then we’re going to be stuck at the border with some something, you know? So we just as a group — DL, Doug, and I — we just all decided to just let it ride, you know? We’re here, we’re fine, we’re safe, we’re at a great hotel, the people are awesome. Had a really good, really awesome time except for the fact that we couldn’t — we couldn’t leave, right? You know, we were supposed to go on a trip and now I got my family up my butt from all angles, worried that, you know, I’m in a bunker eating bread, you know, watching bombs go off in front of me, you know, and you’re trying to explain to them like I’m in a nice hotel chilling by the pool.
Scott: Yeah. Like nothing’s happening.
Jeremy: You hear the explosions. Could you — yeah. You’re so close, right? Isn’t your phone going off or giving you shelter?
Warren: One time it woke me up in the middle of the night like when, you know, the old person’s missing in Milwaukee.
Scott: Sure. Like one of those.
Warren: Yeah. Like, “What the — oh my god.” Like to go to the basement of the hotel.
Scott: No, it just said take shelter. Like just turned it off and went back to bed.
Jeremy: Maybe they would have when you checked in been like, “Hey, these are our procedures for—”
Warren: No.
Jeremy: All right. Well, we’re on that tangent here. Actually, we’re not on a tangent. We’re heading straight line. Your original statement was I’m being more like Scott because of my trip to Dubai. Sum that up. What does that mean? You’re — all — that’s the cliffhanger here.
Warren: No, it’s me — like the juxtaposition of me sitting in a war zone and watching my phone because I’m trying to get news and it’s all bullshit. It didn’t line up with what I was seeing and what I was experiencing, which led to a mass amount of stress from my family and people around me and friends. And I wasn’t feeling that stress, but I was — of being in a war zone. I felt the stress of everybody worried about me. I was fine. I was probably more safe sitting there in that war-torn country than I am right now in Milwaukee, you know, and that’s got me jumbled up, you know. Like you can’t — I could tell just like reaching out to you guys and like just getting one word answers from everybody that you were just exhausted by the amount of people that were reaching out.
Scott: Yeah, it was crazy. You know, like Stacy’s dad is calling senators and like pretending like it’s fucking Rambo and they’re going to fly a plane in and land it in the desert and we’re going to run out there and get on it and US is going to save us and we’re going to win, you know. And the UAE did more for us than my country did for me, you know.
Jeremy: Well, where is this leaving you though? Tell me more a little bit about that.
Warren: I don’t know, man. I just kind of feel a little like bummed out and jaded maybe.
Jeremy: Or you — like you’ve seen behind the matrix.
Warren: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know, I like to live in the clouds a little bit and I got to—
Jeremy: Yeah. You don’t like to watch the news. You don’t like to — you don’t like to know what’s going on.
Warren: But now, do you feel like you — now you want to know what’s going on?
Jeremy: Now you even less want to know what’s going on.
Warren: Running farther away from me cuz there’s nothing — nothing is true. It doesn’t even matter. There’s nothing that’s 100% true that you’re seeing on the internet. And that’s sad. You know, it’s scary. I have kids. You know, what’s going to happen when AI truly does take effect and like whoever’s paying for that bill has complete control over everyone. You know, it’s already gnarly.
Scott: Yeah.
Jeremy: We’re all right. Well, we’re living in a crazy time. I don’t want to — I’m not — I don’t want to make light of it because that’s my natural reaction. In fact, I can have that joke on the tip. We can’t do anything about it.
Warren: Sure.
Jeremy: But I’m — I respect that this has a little trauma for you.
Warren: Yeah. Yeah. That — in maybe even a way we didn’t — you didn’t assume or you—
Scott: No, man. When I was — like when I was sitting — I was like, “This is great,” you know. But then as it comes back or I get home and I start reminiscing or talking and thinking about how I was feeling and what we were doing, it’s like, yeah, there’s trauma there for sure.
Jeremy: You get stir crazy. Were you getting stir crazy?
Warren: Yeah. I actually — I did a — I feel like I did a pretty good job. I was like, I would set a goal for myself that I can sit by this pool in the sun for at least 6 hours. I made eight hours. I made nine hours. And like three days in a row where I was like, “This is my seat. Just sit here watching TV, watching Netflix.”
Jeremy: Was there a lot of people doing that? Was like the hotel full of people that were just that—
Warren: Yeah. But it wasn’t like it wasn’t uncomfortably full, but there were people that were stuck and we were, you know, I was sharing stories and talking. But again, I’m an American, which is another stress — stressful point that, you know, we went for a walk down the boardwalk, which right on the river into this old — I call it like Disneyland of Dubai that was like all kind of fake made look like an old town souk or something like that. And like the, you know, you can just feel the tension, you know, they know — there were Americans walking in. It’s just like—
Scott: And you look like soldiers.
Warren: Man, it was just — yeah, it was tough. The hatred was real. I wanted to put on like a fucking Canadian flag shirt or something. But yeah, you know, I felt a lot of things that—
Jeremy: And you missed a huge motorcycle trip. Huge trip.
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: So, that’s a huge bummer. And you got halfway around the world before you were — almost there.
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: Before you had to turn around. And then you guys had to like take the long way around to get home.
Warren: Dude, the flight path that we took home was bananas. Like went over the North Pole or some shit. Like flew the border of Russia and I don’t even know what countries are out there. I was looking at the thing — at one point it was like pretty bad turbulence and where I’m looking at the map on the plane. It’s like — you’re like way over Siberia. I mean it wouldn’t have mattered anyways if we were — down. We’re going down.
Jeremy: But if we would have been stuck there.
Warren: Yeah. You’re not going down in Paris. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. And going to be fine. No.
Jeremy: How long was that flight?
Warren: 16 hours, I think. Straight through.
Jeremy: All right. Well, thanks for letting that out. I think it’s important to let that out because my first question to you was, “Where’s your head at?” So, that gives me a sense where your head’s at because you’re very — you’re a very stoic person.
Warren: Yeah. I wasn’t feeling very podcasty.
Jeremy: Well, you let that out and maybe you let a cork out a little bit.
Scott: Well, but now that you’re home and you had some time to digest — and like so now where’s your head at?
Warren: I don’t know. I feel like I’m just kind of stuck. You know, I’m good at working, so I’m working and I have a lot of distractions. So, you know, but I’ve — I’m learning that hiding from those feelings and those thoughts are not good, you know. So, I don’t know. I have to talk.
Scott: Served us well the rest of our lives.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: Well, yeah. Hiding it with alcohol and work.
Warren: Yeah. I don’t feel — I feel fine. I got back into my groove. I’m going to the gym. I’m eating right. Like, I don’t feel — I just feel a little saddened, I guess. My little bubble burst and, you know, our privileged life that we have here in America and, you know, all that kind of shit came bubbling up a little bit. But there’s nothing really that I can do about it. Just kind of—
Jeremy: Well, what you can do about it is, you know, find your peace within it.
Warren: Yeah, you have to. Otherwise it’ll eat you from the inside.
Jeremy: And, you know, being at — being the tail end of winter, you know, weather’s shit. So, it’s — but like I said, I got a lot of distractions and, you know, I’m making a lot of progress on the building and, you know, things are good. Baseball’s starting up for Max and Hank. So, we’ll get out and things will — it’ll be like nothing happened.
Scott: Well, the sun will shine on Milwaukee again.
Jeremy: No, that’s — well, this is like the tough time of year because yesterday — as we’re recording this podcast, what day? What?
Warren: It’s Thursday.
Jeremy: Yeah. Well, yesterday it was 70° at my house.
Warren: Mhm.
Jeremy: It was summer. I was wearing shorts.
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: And there was a day like that last week, too. Right. Like you get this—
Warren: Yeah. It’s like fishing. You catch a fish and it’s like, “Oh.”
Jeremy: Now today’s 45 and it’s pissing rain outside and shit. It’s like — it’s the wind’s going sideways.
Warren: Sucks outside.
Jeremy: Yeah. It’s just like yesterday it was on such a high and then it’s — I mean it’s — this is just Wisconsin spring. It’s just how it is. But every year you’re just like, “God damn it. Like can’t we just get there? Like we’re so close.”
Warren: That’s how they make hardened metal, is it not? They fold that, right? They heat it up to push it to the brink. So by, you know, in a couple weeks I’m just ready to chew someone.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.
Jeremy: Well, I got — there’s a couple dangling participles in your story. All right, I got one more. You mentioned Doug and DL. Who’s that to someone that might not know?
Warren: Dan Lucas. A long time pal of mine from high school from Northern Illinois and he has a — Frontier Cycles, right?
Jeremy: No, that’s Doug.
Warren: Oh, that’s Doug. You’re right. Right. Doug.
Jeremy: Dan Lucas. Yes.
Warren: Dan. Dan’s the guy that you see on the floor leading charge, pushing all the bikes around and putting all the bikes on pedestals.
Jeremy: And Doug’s there as well. They — arranging stuff and—
Warren: Yeah. Yeah. Both from Northern Illinois. Known them for a long time. Great dudes.
Jeremy: Awesome dudes.
Warren: Glad to be stuck with those dudes where we were for sure.
Jeremy: Everybody — cuz they’re solid. They don’t freak out.
Warren: They’re just — everything was — yeah. Everything was fine.
Jeremy: Sure. I could imagine that could be another part of stress if one of your partners is panicking.
Warren: Yeah. “I got to get home. I got to get home.” Was like — yeah. “I can’t eat this food anymore.”
Jeremy: Yeah.
Warren: No, it was good. We — it was, you know, we all just kind of maintained, you know, our hotel was great. Had a pool and nice restaurant. We had breakfast every morning. We had a routine, you know, went to the gym.
Jeremy: How many days was it?
Warren: About a week, seven days, I think.
Jeremy: Okay. Totally. So, it was even shorter, I think, than the trip itself would have been.
Warren: Yeah. I was home a week early than I normally would have. But then, you know, then you come back and it’s just battling jet lag. The older I get, the harder that shit is. Oh my god. You know, at 4:00, I’m just like — and it couldn’t be any worse, right? It’s a 12-hour delay. Oh my god. It couldn’t be any harder on your body. Like 2 weeks of like — yeah. Okay, I can make 9:00. Okay, I made 9:10.
Scott: Yeah. Why is it — it’s — everything just gets so much harder. Why is it so difficult? I don’t understand.
Jeremy: Well, let me — let’s pause for one second and give this a proper introduction that this is our Mama Tried Flat Out Friday podcast number 73.
Warren: Sure.
Jeremy: Okay. So, this is our podcast and we’re starting out on a little bit of a gloomy foot, but I appreciate you sharing. I think that sharing is the humility of our whole brand. I don’t think we pull punches on who we are and what we’re experiencing. And for you to share this live on a podcast is a testament to who you are. And again, I’ve always seen you as very stoic, Warren, that you — of all of the stuff we’ve been through, you don’t show your expression. Yeah. You’re just like—
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: I’ve never seen — blessing and a curse. I’ve never seen you so much as throw a hammer or—
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: Do you ever — you ever do that? You ever swear? You ever—
Warren: Yeah. I think — weren’t you guys with me in Daytona when I went off on the cops and was crying?
Scott: You — no, you took that c— I was with you. You took that cop aside and said, “Listen, dude. I need to tell you a story.”
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: And he was like, “All right.” And you guys went off in the corner and like stood there for like 20 minutes and just like had a huge heart to heart, which I’ve — first of all, never seen a police officer take that much time to listen to anyone in Daytona on the strip.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: And that — I was going to say that was the — that was one of the two times I’ve seen you just like really just come out of your shell.
Warren: I pulled Shep out of the fucking out of the bar.
Scott: Okay. I wasn’t there for that, but that was a good one.
Warren: He should have gotten killed that night, but — okay.
Scott: Remember when — by the way, you — and you were in Daytona, that was you catching an Uber in a non-Ubered spot, was it? Is that what it was?
Warren: That’s what it was. And the cop was going to arrest us for that.
Scott: Yeah, that’s right. Yeah.
Warren: Yeah. It was — yeah. We got in a cab that stopped for us to allow us in and he pulled us over and the cop like just went apeshit like we were going to go to jail. I was in handcuffs.
Scott: Yeah, that’s true. Yeah, I was in handcuffs. It was — yeah, it was a bad scene.
Warren: The other heavy one was — this is — we’re talking heavy times. March 13th, 2020.
Jeremy: What did you see?
Scott: When the — I didn’t see Warren break at all when we had — we were sitting in the — was the — Milwaukee pandemic’s coming down, right? We had — the night before was when they — we were at Elwood’s and everybody got the thing on their phone that they had canceled the NBA season. Remember that? Remember everybody looking at their phones and just being like — and all of us looking at each other going, “Front row shit.”
Jeremy: And then I think it was Thursday. You and I were outside the venue and we were trying to get a call with Fiserv and we got a call. They were kind of coping to it but not really. But then we — like we had a call with Joe and we basically had to say, we — you know, the show was canceled.
Warren: Yeah. Joe gave us — Jake — Joe gave us the option to run it or not — or not do it. But we knew that it was going to — if we did it, it’d be a huge financial loss and just — and the fallout would be we would have been the super spreader event.
Jeremy: Yeah.
Warren: And so, I remember when — cuz it was heavy — it was a heavy moment cuz we had just realized that we had just lost a great deal of money and that was it. And there was no — and that was all.
Scott: Well, but focus on Warren’s — you said originally how did Warren handle this?
Jeremy: Well, we’re in the car. We were just like — just sitting in the — we were inside your truck, in your work truck, and we had the — we were doing a phone call and we hung up the phone and I just — I just never seen emotions come out of you. You just — yeah. You just — that you — I just — you know, I expected you to be like, “All right, well, let’s go pack everything up,” you know, cuz I’m always like — it takes me like a day, a week to process and just — then I’ll like — then I start to like figure out my emotion stuff. You just immediately were like, “Fuck, dude,” and just — you lost it.
Warren: I don’t remember. I blocked it out.
Jeremy: And I was like, “Whoa.” Because I mean, it was a — there was a lot. It was a lot happening, right? We — this was at the beginning. I mean, I don’t know if it, you know, of course our listeners will remember, everybody was processing that thing in a different way. It was a different time. No one had ever been through anything. Half the people didn’t believe that it was actually happening. Half the people didn’t understand why there needed to be a reaction to the thing that actually was happen. You know, there was just — there was a lot happening. And so — and everybody’s trying to process it in a different way and we were just like right there.
Warren: Mhm.
Jeremy: And so that was a — yeah.
Scott: We was making hand sanitizer in the shop. We made 55 gallons of hand sanitizer. Remember that?
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: Yeah. We’re still — still have the glycerin somewhere.
Jeremy: How did we — how — let’s change — let’s change track. We had — no, like how did — how — was there — there was a 30-gallon drum of alcohol or something here, right? And we just needed glycerin.
Warren: Yeah, cuz it was at the shop and Jono had just had it there. I don’t know. They’ve made something with it. And we like — we got on — we went on the internet and there was like 10 5-gallon pails of glycerin like dock somewhere. Yeah. We just — we fucking ordered it and we got it.
Jeremy: I ended up giving a bunch of it to the daycare center.
Warren: That was a wild time.
Jeremy: Yeah. Well, in conclusion, Warren is stoic.
Warren: Yeah.
Jeremy: Us — Scott and I are not as stoic as you. And so, thanks for sharing that.
Warren: Yeah, no problem.
Jeremy: Well, that was my first question for today’s podcast is where’s your head at? And I think I kind of have an answer to where’s our — where is our head at? Where’s our heads at? Although Warren, I don’t know if we’ve even focused on this so much. Let’s just go back a little bit and maybe a little brighter times. Go back to the actual show and the race which was epic.
Warren: Yeah, we just — we haven’t really — we haven’t even really hung out since then. It was awesome. There was no negativity whatsoever. Nobody fucking complained at all. Everything — everybody had a great time.
Scott: Yeah, it was awesome.
Warren: Yeah. Everybody — like all facets, you know, everybody did a great job. It went off without a hitch.
Scott: Mhm. “Without a hitch” could be the phrase of the weekend.
Warren: This is what the danger of the internet though. There’s no truths. There’s no absolutes. And so someone’s going to be like, “Oh, yeah. Well, what about — you know what I mean? What about those beer sales prices?”
Scott: Yeah. Yeah.
Warren: I, you know, from our perspective, the world is a funny place. Like we can’t — yeah. Go down that rabbit hole. But from my personal perspective, it was awesome. The best one yet.
Scott: Yeah. And you say everyone did great. Well, who’s everyone? Who could have done poorly?
Warren: Well, you know, I don’t know. There’s a lynchpin in everything that we do, right? Like you look at my team. They’re a bunch of ragtag individuals that in any one moment, you never know. But we, you know, keep it together and it’s awesome.
Scott: It’s like your team I thought was especially fantastic.
Warren: Yeah, it was killer. Everybody was so good. Super great.
Scott: And you know, why were they fantastic? It — maybe I’ve said this before. “Hey, Jeremy. How can I help?” “Well, can you hang those signs?” “Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Where’s the duct tape? Where’s — you have a knife? Yeah. Do you have a ladder?” “Have a ladder.” “Yeah.” And then they’re like, “Okay, you know what? Go sit down and I’ll do it.” Your team was like, “Yes, got it.” Hung up in the right spot. You know, and that’s just a small example. I’m saying that your team was decision makers, calculated problem solvers.
Warren: Yeah. We have — we’re pretty deep now and we have tenure, right? There’s a layer. I’m like — they’re like making me not work, you know? They’re taking my roles cuz they just — they want it. They appreciate having the ability to do that and make decisions. And like I’m more than happy to let them do that cuz it’s, you know, it is a family thing. It is a dynamic situation where it’s not done by just three people and to give folks the opportunity to own a certain aspect of the show or the race is awesome. I think it’s the coolest thing ever.
Scott: Well, yeah, because I think people don’t understand how much logistically goes into getting everything into that building and out of that building. And so your crew for the show specifically, your crew handles everything that comes in and everything that goes out — in bringing it in, checking it in, getting it staged, setting it up, taking it down, getting it out of the building. Yep. To where it needs to go. And they do a great job.
Warren: Yeah. And managing every, you know, every single builder that comes through, every single sponsor and — and, you know, it was awesome.
Scott: Yeah, you know, Becca does a killer job on that whole side of things, you know, and she does so much work leading up to that to make — just like I do and we do to like — we have the same kind of idea. It’s like do everything you possibly can until you get to the day or the week of the show and then that’s just nothing. That’s like the easy work and it works great, you know. I think the longer that we do it and the more folks that we can keep around and, you know, hopefully Becca sticks around and my guys aren’t going anywhere and like it’s just going to get better and better. And that’s like — that’s something that can be passed off that can just keep — new folks could pop in at any moment. Younger folks, my kids, you know, the Liam and the Jonas and the Jake and all of them have the ability to do what we do. They just want to do it and be there to, you know, keep accepting responsibility until, you know, that’s — we can fucking step away and watch it happen. You know, that’s always been the goal for me — to be a participant in the things that I create. I want to have a beer at Flat Out Friday.
Scott: Yeah. Hell yeah.
Warren: And be a fan of it myself. I want to go to Mama Tried and — yeah. I don’t want to do it if I stress through it. You know, there’s no — that’s no fun.
Jeremy: Have you ever walked — wait, Jeremy, have you ever walked up on the concourse at Flat Out Friday? Have you ever walked up on the—
Warren: I have and I run back to my safe place really. In the middle of the track. You know, I mean, just real quick, the first year I — hiding in the middle of the track was what I did for a number of years. I was safe there. People couldn’t get to me to complain, right? I remember going the first year to the concourse, the very first year, and the merch — they ran out of beer. You know, people were pulling at me. And so I ran back to the center of the track. And so I have been to the Fiserv, and I remember going there, and then people were complaining, “Oh, it smells like exhaust up here,” and there’s nothing I can do with that decision. So, I ran back to the center of the track. I know now that they have the exhaust system worked out. I know I could — I could have done it. To truth be told, when I look at what I did this past event, I could have — I didn’t have to show up. In fact, I’m going a little bit deeper. That’s not true. I would not — I would — I was breaking systems on act, you know, I was like stress testing systems.
Scott: No, I was just nitpicking.
Warren: Yeah. Shit was already handled.
Scott: Shit was already handled. Like, “Hey, you know, why don’t we move these hay bales here?” And they’re like, “What are you talking about? Like this guy told me to move them here.” “Oh, oh, Roger. Yeah, do what Roger says.” And I would go over to whatever the t-shirts, you know, “You should hang the red ones on that side.” They’re like, “We got it, dude.” You know, I couldn’t really find a spot necessarily to do work because that’s what’s fun for me — to do hay bales, to do work, right? To decision make and wait for problems.
Warren: That’s tough.
Scott: Yeah. And then there isn’t — there hasn’t been problems because the team — it used to go right to me — right to you. Someone’s doing a burnout in the parking lot or whatever problems you might have. Now there’s layers of people that are decision makers to stop it from getting to me.
Jeremy: And so I really appreciate you. You mentioned Becca. Can you just give another sentence about Becca so anybody that doesn’t know — and I know Becca is a super humble person that deserves respect. She’s — you know, she’s the glue, right? She does all the — she’s the glue.
Warren: Yeah. She’s the glue. She’s the mortar and the bricks — sponsors — like incoming and making sure that the paperwork gets done and the communication is handled and the, you know, the i’s and the t’s and the dots and all the stuff. Right. I start all the conversations and she finishes them. And then she also activates with her team to check in all the builders, all the sponsors, all the vendors at the show.
Scott: Mhm.
Warren: And does an awesome job. Does all the — keeps track of all the spreadsheets, keeps track of who needs what, where, when, the number plates and the trophies for Flat Out and, you know, she’s — she goes pretty deep and is an awesome part of the team.
Scott: Yeah, she’s got a capacity for detail that I just don’t — I don’t even have anywhere close to that.
Warren: Yeah. And the show is over now by almost two months. And I’m still in contact with Becca weekly helping solve problems and tying up loose ends. Yeah. And for that she’s much appreciated.
Jeremy: I bring that up because I just want to give a shout out to my sister Heather who has really done a great job of managing and putting together a team. Also, we had Heather on here for a podcast. I’d like to someday get her back on. We had a corrupted file. But I really appreciate her and I think she deserves a lot of respect for what she’s doing with Flat Out Friday.
Warren: She’s great. She’s also the mortar — the mortar of the bricks — between the bricks of Flat Out Friday. Keeps that show on the road.
Jeremy: And she likes to press it. She likes a little bit of chaos, too, which I appreciate about—
Warren: Oh, really? That’s weird.
Jeremy: Think — yeah, I’m trying to get better. I am improving every day.
Warren: I can see that, bro. You’re doing great.
Jeremy: All right. All right. Well, okay, so wrapping up the show. You know, do you have a highlight? Something you want to share? I want to share that — with you, forgetting even about the podcast because it happens so quick. It’s all of the pressure and then it happens and then to me I’m back to work on Monday doing my normal thing. You’re back at the shop doing your normal thing, but it really is a special time. It’s like it’s Christmas in many ways. Is there something that happened or a moment that stuck out, something that was particularly special about — specific?
Warren: I’m just like — I’m just happy with the way that everything went and there was no shit and I could — I hung out in the hotel. I slept in. I went to the gym before I showed up to the thing. Like it was nice.
Scott: Yeah, it was awesome, dude.
Warren: My team is great. And there was layers of us, you know, the ones that stayed out too late were in the afternoon shift. The ones that were responsible were the morning shift. And it’s like, you know, the morning shift folks pick up people every year and the afternoon folks pick up people every year and just kind of keep pushing through. It’s awesome.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah. I don’t know that I have — I was driving over here and I was trying to think of something special. But I think there was just — it’s just a blur.
Jeremy: I can’t — did you say — is it really two months since it—
Warren: No, six weeks. I don’t — what — I don’t — what day is it?
Jeremy: It’s March 26.
Warren: One month. One month — one month, five weeks. Got it.
Scott: So, yeah, I’m still — I’m still in a little bit of like — I still wake up every single day and I’m like — and I’m like — because of what? Just — it’s a big — I’m, you know, I’m a very like shy, private, like introverted person. So it takes a lot for me to like do the buildup to the socializing part of Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday. So like — you do a really good job of it that whole time — to like — to have to like — you know, because it’s like — I just got to be like, “Here we go,” you know, like you walk in the building and you just like — and you just — and so it’s a lot for me to — I really enjoy all the interactions that I have, but my personality is just not the kind of person — I’m just not the kind of person that would seek them out, right? Like, I know my job is to, you know, thank everyone for being there and — which I genuinely feel that.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: It just — to emote that, you know. Yeah. And do it sustained for, you know, five days. And yeah, it’s just like social batteries are full and overflowing, ready to explode.
Jeremy: I appreciate you saying that and you are the best at it, Scott, because I would march around — I look like I’m busy. I am busy so I don’t have to have all of those interactions because they’re exhausting. And I’m changing and seeing — I’m trying to be more Scott and Warren-like and showing appreciation to the ticket buyer and to the racer, to the employee, to the general fan, right? I’m learning to be so much more appreciative. I have many pictures of me — look at them. That’s the bags under my eyes and I’m scowling at the camera. Why would you want to support a business like that?
Scott: They’re just looking away from the camera.
Warren: Yeah, he’s too busy.
Scott: I know that, Jeremy. I mean, but that was, you know, those are the years that we had to — we had to put in those years to figure it out, right? Like, yeah, that’s just how it — you — it’s not like you just walk into 12 years of doing this stuff and it’s like — and you know, you start the first year and it’s just like problemless. It just doesn’t work like that. You know, we’re only in the spot we’re in now because of all the — not mistakes that we made, but just like just learning from the experience of all the years that we did put on shows and races, you know.
Jeremy: Yeah. So you can say mistakes because this is the best way that I learned.
Scott: Yeah, it’s true. I mean mistakes but just also just like we could have done that differently. I don’t know if — like, you know, necessarily you call them mistakes but just like you always want to be better, right? It’s like just trying to be — details missed.
Jeremy: Yeah. So, and speaking of that — well, I wanted — this — I was going to say real quick, you know, a good favorite time is I really like that Tuesday event that’s becoming part of the week. We did a race inside the Coopridge, which is a little ballroom, a tiny little ballroom, and they had gotten these brand new lights and we happened to have a like a French house DJ. It was a dance party and there was so much energy. It was almost like when you’re in the beach and I like to be in a wavy beach and you’re sitting in the — I could see this wave. It was so great that you — you know, you’re looking up at that level of stoke of this wave that’s going to crash and it was so exciting. Almost want to prolong that feeling — that feeling of the weekend is here.
Scott: Yeah.
Jeremy: The, you know, Christmas Eve or — you know what I’m saying — when you’re about to open your presents, the anticipation was so exciting. You’ve done all your shopping. You’ve like wrapped all your gifts.
Scott: Yeah. You’re prepping all the food. Getting — it’s just like that.
Jeremy: And then finally the guests are here and still, you know, I’m slipping into old habits and whatnot but then you just let yourself go and you’re in that wave.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeremy: Were the lights new in the—
Scott: They were because I noticed that something was different, but I couldn’t figure it out. I mean, besides the guys had done such a good job with the track, the — Liam and Jonah and Jake — like had done — and their whole team had done such a good job building that track.
Warren: Yeah. The artwork or something — really cool.
Scott: I thought they were just going to — from Daily Bird. Like, yeah, they just — they crushed it. Like, it just — like they owned it, man. I couldn’t have made up a better looking setup than in my brain.
Warren: And the four of them — that picture, the four of them laying on the floor.
Scott: That’s the sexiest photo I’ve seen in a while.
Warren: Yeah, that was awesome.
Jeremy: Well, those lights. So, what had happened is that the Coopridge is now a showroom for the light company. So, they don’t want to keep those lights in a warehouse. If you’re looking to buy high level lights, they’re like, “Go check out the Coopridge. I’ll meet you there Friday night for the whatever the rave show.”
Scott: That’s cool. So, like, “Oh, I’ll take those strobes. Hey, how about these?”
Jeremy: Really? That’s cool. Laser lights. So, it’s a — it’s a lighting showroom.
Scott: Yeah.
Jeremy: And that was their first event with this lighting showroom.
Scott: That’s pretty cool. I didn’t know that.
Jeremy: Yeah. That’s awesome.
Scott: All right. Well, we’re — so, we’re putting — philosophically, we’re putting 2026 in a bag — in a bin up here in your shop.
Warren: Oh, it’s — it’s shop for sure.
Scott: And we’re going to pull it out — forklift shelves. February 9th, we’ll pull it out of 2027.
Warren: Right on. We got a date.
Scott: We have any dates. You don’t have to say any dates. We’re not making any news announcements.
Warren: No, no dates, but it’ll be — it’s the same weekend or the weekend before in February.
Scott: Does the Fiserv and the — and because this is a nuance. I don’t know if people understand. We’ve got the two biggest venues in the city coordinating.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: We’re basically beholden to the Bucks schedule and the — so, here’s the nuance that’s cool is the Eagles Ballroom respects that.
Warren: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott: So, I don’t know. Young Blood’s on hold for 2027 tour because the Bucks haven’t announced when Flat Out Friday is.
Warren: Yeah. We got the residuals trying to negotiate the next three years. I think there is a date set though, but we’ll announce that soon.
Scott: Sure. Okay. So then let’s just talk about our bright future. I know that we are at the end of winter. What do you have? We have some summer things coming up. We had a meeting the other day and we talked about all of the stuff that we wanted to do. We still haven’t — we haven’t formalized anything.
Warren: No, nothing’s formalized, but we have a wish list. What’s our wish list?
Scott: We have a wish list of stuff that we want to do. We have — well, I’ll start while you’re looking this up.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: I’m excited. Labor Day weekend is two events. Unfortunately, there are two events that I would like to see. I would like to go to this punk rock music festival in Tennessee, Muddy Roots. I’d like to ride our bike down there and see Municipal Waste and a couple other DIY metal bands.
Warren: That’s also Rodeo in Brazil.
Scott: The same weekend of Labor Day, which is poopy because I had just reached out to the Lucky Friends crew trying to lay some groundwork to go to see their event. For those of you that don’t know what the Rodeo is, that would be — nothing really quite translates, but an hour outside of São Paulo is another town and they have a flat track there, Sorocaba, and they have a giant motorcycle fest that’s very Americana. It’s as if Johnny Cash himself — if you saw Johnny Cash himself, you wouldn’t be surprised. It’s right — it’s like stepping — they’ve reduced the Americana motorcycle experience into a weekend of Rodeo in Brazil, right?
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: And it’s something we’ve always wanted to do.
Warren: Flat track and choppers and—
Scott: Yes. It’s something we’ve — we’ve said for the last however long we’ve been having friends in Brazil — we’re going to go. It was traditionally in October. I think the rains have canceled or have really ruined the last two, three years and they’re like — so that’d be their season — of course, is opposite of ours — so that would put them in early spring. So the later they would go, they’re more into their rainy season. So they moved it up. Anyway, Labor Day weekend. I’d like to see one or one of our representatives at maybe this music fest and possibly Rodeo in Brazil.
Warren: Divide and conquer.
Scott: Divide and conquer. That’s the only way we’re going to have to do this.
Warren: All right. We’re going to have to, you know — Warren, you talked earlier about our team and we need to deputize some people.
Scott: Okay.
Warren: Well, some of my folks — they’re self-deputized.
Scott: Well, yeah. They’re using their skills and their knowledge that they’ve gained from Mama Tried and Flat Out Friday and they’re putting them to test — putting them to work at the One Show. Doug and I think Scrapper have been hired by Tour to, you know, do what they do for me and organize—
Warren: Nice.
Scott: So I think that’s really cool.
Warren: Yeah.
Scott: Frasier came to me and he’s a little nervous about asking — “Can I — what do you — you know, I don’t know—” like, “Dude, hell yeah. Get out. Get after. You have a very specific skill set and if he wants you to come out, go.”
Warren: Absolutely.
Scott: Well, that’s the nature of our business as being leaders, if you will. We want the best for our team. They’re not only our employees but our friends. And if they want to break away and do other things and it’s in their best interest — yes. Go for it. Right. We’re not gatekeepers. We’ve never been gatekeepers as to what we’re doing, the culture that we’re part of.
Warren: Scott, you got this list queued up here. What’s our wish list for summer?
Scott: It’s a long — it’s a pretty long list.
Warren: Well, give me something and pretend I never heard of these things.
Scott: Party at the Pen. That’s really kind of the first one.
Warren: When is Party at the Pen?
Scott: First week in June.
Warren: That’s — it’s Ohio or what?
Scott: Ohio. Yeah. Or Idaho. There’s — well, the one that’s coming up is in Ohio.
Warren: Got it.
Scott: Idaho is at the end of the summer. It’s at Shawshank or something, isn’t it?
Warren: Yeah. Ohio. Yes. In Mansfield, Ohio.
Scott: So, we’re going to go do that. These are not — I’m going to list these not chronologically.
Warren: Mhm. Let’s do it. I got my notepad right here.
Scott: Chopper Fest Kansas City.
Warren: That’s Chopper Fest from Chopper magazine.
Scott: Yeah. Carrie Brock.
Warren: And just real — that’s the David Mann Festival.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah. And they had a great presence. Tommy Boy had got, you know, has curated all that Dave Mann stuff and had it on display at the show and looked really great and they’re going to have even bigger, better display down there.
Warren: What’s the date on that?
Scott: September 17th, something like that. That’s when it was last year and I think it’s the same weekend, the third weekend in September. We owe Born Free California a visit one of these years and we love those guys and we have not kept up with—
Warren: That’s mid June also, isn’t it?
Scott: Yeah. End of June. Third week in June.
Warren: Weren’t you a builder there, Warren?
Scott: Yeah.
Warren: Been so long.
Scott: Doesn’t it sound like — I can see — maybe you’re feeling what I’m feeling. Imagining being at Born Free right now. We’re stuck in this asbestos room. It’s bomb show. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. But, you know—
Warren: Well, that’s it. We got more than just — way more than that. We got the One Show. I don’t want to forget about that. That’s May 1st.
Scott: Yep. It’s coming up. And we’re not — I’m not going to that. Are we going to that?
Warren: Well, we’re going via our crew.
Scott: Yes. And that’s no disrespect. It’s not like we’re not going because we don’t want to go.
Warren: No.
Scott: But the calendar is pretty full.
Warren: Yes.
Scott: And I love Portland and I love Tour and I love his show.
Warren: Yes.
Scott: We have — okay, again, this is not in chronological order. The Last Hookup in — been there — in London, right?
Warren: England. Yeah.
Scott: Yeah. And so there’s that. That’s on the maybe. This is all maybe list.
Warren: Last Hookup is when?
Scott: In August. It overlaps with Sturgis.
Warren: I could lead the charge for Europe. I’m just saying. I’ll throw my hat in the ring for that if anyone wanted to.
Scott: The Hookups are great. They’re phenomenal. They’ll be at market, right?
Warren: Last Hookup is a — I never heard of this Last Hookup. I’m sorry. Hold on.
Scott: It’s called The Hookup. It’s called The Hookup, but he’s doing his last show ever this year. And it’s a big — the biggest chopper fest in Europe. So it’d be cool to see.
Warren: Dean puts that on, right, with—
Scott: No, Dean’s not involved.
Warren: Oh, no.
Scott: It’s not the Dice guys. It’s a different set of guys.
Warren: Okay.
Scott: But they’re — I’m sure they’re friends.
Warren: Yeah. All right. I’d like to see that.
Scott: Custom Fest in Indonesia, that’s in October.
Warren: Moon Eyes in December.
Scott: Custom Fest is in Jakarta.
Warren: Northern Jakarta.
Scott: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
Warren: It’s like Jakarta Light, like the name Yogyakarta.
Scott: Yes. Yeah. It’s like Kansas. It’s still like a 13 million people city.
Warren: And that’s — when is that? That’s in October?
Scott: In October. It’s always like the second week in October.
Warren: Yep. Okay. How — now Warren, I know you have baseball and all these things and you — we all have family commitments. Are you — do you have trepidation besides your family commitments of traveling into—
Scott: No, I don’t have trepidations about traveling whatsoever, but I’m grounded.
Warren: Yes. Okay. Okay. Feel you. We’ll put you in the Wisconsin only chopper show.
Scott: You put me on the last minute guy. Maybe. I’m always on the maybe list.
Warren: The Eternal City Chopper Show in Rome. That’s in the 25th of November — or the 3rd or fourth week in November. That’s — that’s the week before Moon Eyes.
Scott: That’s also Thanksgiving.
Warren: Yeah. Well, I’m here for my bare knuckle fight. I’m on the billing. I’m hoping to fight Scrapper.
Scott: Oh, the Thanksgiving party at the shop.
Warren: Yeah. Yeah.
Scott: All right. That’s Italy, too. Yep. Which is just a big trade show, but looks like it’s a lot of fun. And any excuse to go to Italy, I’m down with that. The Joints Show, which we’re—
Warren: That’s like right now, right? Or that’s Japan.
Scott: Too late. Yeah. April. We’re — we missed — we’re going to miss that. Maybe next year.
Warren: The War Run and also Walter’s Gypsy Run.
Scott: Gypsy Run. Is it Walter from Kickstart?
Warren: From Kickstart. Yep. And that’s in September.
Scott: What was the name of Walter’s Run?
Warren: Walter’s. It’s called Walter’s Run. Gypsy Run. Yeah.
Scott: And Sturgis is in August. And Sturgis.
Warren: How about this? Can I — dare I say this on social media propagation? Brian, if we’re missing something globally that you think is cool, you think it would — something we would — worth—
Scott: Put it in the comments. Is this how this works?
Warren: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Scott: If we’re — watch — any chopper show in the world, tell us about it.
Warren: Correct. And the less known the better.
Scott: Yes. Yes. More chopper, more better.
Warren: All right.
Scott: Well, this concludes our summer wish list. Yeah. Which is a pretty full dance card.
Warren: This is pretty egregious. And when we say we’re going to be there, that means that one of our representatives will be there in some form.
Scott: Doesn’t — be there. Do we have — do we get a tent? Do we sell merch? How do we — what’s our best — what is presence — to be there? What does that mean to you?
Warren: Go there and check it out. I think that’s the — that’s the best thing that we can do. I, you know, I mean, I just want to go to them and just be supportive. And that’s — I just — I love just being a fly on the wall at other shows and just walking around and looking at bikes and just doing — like having the fan experience that we don’t necessarily get at our own shows. Just to like learn things from how other people organize things and like what, you know, cool ideas and how things are displayed. And I just — I love all that shit.
Scott: It’s like when I was in the restaurant business, like going to other restaurants, you just — like it was hard to enjoy the meal because you’re always like, “What kind of coolers they got back there? Oh, they got that new — they got that cool new ice machine. Oh, I like how they’re expoing their, you know, their drink rail,” you know, like all that kind of stuff. And enjoying a meal at your own restaurant was not a possibility.
Warren: Yeah. Mhm.
Scott: And never enjoyable.
Warren: Well, I have some other notes, but I feel as though I don’t want to change the subject because we’ve delved heavily with Warren’s therapy.
Scott: Mhm.
Warren: Dubai. Thank you. And you’re in a — you know, we have a crowd of weirdos that we hang out in and that’s — we — I’ve been through this a hundred times, but one great thing of many great things, we’re very supportive of each other. We’re always welcoming to like, “Hey, time out. I’m not drinking right now.” Or, “Hey, I need some time because I’m with my wife.” No one’s ever berates anybody for their change or growth.
Scott: Yeah.
Warren: Right. And for you to share that here, Warren, because I would have expected you to never even talk about it. Like, you know, “No big deal. Let’s move on.” Because not only are you stoic, you’re humble.
Scott: Sure.
Warren: So, thanks for sharing that. And I don’t want to dismiss it. We’ve summarized our 2026 show. Thanks everybody that came out. A big shout out to our staff that helped it work. And Mama Tried Flat Out Friday has an egregious plan for 2026 before our next show.
Scott: Ambitious.
Warren: Ambitious. Very ambitious.
Scott: It sounds as though we’re doing a show a month.
Warren: Yeah. Well, I mean, they’re fun trips, you know, and what’s — I mean, just going — getting to go hang out with motorcycle people is like the best thing on the planet, you know.
Scott: All right. And I can feel the energy here in the shop as summer’s going to break here in the city.
Warren: Yeah, it’s been crazy around here.
Scott: Yeah, dude.
Warren: Okay. Well, I’m clapping it up for Warren and Scott and myself here. Our 73rd episode. And thanks to Brian for putting this all together in Geared Science.
Scott: Yeah. Thanks to Brian for putting it all together.
Warren: And we’ll get some guests here shortly.
Scott: Yeah. Yeah. I hope so.
Warren: All right. Thanks, guys.
For more info: flatoutfriday.com | mamatriedshow.com