Tyson Apostol on The FattyCast: Survivor, Whoopie Goldberg, Pro Cycling, and More

02.18.2016 | 1:42 pm

Here’s some stuff you probably didn’t know about me, enumerated for your convenience:

1. My family and I are huge fans of the Survivor reality show / competition.
2. I have tried, twice, to get on Survivor. In both cases, people with the show reached out to me and asked me to send in a video. I did, both times. After which, Survivor decided to go in a…different direction. 

With this in mind, of course it was only a matter of time ’til I asked Tyson Apostol — who has been on Survivor (thrice, winning on his third try) and has also been a pro cyclist — to be on The FattyCast. Here we are together:

That picture will make more sense in a minute or two, I promise. Or maybe it won’t. I’m not sure, and I’m not too worried about it, regardless, because we are both clearly very handsome and photogenic.

I have a few details I’d like to point out about Tyson’s and my conversation, but first I think you should just listen to the show. It’s ridiculously interesting, especially if you like bikes and people doing bold things. So: get it on iTunes, or on the RSS Feed (http://fattycast.com/rss), or just listen or download it below: 

What We Mostly Talk About

I was tempted to make the whole conversation about Survivor. I really was, because I would love to know more about the show from someone who’s been on it.

But the truth is, I knew lots of people have interviewed Tyson about being on this show, and probably all of them have done a better job about asking Survivor-esque questions than I would.

But not a lot of people have talked to Tyson about what — it turns out — is a much more interesting part of Tyson’s life. Specifically, when Tyson was in his early twenties, he packed up a couple of bikes — a road bike and a CX bike — and moved to Europe.

And then he raced himself into the pros.

Yeah, I know.

This FattyCast is mostly about Tyson’s experience with racing and competing — and believe me, Tyson is a remarkably competitive person. We talk about what it’s like to be a new pro, his big successes and failures, what it’s like to be in a breakaway that succeeds, and how hard being an aspiring pro can be on your body (hint: it basically destroyed him).

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be a pro cyclist, you’ve got to listen to this episode. For reals. Tyson is an amazing storyteller.

Also, you’ve got to listen to his claim that anyone could be a pro cyclist. He makes a good case. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

Other Things We Talk About

I don’t exactly come into any of my FattyCast conversations with a plan, which means we wind up all over the place. And in this case, we wind up in more places than usual.

We talked about movies, including the new Star Wars. Or possibly we were talking about a very old Star Wars. I don’t think either of us were sure.

We talked about Tyson’s favorite movie (The Jerk), and Ghost. During this segment, I promised I would create an illustrative Venn diagram showing the intersect of two of the stars in this movie: Whoopie Goldberg and Dennis Quaid:

Unfortunately, I was completely wrong in this, because Dennis Quaid wasn’t even in Ghost. Apparently, the role of Dennis Quaid was played by Patrick Swayze in Ghost. Personally, I feel my confusion was justified. I mean, look:

Almost impossible to tell them apart, if you ask me.

Anyway, I hereby offer a corrected Venn diagram, which shows that Dennis Quaid and Whoopie Goldberg do have an intersect, because he’s been a guest on The View.

I regret the confusion, I suppose. 

Still More Stuff We Talk About

If a Venn diagram isn’t enough to get you to listen to this episode of the FattyCast yet, I’m not sure what will, but I’ll offer this list of conversational topics in the hopes I can sway you:

1. As a millionaire, does he find himself spending money like there’s no tomorrow?
2. Whether he has a job
3. The most awesome thing about being a pro cyclist (it’s not what you think)
4. The virtues of publicly shaming people
5. How poker is like pro cycling
6. Excellent parenting techniques
7. Whether his newborn child is a male or female, and whether putting that child in pink clothing perpetuates gender stereotypes
8. My plan for Tyson and me to be on The Amazing Race as a team

In conclusion, whether you like Survivor or not, this is an episode you’ll want to listen to. 

Oh, and be sure to listen to News AF, the weekly goofy news podcast Tyson does with Rob Cesternino. And follow Tyson on Twitter too, because sometimes he and I exchange witty banter. Or at least we might someday, and you for sure won’t want to miss it if/when we do.