The bicycle industry faces dramatic shifts as traditional tours struggle to survive.

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Shane Cusick takes us on a fascinating journey through the transforming landscape of cycling, drawing from his rich experiences as both the former tour director of Bike Virginia and founder of Pello Bikes, a children's bicycle company focused on quality and performance.

The cycling world stands at a crossroads. Traditional multi-day cycling tours that once drew thousands of participants are now struggling to survive. Shane reveals how Bike Virginia, which previously attracted 2,000 cyclists annually, saw attendance plummet to just 450 riders in its most recent edition. This trend extends beyond Virginia's borders, with established events like Cycle Oregon, Bike Florida, and Ride the Rockies all facing existential challenges. The causes? A perfect storm of demographic shifts as Baby Boomers age out of longer tours, younger generations preferring different riding styles, growing safety concerns about road cycling, and the lasting impact of the pandemic.

Behind the scenes, tour management presents incredible logistical challenges. Shane shares colorful stories of 18-hour workdays, last-minute venue cancellations, and the constant juggling act required to move thousands of cyclists safely through Virginia's communities. His description of the adrenaline-fueled six-day tours provides a window into why these events create such powerful memories for participants, despite the enormous effort required to execute them.

The conversation shifts to children's cycling when Shane discusses founding Pello Bikes, his company dedicated to creating proper bicycles for young riders. The revelation that most children's bikes are unnecessarily heavy and poorly designed sparked his mission to build lightweight, quality bicycles featuring appropriate components for small hands. Most fascinating is his insight into how balance bikes have revolutionized early cycling, enabling children to master balance first – often starting as young as age one – and thereby learning to ride years earlier than previous generations.

Whether you're interested in cycling event trends, the challenges facing the bicycle industry, or simply how to give your child the best start on two wheels, this episode

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Embarking on a journey of camaraderie that spans years, Adam and Michael have cultivated a deep friendship rooted in their mutual passion for cycling. Through the twists and turns of life, these two friends have pedaled side by side, weaving a tapestry of shared experiences and good-natured teasing that only solidifies the authenticity of their bond.

Their cycling escapades, filled with laughter and banter, are a testament to the enduring spirit of true friendship. Whether conquering challenging trails or coasting through scenic routes, Adam and Michael's adventures on two wheels are a testament to the joy found in the simple pleasures of life.

If you're on the lookout for a podcast that captures the essence of friendship and the thrill of cycling, look no further. Join them on this audio journey, where they not only share captivating stories but also invite you to be a part of their cycling community. Get ready for a blend of fun tales, insightful discussions, and a genuine celebration of the joy that comes from embracing the open road on two wheels. This podcast is your ticket to an immersive and uplifting cycling-centric experience.

and Remember,

It's a Great Day for a Bike Ride!
https://www.facebook.com/cyclingmenofleisure
https://cyclingmenofleisure.com/

this in a long time.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
It seems like a long time, doesn't it?

Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's only two weeks for the listener in a long time.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
It seems like a long time, doesn't it?

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Because we had to record a couple back to back
there really close, because youwent on some vacation to
paradise and whatnot.
So it's been several weeks.

Speaker 1 (00:37):
Ladies and gentlemen, Adam went on a cruise.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
And then I went to a drug and alcohol conference
which was a good time, becauseit was in Kansas city and you
and I got to hook up and so thatwas kind of cool.
I had dinner and some somedrinks, so that was cool.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Yeah, no, I, I, I'm.
I felt pretty lucky.
You know, usually you go on awork trip and you go do your
your conference and then you'restaring at a hotel and my
coworker, you got to meet her.
Thank you, yep, and ironicallyso she came out with us the
first night and she had a goodtime, and then the second night

(01:17):
she's like you know what?
I have a husband and two sonsand a male dog.
I would like to just enjoy myroom and peace and quiet.
She said she went up and tookmale dog.
I would like to just enjoy myroom and peace and quiet.
She said.
She went up and took a nap.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
That was her polite way to just brush us off going.
I don't need any more clowns inmy life tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
You know what she says.
She hears enough of me, don'twe all?
Well, moving right along, it'sgood to be back here in the
studio with you.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
It is indeed, and we've got some great stuff, I
think, for the show, or a greatsubject for the show.
Yeah, we kind of teased it lastlast episode.
We've got a really goodinterview.
Before we get to the interview,though, we got some business we
got to take care of.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
We do, we do a couple of things we got to take care
of.
We do.
We do A couple things.
So let's go back to the timemachine, and the time machine
I'd like to talk about is March7th.
So March 7th we had a guest forthe listener spotlight that

(02:23):
came out while I was out of town.
The show came out on the 16thof March, but on March 7th a
friend of the show, our weatheraficionado guy who helped us in
Ragbri, Jeff.
He wrote us and he says Ibelieve I figured out the
listener spotlight from the mostrecent show.

(02:43):
I figured out the listenerspotlight from the most recent
show.
He says South Jordan, Utah,founded in 1859.
Provost Trapper, there had beena group of people here about
1350, but there was no NativeAmerican population at the time

(03:04):
of the settlement.
No permanent Native Latter-daySaints settled here.
It was located near JordanRiver.
Water was diverted for the milland irrigation.
It was in the location of 1938bus train crash.
And then he said, as you weregiving clues, my initial thought
was northwestern part of thecountry.
Then, when you said it wassettled by a religious group, I

(03:26):
narrowed it down to Utah and thefinal place was the bus
accident.
I read about the history of thecrash, and I know that many say
it happened in Sandy Utah, butit was actually South Jordan.
So I do believe that, ladiesand gentlemen, I'm trying to get
it here.
It's not coming up as fast, I'mnot used to my toys here, but

(03:46):
and can you beat me?
All I got is there you go.
Great job, nice job.
Jeff figured it out, got it,got it, got it.
Let's see here.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
On the last show we talked about some drinks that we
had while we were lollygaggingaround Florida, some of the cool
drinks and the fact that I amindeed Right here, a high roller
, a high roller, bring to thiscoin right here.
See, wow, look at that.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
High roller, ladies and gentlemen, there he is from
central time.
High roller, high roller.
Um, we had a drink.
Well, you had a drink.
You let me taste it and I putyou on the spot during the show.
Not on purpose, I try not to dothat, but I asked you anything

(04:43):
about Vermont and a fire and andand anything of this nature,
and you were like well treesthat will burn.
It's like a match.
So um.
But on Sunday Rob wrote us andRob Menser said little clue

(05:04):
about Michael's fire in Vermontcocktail contained in the state
Vermont in the title and I don'tknow.
Guess I wasn't wasn't pickingup on that, but I looked at it
and sure enough, the label saysWhistlepig straight rye whiskey
and bottled at the WhistlepigFarm in Shoreham, vermont.

(05:25):
I got to say that's why I thinkyour drink was called.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Fire in Vermont.
That would explain why it wasFire in Vermont.
It was Whistlepig Rye Whiskey,yeah, and there we go, fire in
Vermont.
It is.
It's not just bottled, it'shand bottled in Vermont.
That's pretty cool.
So there we go.
Now, you know, I didn't knowthat, but that's a little
something we'll add to ourrepertoire of drink information.

Speaker 1 (05:52):
So, Rob, thank you for taking a little bit to write
us and tell us I like how youeven said a little clue.
So I was like, oh, I like clues.
And then a friend of the show,johnny, wrote us.
But I don't want to beat thatuntil you give the clues.
He has a guest for your latestlistener spotlight.

(06:14):
But besides that, I know I sawyou how you been.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Been good.
I've been good, just been busyaround here with work and all
the stuff that comes with springand owning a home and all of
that really fun stuff.
So I do have a couple ofactivities that I did that I

(06:55):
would like to get into, but I'mnot going to this episode.
I got a big one that I'd reallylike to discuss.
It was interesting, okay, but Ithink we'll wait because the
interview is a relatively longinterview.
So I think we should just getto listener spotlight.
We'll go to the interview,we'll end up with listener
spotlight and I'll just save mycomments on this activity that I
did for later.

Speaker 1 (07:03):
Well, now that we knocked the dust off of the
equipment here, we can wait alittle bit to give people some
guesses and we can get togetherfor another show.
My friend, absolutely All right.
Well, in that case, ladies andgentlemen oh man, I am a little
rough today.
Wow, it is now time forListener Spotlight.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
All right.
The last clues that I gave youfor this episode's Listener
Spotlight are as follows.
This town was named for aConfederate general general.

(07:52):
The city was laid out by therailroad in the late 1800s, and
it wasn't incorporated until theearly 1900s.
Not only was this named for aCivil War Confederate general,
one of the reasons for that ishim and his soldiers actually
had a camp very near where thetown is now located, and so

(08:12):
that's the reason why it wasnamed for this Confederate
general because he had a campfor a good period of time there.
Locally, the railroad was builtthrough the area.
In the 1880s.
The first industry to this townwas lumber.
In the 21st century, this townwas devastated by a tornado.

(08:35):
To 1911, the town felt theeffects of a major earthquake.
My final clue was this is notthe smallest community we have
highlighted, but it's very close, All right.

Speaker 1 (08:57):
Now I do have a guess .
Sorry about that it's not StLouis, oh man.

Speaker 2 (09:04):
Fine.
Well, they did feel anearthquake in 1911, but it's not
St Louis.

Speaker 1 (09:10):
So the following clue is brought to you by DeBrim
Great sun protection for yourhelmet.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Oh geez.

Speaker 1 (09:19):
Sorry.

Speaker 3 (09:20):
Johnny, it never stops.

Speaker 1 (09:21):
Johnny did not say that, but I figured.
Today I know you and I both tryto wear a cycling shirt or
something that goes along withthe show for the YouTube friends
.
You have the bourbon burn.
Ooh, I am going to throw alittle teaser out there.
There just might be someinformation that I can share in

(09:45):
a couple of episodes aboutsomething to do with bourbon
burn.
I'm going to leave it at that.
All right, johnny has a guess.
Now you got me wondering, Iknow.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
I might have some Keeping secrets.
Well, that's fine.
That's fine, you know, I keepyou surprised enough on the show
.
It's fair this one.

Speaker 1 (10:09):
I'm a little sworn to secrecy, but I'm going to see
if I can get some permission toshare a few hints now I'm really
intrigued.

Speaker 2 (10:19):
I'll have to listen to the show please do.

Speaker 1 (10:22):
You can find us on your local podcast.
Excellent, I'll have to lookthat up.
So, johnny Lampkin sorry,johnny, I've only said your name
about five times there, butJohnny has guessed.
He's guessed before.
He says hey guys, I'm going toguess, listener spotlight is New
Madrid, missouri, with theearthquake 1911 and cotton grown
in the area.
Love the podcast.

(10:43):
Thanks for the hard work.
With two exclamation points.
Then he says Sykeston, missouri, which is the new Madrid County
, missouri left the Sykeston outfor some reason.
Sorry about that.
Well, my friend, how has Johnnydone?

Speaker 2 (11:01):
Sorry, I will give him credit.
There you go man, new, newmadrid is a very, very good
guess because in fact that waskind of the uh, the epicenter of
the earthquake that I'mreferencing in 1911.

(11:21):
That's why I also said St Louisfelt a little bit of that
effect, as did Kansas City.
Things were rocking and rollingand it messed up the
Mississippi River for a coupleof days and it was kind of a
major fault line that mostpeople don't realize.
But hey, if you're not nearMissouri, don't worry about it.
Anyway, it is a good guess butit is not correct.

Speaker 1 (11:45):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
I will.
He got in there in the rightarea.
Our listener spotlight for thisepisode is, in fact, marmaduke
Arkansas.

Speaker 1 (11:57):
Marmaduke.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
Wow, yes, what a great name Up in the northeast
corner of the state Name forConfederate general.
It was a major general, johnSappington Marmaduke, who later
served as the governor ofMissouri.
Their first industry was lumber, but during World War II that

(12:23):
land was cleared for cottonproduction for the war effort,
and half the town was destroyedon April 2nd 2008, when it was
hit by a tornado.
I've already told you 1911, theNew Madrid Fault earthquake
happened, not the smallestcommunity.
The New Madrid Fault earthquakehappened, not the smallest

(12:44):
community, but this town, as of2020, only had 1,212 people, and
one of those is our listener.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
So thank you very much.
Hey, that's 1,200 of a citythat listens.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
Well, you know, get a few more cyclists there, we can
get a majority of that town tolisten to us.

Speaker 1 (13:06):
I love it.
Well, listen, as I always do.
Thank you, marmaduke Arkansaslisteners.
Thank you all listeners, butthis time, thank you Marmaduke
Marmaduke Marmaduke.
Yes, is that what you said?
No, I did not.
You were like the big dogcartoon.
You were like the big dogcartoon.

Speaker 2 (13:30):
You were correct in correcting me, which happens a
lot which, if I remember right,there are school mascots like
the Greyhound or something, somebig dog like that.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
Not a corn husker like I'm seeing on your screen
right now.
Corn husker, no, no, all right,you are correct.
No, no, yeah, all right, youare correct.
This is a long episode.
But listen, we have talked andwe teased in the last episode
that we chose not to cutanything from this.
We like the integrity.
Michael and I both believe inthe integrity.

(13:58):
I actually did listen to theepisode and there was nothing
really that needed to be cut.
It's a great episode Just tothe episode, and there was
nothing really that needed to becut.
It's a great episode just tointroduce it.
So Franklin Johnson, executivedirector of brag, reached out to
me and said hey, I think a goodinterview, which he's brought
us a lot of people, by the way,but he thought it'd be a good
interview to interview theindividuals from bike Virginia,

(14:19):
the history of the ride, thefuture of the ride.
And we reached out and we werepointed to the direction of a
gentleman by the name of ShaneCusack and it was a great
interview.
So, without further ado, I'mgoing to play that now and we'll
come back after the interviewand give a few thoughts.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
And one final thing he's not just involved with the
ride, he also owns a bikecompany.
Some very special people.
More to follow.
It'll be a great interview,that's right.

Speaker 1 (14:47):
All right, here we go .
Hey, Michael, we have a veryspecial guest with us today.

Speaker 2 (14:54):
We do.
This is going to be really fun,really exciting, and this is
one we've been working on for awhile, and schedules haven't
quite worked out, but we goteverything in place now.
So who are we talking to today?

Speaker 1 (15:06):
We have a gentleman by the name of Shane Cusick and
he is from Bike Virginia andShane, could you please tell us
a little about yourself?
Welcome to Road Adventures ofCycling Meta.

Speaker 3 (15:15):
Leisure Welcome.
Yeah, yeah, thanks guys.
Thanks for thanks for having me.
Um, yeah, uh, bike Virginia.
I've been with Bike Virginiasince I started in 2009.
Um, yeah, uh, bike Virginia.
I've been with bike Virginiasince I started in 2009.
Um, and sort of the the longestjob I've ever had.
And, um, and I've been inRichmond, virginia is where

(15:36):
we're based out of, uh, since2006.
And um, just a quick plug forRichmond it is a wonderful
cycling community.
And just a quick plug forRichmond it is a wonderful
cycling community.
We had the in 2015,.
We had the UCI Road WorldChampionships here, which is a
big thing, and just the overallgeneral cycling in and around

(15:57):
Richmond is awesome.
That's cool.
And all in Virginia honestly,and it's been kind of, it's been
a really fun.
It's been a fun ride punintended for Bike Virginia and
the whole, you know seeing thestate I mean the state itself is
a beautiful state the mountains, the coast, all of it in

(16:17):
between.
It's a cool place to see,especially by bike.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
Virginia is for lovers, according to the license
plate right.
Yes it is yeah, and it's a coolthing.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
At first, when I first moved here, I was like
what is this?
It's kind of weird.
And then somebody explained itand they're like oh well, it's
the lover of the mountains, thelover of the sea, the lover of
the city, the lover of thecountry.
We have it all.
We love of the country.
Like we have it all, like welove all of it because it's all
part of our state.

Speaker 2 (16:44):
That's cool.
Oh yeah, virginia's beautifulAdam, I don't know, we've never
talked.
I don't know if you've everbeen to Virginia.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
I never have no.

Speaker 2 (16:50):
Well, wait a minute.

Speaker 1 (16:52):
Fort AP, Virginia for Jamboree.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Oh, Boy Scout National Jamboree back in the
day.
That's correct through Virginiamany times.
Never been there on a bicycle,so I think I might be missing
out.

Speaker 3 (17:06):
It's a cool.
It's a beautiful state to seeby bike, for sure Cool.

Speaker 1 (17:11):
No, the only time I think I was there was for Boy
Scouts National Jamboree.
And to tell you how long agothat was, president Bush Sr was
president and flew in and Ibelieve the band the Jets
performed.
So that tells you how long ago.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
I was there too, but we're not going to get into who
the president was or what bandsare playing.

Speaker 3 (17:31):
We're just going to leave that where it's at.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
So, shane, you hooked up with Bike Virginia in 2009.
What's your background?
How did you get involved incycling?
Have you always?

Speaker 3 (17:41):
been a cyclist yeah, that's a great question.
Um, and I sort of yes, I grewup cycling.
I, my dad's side of the family,were big cyclists.
Um, when I was young, my greatuncle at I don't know I forget
how old I was at the time, buthe did the ride across America

(18:03):
um ride and at the time I wasjust like like I was blown away.
I was like I rode all the way.
Uncle Cork rode all the wayacross the United States.
What does that even mean?
And then, but we always, likemy grandparents, um, they would
take me on sort of like bikeVirginia rides.
They were one day rides in Ohioas a kid and we would go, I

(18:29):
would hook up with them and theywere all like on the old school
Tempe and we would do thoserides and they would be like you
know, 25 or 30 mile ridesthrough sort of the Ohio
countryside.
And then we as a family, everyyear we had the Cusick family
bike ride, which was pretty cooland it was like yeah, it was

(18:51):
like everybody and it was alwaysat a different um, a different
host every year.
So, like it would be at mygrandparents one year, my
uncle's one year or my dad wouldhost it um.
But it was cool because theride whoever hosted it, got to
determine the route and all thatsort of stuff.

(19:11):
The only requirement was that wehad to have a Dairy Queen stop
somewhere in the route.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
Somebody who understands the power of ice
cream.
We are huge Dairy Queen fans.

Speaker 1 (19:23):
I think we officially stopped the interview and honor
Shane as an official honorarymember of Cycling Men of Leisure
.
He is in Michael and I havebeen known to find a Dairy Queen
after our ride.
That's awesome.

Speaker 3 (19:41):
Yeah, and when I say family, it was everybody, it was
like the babies if there werebabies in the family at that
time, all the way tograndparents and um, and we
still sort of carried on.
My grandparents have passed onum, and we we still kind of get
together on my dad's side andnow it's just mostly siblings
and stuff, but we still try toget you know, at least once a

(20:01):
year we'll get in and in factI've hosted, hosted the last
couple of years.
I've hosted the family cominginto Richmond and then we'll do
a little ride out of the house.
Again, it's everybody.
We'll go down the river andswing by.
This past year we swung by mybike shop so part of my other
gig is Pelo Bikes, which is achildren's bicycle brand, and we

(20:24):
stopped in there and had hotchocolate and snacks and stuff
like that.

Speaker 1 (20:30):
Until every family member gets a bicycle.
What's that?
I'm sorry.
Until every family member, it'stime to pony up and buy a
bicycle.

Speaker 3 (20:38):
Upgrade.
Yeah, exactly yeah, every kidin the family has a Pelo.
That's cool, Nice, it's a.
Uh yeah, every, every kid inthe family has a pillow.
That's cool, nice, it's a freeof charge when you're, when
you're a sibling, cool, cool.

Speaker 2 (20:52):
So.
So then you could, you weredoing you're heavily ingrained
in cycling and then you went outand you just thought you know
what I would love to be involvedwith a, with a some type of
organized ride.

Speaker 3 (21:05):
Yeah, and would love to be involved with some type of
organized ride.
Yeah, and good call, kind ofget me back on track.
So grew up cycling in a sort ofcycling environment, and then
it was also motorcycles.
My dad was a big dirt bike guy,and so I grew up on two wheels,

(21:25):
as I used to call it, and nowit's sort of like I kind of call
it my two-wheel fix.
You know, I don't really ridemotorcycles anymore, although my
16-year-old son has an electricdirt bike, which is a whole
other world now, but yeah, butstill in the biking thing and
then so progressing to thefamily and then life.
So the bicycle has always beena thread, constant thread,

(21:51):
throughout my life and like allthe way through, you know, high
school and then college and thenafter college and even after
college.
So my, my degree is landscapearchitecture and I was in
practice.
I started practicing in 2001and then um went through and, uh

(22:12):
, the sort of the the you guysremember 2008, 2009, oh yeah,
when the economy was oh yeah andI was living in richmond at the
time.
I'd sort of graduated college,got married, moved to charleston
, south carolina, and wasworking for a firm, a landscape

(22:32):
architecture firm, down there.
And I would always sort of eventhough I was doing like I did
some pretty cool projects likemostly master planning, like
large developments and new townsand things like that but I
would always try to figure outwhere the greenway was or where
the bike parking was going to be, and I always try to thread
that stuff in into the project.

(22:52):
And then I sort of.
Then I've moved from Charlestonup to Charlotte and worked for
a pretty big firm, amultidisciplinary firm, and from
there I actually started theirsort of bike commuting program
where they purchased a couple ofbikes and we sort of outfitted

(23:15):
them with baskets and we were indowntown Charlotte.
So the idea is that you couldgo to a meeting on a bike.
You didn't have to get in a carand drive If the meeting was in
town, you could just get on thebike and ride.
We had a small fleet.
I started that, which waspretty neat.
Then from there I moved toRichmond and still doing the

(23:39):
landscape architecture thing,but then on the side I was
working pro bono stuff with theNational Park Service and sort
of.
I was a bit of a liaisonbetween the ASLA, which is the
American Society of LandscapeArchitects, and the National
Park Service and we did a coupleof greenway master plans for

(24:00):
small communities in Virginiaand this is all sort of pro bono
stuff that we would kind ofjust you know like identify,
have some meetings with them andthings like that, so yeah, and
then the recession came and mostof our clients were developers
and you guys know, the banksjust were not putting any money
out.
And then so one thing led toanother and I was like, hey, you

(24:24):
know, like, hey, you know, likeI, you know, I think I'm out
and um, so I left the landscapearchitecture world thinking that
I was going to go back toschool and focus on alternative
transportation in landscapearchitecture and then go back
and teach, you know, and and doall this stuff.
And and one thing led toanother and this position came

(24:48):
available with Bike Virginia andI was like, well, this is kind
of a cool thing.
You know, I don't have a jobright now, so I could, you know,
I could get the bike stuff withthe advocacy side and do all
this stuff mixed in and so, andat the time I was on the board
for bike virginia and so Iresigned from the board and
became a staff member in 2009and sort of changed my whole

(25:12):
life trajectory, you know like,uh, it's been, it's been a great
, great trajectory.
In fact, in 2016, we launched,uh, the children's bicycle brand
, pelo Bikes, and we sold ourfirst bike in May of 2016, which
is kind of fun because May isbike month, so that was kind of

(25:33):
a fun thing to do and sell myfirst bike.
And, yeah, pelo is stillrolling.
That's a whole other topic.
The bicycle industry on thatside is like a whole other.
That's a whole other topic.
The bicycle industry on thatside is like a whole other world
, you know, and especially rightnow, with all the tariff stuff
and then, which is alwayslooming, even from the first

(25:53):
trump administration side ofthings, when you impose all the
tariffs, so and then yet, butyou know just, the economy
around bikes since covid hasbeen, you know, just kind of
like, like everything's beenflatlined because COVID was this
big surge in bikes andpurchases and then the market
got saturated with all thesebikes that were ordered for you

(26:15):
know, like we were three yearsout on our order, yeah from our
supplier and yeah, and thenfinally, you know that that's
just kind of like say there's awhole other whole other thing to
talk about.
But so bike virginia has beenanother thread through that
whole process too, and yeah,it's been great to just sort of

(26:37):
just be in terms of bicycles fora professional career.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
So I have some friends who own a Trek bike
store and told me during COVIDthat that some people would buy
bikes because you know you couldgo outside.
But a lot, of, a lot of it wasservice.
They were servicing bikes andand people were getting old you
know bikes that haven't beenserviced in a while and and and
that was a pretty helpful market.
But now just to kind ofresonate with what you're saying

(27:03):
, they say that it's reallydifficult right now that there's
either a lot of stock on thefloor or just not a lot of
people willing to buy expensivebicycles right now.
Now it's time to buy a bike.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
Now it's a buyer's market for bicycles.
If you're looking for a bike,definitely bikes are still to be
had.
If you're looking for a bike,definitely bikes are still to be
had.
Some of the crazy sales likeSpecialized is doing 40% off
their bikes and Kona Kona didbuy one, get one I mean it was
bonanzas.
It's like the Wild West rightnow and it's cool.

(27:40):
Sort of the phrase in thebicycle you know, like in that
side of the bicycle industry, issurvive until 25.
A lot of brands have gone outof business and yeah, it's like
you know, the bicycle is alwaysgoing to be there and people are
always going to buy bicycles.
But it's just weird, cause wehad this crazy peak in COVID and

(28:02):
then it's just been down andit's there's a lot of stuff too.
It's not really down, it's justdown from the COVID times.
It's still even above pre-COVIDnumbers, but it just seems like
because we have so many morebikes in the hopper.
A quick side note, for that isduring the first Trump

(28:22):
administration, when he put allthose tariffs up for China, the
bicycle industry sort of, theydidn't hit pause, but there was
a lot less like as far as in theUnited States.
There was a lot less bicyclestops as far as like being
warehoused or in bike shops orthings like that.
And then when COVID hit becauseof the tariffs and stuff, and

(28:42):
then when COVID came around,everybody wanted bikes because
you could ride outside.
So people were buying whatever.
They were just buying andbuying and buying.
And so there was already thisshortage.
And I'm talking like it waslike about the last time.
The overall stock of bicycleswas about 20 years ago.

(29:03):
Prior to that, the overallstock of bicycles was this was
about 20 years ago prior to that.
So you know, we had low stock,you know, in the, in the
warehouses, and then everybodybought all that and then nobody
could get bikes because it wasjust the global demand for
bicycles uh went through theroof and then then everybody
kind of like like did all theirstuff, so.
So there was kind of like didall their stuff.

(29:24):
So there was kind of like thisone-two punch in the bicycle
industry from that.
Had Trump not done that, thenwe might have had a pretty
decent stock level and thenCOVID could have absorbed
hundreds of more thousands ofbicycles at that time.
We'd probably still be in thesame weird spot.
But it's just a weird side notethat the tariffs kind of things

(29:45):
to the tariffs affect.

Speaker 1 (29:46):
If you don't really no, I appreciate you mentioning
it.
I remember during COVID, theShimano and SRAM everyone kept
saying you know, gobble up thegears, gobble up the cables,
gobble up everything becausethere's a shortage and so things
that you know.
Shimano 105, which was, I meanyou could buy it on any bike in
any random afternoon or whatever, so it was definitely an

(30:07):
interesting thing.
So you get involved with BikeVirginia in 2009 as a staff
member and then what was theprogression?

Speaker 3 (30:19):
Were you just a staff member, moved up into like
management, or yeah, so BikeVirginia is a pretty small
organization and when I came on,kim had just sort of became she
was.
She became the executivedirector in 2008 was her sort of
first round and prior to that,bike Virginia had had a lot of

(30:44):
like I think they had, I want tosay, close to 10 people working
for them and various differentthings.
So Bike Virginia at that timehad grants with the DMV.
They had some other stuff thatthey were kind of working around
, but they were also like in apretty financial not great place

(31:05):
.

Speaker 1 (31:05):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (31:06):
And um, so Ken kind of came on, the old director
stepped off, um, alan Turnbull,which is like he was the founder
, um sort of the you know thegodfather, which is, he's an
awesome guy.
Um, he kind of showed me theropes.
A little bit too kind of needto kind of get to have him show
me how to do some signing stuffin the early days.

(31:27):
But it was just, there was alot of things that Virginia was
involved with and it was, youknow, the organization at that
time.
I can't do my math, but thefirst tour was 1988.
So it was still, you know, likeit had enough time to kind of
reach its tentacles in a lot ofthings, and I think that it was
just it.
There's too many things outthere.

(31:47):
So when Kim came on, she kindof like, in a way sort of
cleaned house and and it wasjust, it was her.
And when she hired me, it was meOkay, restructuring everything.
At the time, you know, like, myfirst like virginia tour was
2010, my first actual managingthe tour, and at that time it

(32:12):
was a 2000 person tour and, um,you know, coming from a
landscape architecture side, Ilove bikes but I'd never, you
know, I'd never stepped into therealm of trying to organize
2000 people for six days out inthe countryside of Virginia and
that was like a whole other.
That was like a whole otherperspective.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Thank God we hired on .
I can't imagine.

Speaker 3 (32:32):
Yeah, and thank God we hired on Wayne Goodman, which
is a local, kind of a locallegend, and for Bicep, for Trail
Building here in Richmond, fortrail building here in Richmond,
to sort of help with some ofthe IT stuff and the
registration stuff which is likea whole, like you can imagine
2000 registrants with differentpackages and all that stuff and
how all that can kind of getjumbled up.

(32:54):
And so thankfully he came on, hekind of handled that, kim kind
of took care of all the likehigh level stuff and then I was
sort of the route slashorganizer, everything in between
, and it was just a wild ridethat first year.
I mean, it was just crazy and itwas like it's one of those

(33:14):
experiences that you go throughand um, and maybe you guys have
had those in your life whereit's it's like you get in it and
it's so overwhelming thatyou're like like time is almost
still like, it seems like it'slike not moving, but at the same
time it's like, oh my God,that's six days ago.
And I can't, you know, becausewhen the tour is running, you
know, my, my day on the tour isabout, um, it's like 14, 15, 16

(33:42):
hours.
So you know, I was part of thesignage team and, um, kind of
organized the signage team andkind of organized the signage
team and we would start puttingsigns out at 4 am and then we'd
pull them around 5.
And then all the other stuff,logistical stuff, that would
happen in the evening.
I would just sort of do thisroute, wrap every evening and

(34:05):
then take care of so many otherthings that are happening around
our headquarters area.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
But not fires left and right.

Speaker 3 (34:12):
Yeah, and then it was like a circus and it was so
funny.
It's like no matter how muchplanning we did over all the
years and I was at it for quitea few years it would always be a
circus, it wouldn't matter.
It was like we'd haveeverything like would always be
a circuit, it would be like itwouldn't matter.
Like it was like we'd haveeverything, like all the checks,
everything, but then a reststop would just like they said

(34:36):
we can't do it.
And I'm like we have like 2,000people coming to your church.
You can't do something for us,so it would just be stuff like
that all the time.
And that's the thing you know,like we're, we're working with
volunteers and um, andcommunities, and then there's,

(34:57):
you know, then there's cycliststhat are, you know, bike
virginia's and probably similardemographic to all the rides
we've mentioned before.
But you know, you've got a widerange, so anywhere from an
eight-year-old to know, uh, aneight year old.
And then you got the hardcorecyclist and then you got the
just the leisure riding aroundcyclist, the tourists, I like to
call them Um, and then you gotall the people that live there

(35:22):
in the community and we're atthat time when we were 2000
people, it was like a swarm.
You know, we would almost swarmthese communities with bikes
and so we were always straightup with everybody, with VDOT,
with the police, with everybody.
So everybody knew that we werecoming.
It wasn't like a surprise.
But the residents even thoughit was PSA and stuff that would

(35:46):
go out but who really listens tothat stuff?
Especially if you're not intocycling?
And then you know people getall pissed off because there's
so many bikes and they can't getto work or it takes them an
extra minute to get to work.
So it was an exhilaratingexperience to be the tour

(36:06):
director um to be the yeah, thetour director.

Speaker 2 (36:12):
Now, what's funny is, uh, shane, we've had multiple
uh, uh bike event directors onour show um, from Michigan, and,
and I we've had Matt from Iowaand Franklin from Bragg, and,
and uh, so we've talked to a lotof them and it's amazing,
they're saying exactly the samething, even though from like
Adam, and always, adam and I arealways just like, oh my gosh,

(36:33):
how does this?
It seems so seamless, butthey're like we're frantically
behind the scenes putting outfires and solving all this, but
you know what, nine times out of10 to the cyclists.
I mean, it just seems likeeverything's going exactly as
planned.
So, everything's going exactlyas planned.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
So we've certainly heard that many times before
about that.
So, yeah, the only time I eversaw a little bit of I guess I'll
say anxiety was Neil, ourdirector and a friend from
Michigan.
He was sitting relaxing with abunch of cyclists from Shoreline
and he said he was justrelaxing and he has the ride.
You know, how is everythinganything I can do for you guys

(37:15):
and we're like no, today was aperfect day and it was a
beautiful weather day, the routewas great, and all of a sudden
he looked down on his watch andhe goes okay, I gotta go, I've
got 100 miles to drive and we'relike 100 miles to drive and he
goes.
I had to go put the signs upand sure enough, you know, and
that was kind of the one, theone.
Maybe a time that I saw one ofthe directors go oh my gosh, I
have, I have a job to do now,and then then we like saw him at

(37:37):
like five in the morning.

Speaker 3 (37:38):
He's like all right guys.
You ready to hit the road?

Speaker 1 (37:40):
and we're like yeah do you ever sleep so?

Speaker 3 (37:43):
so, man, it's a wild existence and it's crazy because
you know, the the multi-daytour is like mike, virginia was
six days and and it was reallylike two weeks leading up was
like pretty intense, you know,definitely like 10 hour days,
usually all the way up to it,and then then almost you know
like 18 hours or whatever, andthen, um, but it was just like

(38:08):
you start that first day andthen you've got all the
adrenaline and you're you knowyou're planning the thing for a
year and all this stuff, andyou're like, yeah, okay, all
right, we're rolling.
And then the second day rollson and you're just kind of like,
okay, and then by the third dayI usually get like this, like,

(38:31):
oh, and then that's, that's we.
Kind of our format was we werein one place for three days and
then we moved to another placefor three days.
okay, so we would move all ourequipment and all of our gear
and and everything and start ina whole new location on the on
the fourth day okay, and throughthat move, you just kind of
like, you're just like man, youjust I I could feel myself
dragging and I always had it allthe years that I would do this.
You know, like it was just, itwas this process of like cause

(38:54):
it was just these crazy longhours and it was a mental and a
physical exertion for 18 hoursto be just like.
Like you say, putting out firesor talking to the sheriff, or
you know, like you're talking toriders doing all this stuff,
why isn't the rest of us doingthis?
Or you know, like you'retalking to riders doing all this
stuff why isn't the rest ofdoing?
this or you know, like all thesethings.
But then about the fifth dayyou start like my body would

(39:16):
kind of acclimate to the time,and then the stress and all that
stuff.
And by the sixth day it's like,oh man.
And then when the tour is over,I would have all this energy
for like a week.
I want to be you, adjust tothat schedule and that intensity
, and then it's like it's cutoff and you're like, oh well, I

(39:38):
gotta do something.

Speaker 2 (39:40):
Now what.

Speaker 3 (39:41):
Yeah, but it was a wild ride.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
So I have a couple questions.
The tour in 2024 took place inJune, June 21st or 26th
according to the website, andyou said that it was six days.
Normally Would it always be inJune?

Speaker 3 (40:02):
It was.
Yes, it was always that sort oflast week in June and that was
sort of set up by ourpredecessors because that was a
good time.
It wasn't quite summer inVirginia, it wasn't quite, you
know, winter, so you could kindof have some decent weather,
usually Okay, and it also workedfor school.

(40:24):
So schools were out, oh yeah,so that allowed.
You know, participants didn'thave to worry about the school.
If they had kids and stuff theycould come to us.
But then for us too, as a tour,we didn't have to worry about
the schools being in session.
So we didn't have to worryabout school traffic and buses
and, you know, high schoolersdriving to school and all that

(40:45):
sort of stuff.
So that last week in June wasalways our sweet spot.

Speaker 1 (40:50):
And then my second question would be a few times
when you were saying it would,it was, it would it was does
that lead to their BikeVirginia's going in a different
direction?

Speaker 3 (41:04):
Yeah.
Yeah, that's sort of where we'reat right now.
The 2025 Bike Virginia is.
We had our last Bike Virginialast year and it wasn't really
the Bike Virginia that we had inthe past and we haven't as a

(41:28):
tour, as far as the registrantsand participants, hasn't really
rebounded since covid.
Um, and even like leading intocovid we could see our, our
yearly registrations were just,you know, just kind of slowly
dropping down, but they wouldstill hover thousand to 1500,
where it was always sort ofpre-covid stuff.
And then once covid hit um, youknow, everybody kind of like

(41:52):
did whatever their thing wasthey were doing.
And then when we came back twoyears ago with our was our first
tour after covid, we didn'thave that many people and we had
to um, we honored all of thosecovid registrations.
Okay, so anybody that hadregistered for COVID could still

(42:13):
ride in the tour and like theyhad up to three years to cash in
your registration.
And then so that was our, thatwas our.
You know that was a lot of ourbooks as far as like trying to
carry that through Sure.
And then so we satisfied thatdebt or that, you know, not that
debt, but just that obligationto put on the tour and then this

(42:36):
past year, in 2024, we gearedup and did some things and then
it just was.
You know, I think we had 450people that registered.
So it was and it's.
You know, the tour is a funnything because it's, you know, I
guess, like any business,there's an economy of scale,

(42:56):
right.
So it's kind of like we have tolay all this stuff out, whether
it's 500 people or 2 000 people.
It's kind of like I kind oflike describe it as like when
you go camping or when you gobike packing, you have to take
your bag, your tent, your gear,everything you gotta camping.
Or when you go bikepacking, youhave to take your bag, your
tent, your gear, everything yougot to take everything.
Whether you're going for twodays or two months, you know you
got to take the same stuff.

(43:16):
So the tour is kind of likethat we have to prepare it, no
matter how many participants wehave.
I mean, we can scale certainthings, of course, but as far as
the overall planning goes likeyou know all the counties, and
as far as the overall planninggoes like you know all the
counties and municipalities andeverything that we work with.
So, yeah, it was a much, muchsmaller tour in the past.

(43:39):
And so that sort of led to, youknow, like, okay, we need to
really look at what's going on.
And you know, as we'vementioned before, cycle Oregon
closed down their week tour,bike Florida, ride the Rockies,
ride the Rockies yep yeah.

(43:59):
So everybody's kind of like,all right, we've got to change,
we can't.
This is just not workinganymore and I think a lot of it
is probably.
You know, you probably heardthis from your other directors
too but it's not just one thingbut multiple things, and COVID
was certainly one of thosemultiple pieces, that kind of.

(44:21):
And it's funny because, youknow, I think COVID also sort of
shifted how we like.
It kind of like j jumbled usall up as far as, like you know,
culture even, and I think itled to more people just they're
not doing organized rides likethey used to, you know, in the
traditional kind of way.

(44:41):
And then I think one of thebigger, bigger pieces of the
puzzle is the demographic.
You know the Bike Virginiasweet spot is the baby boomers.
And you know the baby boomersare, you know they're sort of
aging out of doing events likethis and the younger generation
just doesn't do this, like theyjust don't.
You know, like, I'm a Gen Xerand I don't just I don't do

(45:06):
these kinds of rides, I mean,you know, and then another wheel
in the whole cog of this isroad.
Cycling is kind of, you know,like, yeah, it's just because
and and and it's, and I thinkit's not really the sport, it's
more just the safety around.
I mean, I, I'm a big biker andI used to ride my road bike all

(45:30):
the time, but now it just kindof collects dust because I don't
.
And if I do ride it, I go outon our, you know, our multi-use
trail, or you know, I take roadsto get there.
But it's just, it's a different, it's a different environment
than it was in the heyday ofthese big bike tours.
Sure, and I think you're right,I think you're right.

Speaker 1 (45:50):
I think you're right.
I tease my friends because I'malways like you.
Guys do know that they createdasphalt which is nice and smooth
.
You don't have to go ride yourbike on the gravel.
But their answer is always yeah.
But if I go on the gravel roads, a 4,000-pound SUV is not going
to plow me over.

Speaker 2 (46:07):
And there's no guarantees.
That's true.

Speaker 3 (46:16):
But there are fewer of them and generally you hope
that they're on the gravel road.
They're not quite as distractedas if they're just going around
their house or wherever.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
So it's funny you bring that up because we've
talked about this on many, manyepisodes in this show about the
changing demographics, and we'vebeen on some rides where you
know we were.
We were the young guys on therides uh you know.
So we've seen that and we'veseen all this.
So, um, it's one of thosethings that we've looked at a

(46:41):
lot.
In fact, there's a ride we'redoing this year that we that
they originally said theyweren't going to do, and then
they came out and said, oh yeah,we're going to do it and it, so
it's kind of looking like thelast year.
So we hopped on that.
Just because we've done itbefore, it's a good ride.
We thought, you know what, thisis the last year we want to be
involved with it.
So, um, you know, I wish, Iwish I could, could take what

(47:03):
you're saying and go.
That's completely ridiculous.
But no, I mean, that's justreally where we're at right now
in cycling and everything goesin cycles.
So hopefully things will startchanging and those demographics
will start getting younger andstuff.
But you know, we're just in oneof those spots right now.

Speaker 1 (47:20):
I remember reading an article I'm going to.
This is totally a guess maybe15 years ago that cycling was
the new golf, instead of you andyour.

Speaker 3 (47:28):
I remember that yeah, because they would stay was the
new golf instead of you andyour.

Speaker 1 (47:30):
I remember that, yeah , because they would stay, you
know, instead of your businesspartner, you and guys going
golfing for the day, you wouldget your bikes out and go for
like a trail ride together andhave that, have that camaraderie
on a bicycle, and and then,during covid, I think, golf just
came back like like gangbustersand so, um, my career is in
transportation and we actuallyuse COVID as a defining moment.

(47:50):
We actually say do we havepre-COVID numbers or post-COVID
numbers?
Because coming out of COVID,people were afraid to be on
public transportation buses, youknow, in confined spaces, and
they were afraid.
I can announce that in 2025, wewere actually pre-COVID numbers
and so that's great.
But I know what you're sayingis you're speaking right to the

(48:12):
choir and we always wonder, likethe younger generation, is it
video games?
Is it the fact that they justdon't even want driver's
licenses now, that they're finejumping in an Uber or Lyft?
We don't.
Michael and I have spent moretime than I'm proud to tell you
discussing.
Like you know, when we werekids, we were scouts and we'd

(48:35):
get on bikes and ride miles andmiles and miles, and then, as an
adult, everyone comes back tocycling for one reason or
another, either they enjoy it somuch.
Mine was a health weight lossjourney where my neighbor said
hey, you should get a bicycle.
I was like a bicycle.
I haven't ridden a bicyclesince high school and then now
it's.
I mean just everything, here weare, yeah.

(48:58):
Here we are yeah we got apodcast.
I know, I know that came out ofan idea of a court, cycling kind
of just you know it just getsinto your system.

Speaker 2 (49:10):
Oh yeah, and that does you know.
We've often told in this show.
That's how Adam and I becamefriends.
We met on a ride and startedriding together, and now we've
ridden across I don't know howmany different states and how
many different rides, and we goout and golfing events together
and we enjoy an occasionalbourbon together.

Speaker 3 (49:27):
And that's not.
That's not 3D, and we enjoy anoccasional bourbon together.
I see all the bottles in thebackground.

Speaker 1 (49:31):
That's not 3D.

Speaker 2 (49:34):
Adam's got a problem, but we're working on it.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
There's a 1-800 number for that.

Speaker 3 (49:38):
Yeah, there is.
There's also an interventiongroup.
Is there a Pappy back there?

Speaker 1 (49:42):
I don't have Pappy, but I do have a George T Stagg,
oh wow.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
Oh yeah, he found a wonderful find yeah, so this is
I.

Speaker 1 (49:53):
I do have a nice, nice george.
Oh wow, there we go, so no,papito I have had it, uh, but no
, um, but yes, my, you know, Ialways say make friends with
your liquor managers.
It's's extremely important.
So, um, I scored a.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
I scored a bottle of Buffalo trace recently at my
local liquor store.
Nice and I wasn't even anythingin this customer that was in
front of me.
He's like you know, they gotthat over there and I'm like
what yeah?
And it was like $28 orsomething.

Speaker 2 (50:23):
I know.

Speaker 3 (50:24):
Total retail price.

Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (50:26):
It's total retail price.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
It's so good it is.

Speaker 1 (50:28):
And it's just depending, like even in our
local grocery store, people Imean I'm sure they're hoarding
it like behind me here, but it'slike I'll see it one day like
seven on the shelf.
I'll go the next day to pick upa few items and the whole shelf
is empty.

Speaker 2 (50:46):
So, oh, there we go.
Oh yeah, I got a few bottles uhsticking around.
I just don't put them in mybackground.
But oh, but, shane, if, if youever want to ride, uh, you
should check out.
Uh, bourbon country burn.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
I've heard about it.

Speaker 2 (51:02):
Yeah, we've done it.

Speaker 3 (51:04):
It's a couple.
It was a couple that does it.

Speaker 2 (51:06):
Yes, yeah, a couple of years and it's, it's a lot of
fun.

Speaker 1 (51:14):
So, yeah, they put out a very um, a very vague
email, um, leading to oralluding to that this was, you
know it was a, it was an ideafor them and just like, just
like bike virginia was forsomebody down the line and and
but um, that you know theyenjoyed it.
But now they have family youknow they've had children um,

(51:35):
and that they weren't sure whereit was going to go, and, and
this may be the last one.
So either they're great intosales and marketing and we are
hook, line and sinker like theold catfish bait.
And and and here we are, catfishbait and and here we are, um.
The only problem, in ourpersonal opinion, is the ride is
very similar, where the routesare the same and that's the same

(51:56):
year after it's difficult, sofor us for us, you know, being
our love of bourbon and and andand and the enjoying of going to
some of the distilleries.
Um, we'd like to see differentdistilleries or whatever, and so
, but we felt that being thelast year that we would.
This is right in the podcastand we can, you know maybe it's
just a great.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
I was going to say maybe it's just a great.

Speaker 2 (52:18):
This is our target market right here.
So go ahead, michael.
I was saying getting back nowthat we've kind of going down
rabbit holes here, but bourbon,getting bourbon, nothing wrong
with that.
So you guys are getting away.
What, what you got plans to toshake it up?
What?
What's the, what's the futurelook like?

(52:39):
What do you guys think?

Speaker 3 (52:40):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's sort of, you know, the
organization is 30 plus yearsold, so it's you know, and it's
a nonprofit.
So it's not easy to kind ofbreak out and like figure out,
well, what are we going to do,like we were doing all this
stuff.
And there's a million ideas,you know, like from board

(53:01):
members to friends, to you know,all these different concepts of
what to do.
And it's amazing, you know.
I mean you guys experiencedthis.
But when you started, whenyou're into something, everybody
has an idea.
Everybody is like, oh, you cando this, or you should do this
and you should do that, and it'slike, yeah, it's a great idea.
So so we we sort of we we reachout, made a great call with the

(53:27):
director out at Psychcle Oregonand they're doing some cool
stuff over there, opening up awhole advocacy side, and they're
doing some rides.
But you know, the rides arejust not, they don't really pay
the bills that much.
So they're branching out ofdifferent areas and so we're
doing something similar, ourpath forward we haven't really
announced too much of it yetdoing something similar, our
path forward, and we haven'treally announced too much of it

(53:48):
yet.
We're kind of still trying tofigure out how it's all going to
work is sort of have kind oftwo arms of Bike Virginia and
Bike Virginia.
In the past has been in and outof advocacy, you know, like I
was saying like working with theDMV and sort of advocacy at the
state level, and so we'rehoping to reopen that up and

(54:12):
work with communities aroundVirginia or Mid-Atlantic, or
even the whole US for thatmatter, because I think
collectively between Kim and Iand Sam, we have a lot of
collective knowledge about stufflike active recreation and

(54:33):
tourism and how to put on eventsand things that could be
valuable for communities.
Looking for, you know like, howdo we, you know, get rid of,
you know, obesity in ourcommunity?
Or how do we, you know, attracttourism in our community?
How do we, you know, attracttourism in our community?
How do we do these differentthings that we could, we could
help them?
So we're hoping to sort of havea consulting arm to help

(54:57):
communities with the knowledgethat we have and then also still
put on events, but smaller, notthe big tour anymore.
One of the things that we'relooking at is like even like
real small, like 20 to 40 peopleand more kind of like the back
road style tour, if you guysknow those those guys, but sort

(55:22):
of like all inclusive, you know,and it's kind of like like
everything is there and it'ssort of nice and and all that
sort of stuff, and then, um,maybe even just like one or two
day events.
So that's kind of our.
Our path forward is sort of thatconsulting side and then events
and and and just so you guysknow too, all the staff at bike

(55:47):
virginia was furloughed in july,okay, so we were all you know
too, all the staff at BikeVirginia was furloughed in July,
okay.
So we were, all you know, like,like after the tour, shortly
after the tour, we were all letgo and, um, just kind of a, you
know, it was like wow, like Isay I've been the longest job
I've ever had, and so it was.
You know, know, from afinancial situation is like, oh,
now I don't have the incomethat I had.

(56:08):
And then also just from apsychological, like, wow, you
know, like it's end of an erafor me.
You know it's 15 years in thissort of space and now, now it's
not really there.
So back to landscaping you know,and I've done some of that- and
I've kind of I've thought aboutlike, okay, we'll adjust all
some stuff.

(56:28):
In fact, I got a friend thathe's got a couple of development
projects and he wants me tokind of give him a proposal for
stuff, and I'm like I've gotknowledge, but it's like
15-year-old knowledge.
You've got to knock the dustoff of it and get back into it.

Speaker 2 (56:42):
Well, I've got a half an acre behind my house that
needs help.
I mean you could start there.

Speaker 1 (56:47):
There you go house that needs help.
I mean, you could start there,you know, there you go.

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Yeah, I charge them.
I charge them a lot, gene.
Hey, bourbon, I can hook you up.
You got to do the work first,then we can provide.
I'm just kidding.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
That's true, but I you know, from a personal
standpoint you talked about theyou kind of hit home.
You don't know, you hit home,but I'll tell you.
You hit home In 2008 and nine.
You hit home, but I'll tell you, you hit home.
In 2008 and nine I lost twofull-time jobs within like a
week and a half of each otheralmost, and you know I started
over and and that's kind ofdefinitely like talk about a

(57:21):
slap of reality, and so I cancompletely understand where that
came from.
And and we just were we justinterviewed some people from
Padre Cycling a charter that aredoing a little intimate kind of
thing and so and Michaelactually always does away from
the show not recorded butMichael will talk to me about

(57:41):
you know, there's a lot ofpeople who can't.
You know, if you start like,let's just say, just for a
second COVID and you were in acareer and you start over and
you have to have new benefits ata new job and you get two weeks
off of work with your newvacation and you have a family,
go home and tell your wife thatyou're going to spend one of the
two weeks that you have andyou're going to do a week long

(58:04):
bike tour.
Tell me how that goes.
And so I think your your ideaof having some, you know, maybe
one or two day deals, or maybeone overnight deal or or some.
I think that's actually reallyum, uh, really, I mean more
intimate rides.
I think it was described to meas the way you were looking at
it.

Speaker 2 (58:21):
So and you know, adam and I have talked about this
because we generally do, uh, one, or generally do two week long
rides every every year.
We try to mix it up, um, butwe've often talked about getting
involved in more of just likethe the two-day weekend type
rides and things like that, andwe, from our point of view, have
often thought, you know, weneed to get into more of those

(58:44):
type of rides, um, which wouldallow us to get out and see more
places and things like that.
So you might be onto somethingthere and see we're kind of both
lucky.

Speaker 1 (58:54):
We both have careers that allow us to remote work,
and so we actually, when we'reon these cycling tours, many
times we don't really advertisethis a lot, but we actually have
laptops in our bags and then we, you know, we might sit down.
I'm not going to lie.
We sit down at dinner and thenthere's a bourbon usually, but
then we're banging away emailsand everything and doing work

(59:15):
from the road.
So we make it work the way wemake it work, and then some
people online would be like wewant your jobs.
You're always gone.

Speaker 3 (59:30):
I'm like well, I don't know if you know, but you
know, there's there's time afterwork, though, that we can, you
know, have some fun andenjoyment.
So, yeah, yeah, and I, I've,I've been working from home
since about 2011.
Ish, wow, we kind of did awaywith our office.
So you're right, you're, you're.
it seems like you have from theoutside, like you have all this
time, but you're kind of alwaysworking you know like you're not

(59:54):
always taking a bunch of timeoff, but you're sort of always
hanging it, whether it's like anhour a day or an hour a day.

Speaker 1 (01:00:01):
No, there's no money through Friday.

Speaker 3 (01:00:02):
There's, there's, no, there's like when I was there
is for me, but whatever you Idon't work for the, but whatever
you don't work for, Some of usdon't work for the federal
government.

Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
Some of us have to work for county government, but
but I tell my family that youknow, in the old days, you know,
I oversee 84 employees.
I think In the old days, fridaynights, you did not call your
boss on the weekend.
I mean the place had to beburning down or something.
And nowadays it could beSaturday night and my wife will

(01:00:36):
all the time.
I mean I understand where she'scoming from, by the way.
She's like are you getting paidto take those calls on Saturday
night?
I'm like, well, yeah, it's kindof kind of part of the gig.
So you, but but there is nofilter anymore.
So Yep, you're right.

Speaker 3 (01:00:48):
And I like it.
I mean it's a change.
It's just like everything thatwe've been talking about.
It's always a change, and I'vekind of adopted this phrase, but
change is the one constant,absolutely, and everything is
going to change.
And it's just like the bicycleindustry is changing.
The bicycle tour industry ischanging.

(01:01:09):
The bicycle tour industry ischanging and because it's
because people are changing.
You know, like the people thatdid the events are are moving on
, they're doing, they're agingout and the people that are
younger are just not doing thoseevents anymore.
They're doing other stuff.
They're still riding, um, butyou know, like they're just it's
different.
They, you know it's more likegroup rides with buddies and

(01:01:31):
friends than it is organized.
And even if it's organized,especially like just local
Richmond stuff, they're prettygood rides but they're all free.
You know, it's just like a bikeshop says, hey, we're doing
this big dumb ride, come ridewith us.
And you know, 100 people,people will show up for the bus
and it's not supported.
You know, and you've got yourriding gps, computer and you're

(01:01:53):
kind of on your own.
But that's kind of the youngergen under the boomers, that's
more their style than you know.
The boomers like the, I think,coming from the, you know the
structure and structure exactlyI want to pay this thing and I
want to know everything is thereand I want to ride my bike.
Nowadays it's just like usworking from home.

(01:02:14):
They didn't work from home.
They checked in and they hit atime clock and did all kinds of
stuff.
It's all just change.
And change can be uncomfortablebut at the end of the day it's
still just change.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
It's going to happen.
So tell us a little bit aboutPelo Bikes, if you don't mind.

Speaker 3 (01:02:34):
Sure, yeah.
So, pelo, as I mentioned before, we sold our first bike in May
of 2016 and we have been, we'vesort of we've been.
It's been a roller coaster too.
So when we started the companyit is a children's specific

(01:02:54):
bicycle company and just a quickbackstory on how even the
concept was launched was I, youknow, being a cyclist myself and
you know all into bikes andthat stuff.

(01:03:16):
I, you know, being a cyclistmyself and you know all into
bikes and that stuff I didn'trealize how crappy kids' bikes
were until I had kids and reallyhad to get them a bike.
And I was like, you know, wehad some hand-me-downs at first,
but then my now 16-year-old atthe time he was six, I think,
maybe five but we went, we rodeour bikes down to the local bike
shop and got him a 20-inchCannondale single speed and it
wasn't cheap, it was like 300bucks and we rode it back and I

(01:03:40):
started really kind of checkingit out and the geometry was cool
, but it was heavy.
It was really heavy and it hadcheap parts on it and that sort
of stuff.
So I'm like, all right, I'llstart rummaging through my bins.
I'm like maybe I can find alighter seat post and you know I
do different things.
And then there's just like alight bulb went off, like why
didn't somebody make a betterbike, you know.

(01:04:00):
And then so then the researchstarted and all this stuff.
And you guys know, the bicycleindustry is just, it's just like
it's a, you know it's a redocean.
Everybody is always likecompeting and trying to get 300.
There's 300 people that makesaddles.
Everything in the bicycleindustry is like occupied.
But this like one little nicheof good quality lightweight kids

(01:04:24):
bike was not really being sold.
That's cool and that kind ofopened my eyes to it.
And then, next thing, you know,I'm in taiwan, the taipei cycle
show, and I'm talking to likedifferent you know um builders
and all this different stuff andum, yeah, and then it kind of
led down that road and welaunched our.

(01:04:45):
We had four bikes to start umin that in 2016.
And just as a comparison, oursingle speed 20-inch bike was
seven pounds lighter than theCannondale and only $50 more.
So ours was $350 versus $300.
So it was kind of like a ohyeah you know sort of moment.
And then, yeah, pelo has justbeen, we've been cruising along.

(01:05:09):
Covid was wild.
That was kind of.
You know, we were sort ofmaking it and at the time there
was only when we launched thebrand there was one other
company and they were out of theUK.
They're called Isla Bikes andshe was doing something similar
but you couldn't get them in theUS.
And then, right as we'relaunching, another brand came up

(01:05:30):
in the US called Clela Bikesand she was doing something
similar but you couldn't getthem in the US.
And then, right as we'relaunching, another brand came up
in the US called Cleary Bikes,out of California.
And then another brand poppedup WOM, w-o-o-m.
They're an Austrian company butthey have a thing out in Texas.
And then another brand, prevelo, opened up.
So it's still a small littleniche.

(01:05:52):
And then the big boys have alsoimproved their bicycles.
They've made their kids' bikesbetter over the years and I
think partly because of smallbrands like us kind of making it
better.
And then we were kind ofchucking along and the other
market still was kind of thereand I was still doing bike

(01:06:13):
Virginia stuff.
And then, and then COVID camealong and it's like man you know
, we sold all the bikes we hadand then we got another
container and sold that wholecontainer off and then we went
to order more and it was liketwo to three years before we see
the bikes, wow.
So, yeah, the supply chain justwent Reaching halt, yeah, and

(01:06:36):
it was not a screeching halt, itwas like full, it was turned to
11, but the line was just, youknow, around the world to get
bikes, so everybody needed stuff.
So, going back to SRAM andShimimano, those guys were, um,
we switched our geared bikeswere running shram at the time
and we switched to shimano forthat next batch because shorter

(01:06:58):
lead time, um, shram was like400 days of lead time, wow, and
shimano was like 300.
So it's still, you know, over ayear, but it was a little bit
better.
And then, yeah, and then sincethen so you can imagine, we
didn't have bikes for threeyears.
Cashflow was like non-existent.

(01:07:21):
I just kind of put it inhibernation mode.
We moved into a much smallerspace and just waited on our
bikes.
We moved into a much smallerspace and just waited on our
bikes and then our bikes cameback, or they came to us after
waiting for a couple of threeyears, and then the whole market
just doesn't support what itused to support.

(01:07:42):
So then it's taken us a longtime to sell bikes.
We're pretty much sold out ofthe bikes that we had from that
COVID order.
But it took a long time andwe're a small company.
So now we're kind of we'reworking on bikes and we're we're
hoping to get another shipmentthis spring or fall and it's a

(01:08:05):
full revamp of our of our lineup.
We're doing some really coolstuff, like all our drive trains
now.
So we've got three geared bikesout of our lineup.
We've got all the way from abalance bike you guys know those
little bikes that you knowthere's no pedals or anything on
them All the way we've got thatwhich is a 12-inch wheel and

(01:08:25):
then a 14-inch pedal bike, andthen a 16-inch pedal bike and a
20, 14 inch pedal bike and thena 16 inch pedal bike and a 20
inch pedal bike, and those areall single feeds.
And then we have a 20 inchgeared bike, a 24 inch geared
bike and a 27, five inch gearedbike.
And, um, one of the cool thingswe're doing on those is we're
switching all the drive train tothis company called box

(01:08:47):
component, if you guys knowthose guys.

Speaker 1 (01:08:49):
I don't think I've heard of them.

Speaker 3 (01:08:52):
Yeah, they're based out of California and they're
pretty cool.
I talked to them.
They're huge in the BMX world,so Box Components are huge in
the BMX side but they've gotteninto drivetrains like mountain
bike drivetrains.
So one of the reasons thatwe're partnering with them on

(01:09:13):
our next batch of bikes is onethey're a US company and we kind
of it's been sort of from thebeginning of Pelo.
We sort of tried anywhere wecan.
In fact, when I started thecompany, I was like there's got
to be a way.
There's got to be a way to makethese bikes in the US and it
just wasn't At the time in 2000,.

(01:09:33):
We really started the idea in2014, but at that time 97% of
all the bikes produced in theworld were produced in China and
2% were produced I'm sorry, 95%and then 2% were produced in
Taiwan.
So that left 3% for the rest ofthe world for bicycle

(01:09:53):
production.
So if you're going to make any,you know like you can get
cool-ass custom bikes in the US,no problem.
You know, I've got friends thatare custom frame builders and
that's just different.
That's a different.
That's a whole different world.
But if any sort of volume of abicycle china was worth that and
they built a village around it.
You know, just like um foxconnfor apple yeah yeah, I

(01:10:17):
mean it's like it's just, youknow, like it's kind of neat
because the infrastructure andthis is why you know everybody
kind of all the tariff stuff Idon't want to get on too much of
a tangent, but like all theterror stuff is like, yeah,
we're trying to make moreproduction in the US, but and
the weird part about it is thatwhen you put the tariffs on it,

(01:10:38):
it's not the Chinese that arepaying it, it's me Exactly.
Ultimately, it's trying to getpassed on.
We still ignore the bus, but ittries to get passed on to the
customer.
So it's a weird thing.
And then it's like, oh well, ifyou're charging us all this
money, how can we even thinkabout trying to produce anything
you know in the US?
So it's like, and then if youlook at China and Taiwan, you

(01:11:03):
know they built thisinfrastructure and it's like,
like I say, it's like a village.
So you know like you'll havethe assembler, which is like
what our manufacturer does.
They basically they build theframe and then they gather all
the components and then theyassemble the bikes, they paint
them and do all that stuff too.
But you know like where theyare, just down the street, is

(01:11:25):
the cardboard guy, and just downthe street is Kenda tires, you
know, so they can just quicklyget it up.
You know it's not like us.
Even if we do try to buildbikes, everything is still
imported, all the parts.
You know Shimano comes fromMalaysia.
Or you know, like all thetubing is still coming from
China, or you know, like allthis sort of stuff.

(01:11:46):
So they've built that networkwe used to have, you know, we
used to have it here.
But just like you know, we'vekind of all of our manufacturing
, you know, through our UShistory is like.
You know we're more, I feellike we're more design,
intellectual type stuff in the US.

(01:12:07):
I think we're going to get moreback to manufacturing just
because we got a lot of peoplethat need a lot of jobs and you
know.
you know there's a great jobManufacturing jobs are good jobs
.
So, um gosh, what was I evengoing with that?

Speaker 2 (01:12:23):
I think you're, I think you're a hundred percent
on because you know you look atlike Detroit in the forties and
the fifties and the thirties andall that.
I mean that's what you'retalking to village.
Everything that you needed tobuy to build an automobile was
being produced in Detroit, fromthe seats to the tires, to
everything to build anautomobile was being produced in
Detroit, from the seats to thetires, to everything.
So you're exactly right.

(01:12:45):
It's hard to overcome that.
But I do want to give you kudos,because we've often talked,
Adam, that one of the biggestthings is as younger, the
younger generation is notgetting into cycling.
And you know what, If you makethose bicycles lighter, it's
going to make it more enjoyablefor them and then there's a
better chance that they're goingto continue doing that as they
go.
Cause I remember when I was akid I mean the bike weighed a
ton, right, I mean it was myfreedom, but I looked at cycling

(01:13:07):
different than the young kids.
But you make those frameslighter, make it more enjoyable
for them and we have a betterchance of hooking them to uh,
you know, Start a lifelongcycling journey.

Speaker 1 (01:13:18):
I was a kid in the 80s and I had a BMX Huffy before
my parents finally said goodbyeto me it was a mighty fine
Huffy too.
By gosh, it was chrome and Ibroke the frame on a jump, but
that's not important right now.
Then I got a GT Performerbecause my dad said, oh, he said
my son's getting into all thiscrazy stuff, and the guy said

(01:13:38):
I'd get him something a littlehigher quality, Otherwise, he
said.
He said my son is getting intoall this crazy stuff and the guy
said, oh yeah, get himsomething a little higher
quality, Otherwise he's going toget hurt, and so, but you know,
that's a, that's a great point.
And and I have a question realquick, you said a balance bike.
I see the word Strider.
Is Strider a brand or isbalance bike?
A Strider is a brand of abalance bike.

Speaker 3 (01:13:55):
Yeah, so Str balance bike, yeah, so strider is kind
of like the kleenex.
You know, like what do you saywhen you need the tissue?
You say, oh, you got a kleenex.
Yeah, it's kind of like striderand it's rather.
I mean, to their credit, they,they popularize the whole
balance bike market and which isa kind of it's a funny thing.
I always kind of chuckle on theinside because you know, like a
balance bike is really thefirst bicycle you look way back

(01:14:18):
you.
The first bicycle was like twowagon wheels with a thing in the
middle.
No crank, you just used yourfeet to glide along with it.
So yeah, it's kind of funny, so, strider is a brand.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
A brand, okay.
So yeah, because you know, justin my neighborhood I live in a
subdivision here and I see thekids going around and they pass
the Strider brand bike aroundand once their kid outgrows it,
then they go to the neighbor, tothe neighbor, to the neighbor
to the neighbor.
But yeah, I always said, youknow, my father taught me how to
ride a bike.
And some may think this iscruel, but he actually we lived

(01:14:54):
out in the country, in Illinois,and there was a lot of hills
and there's an old apple orchard, illinois, and there was a lot
of hills and there's an oldapple orchard, and he took me to
the top of the hill and I'm notkidding you when he would hold
onto the seat for a while andthen eventually he just kind of
gave a little push and and itwas grass and dirt and then that
was it.
I mean so.
But now, um, my, my golfpartner and great friends, his

(01:15:15):
grandson had one of thosebalanced bikes for a while.
His grandson had one of thosebalance bikes for a while and
then finally they gave him aregular bike and that afternoon
they took the training wheelsoff.

Speaker 3 (01:15:24):
So I tell you, it's like the balance bike has it's,
it's, it's transformed, like notonly how quickly kids get into
cycling or are able to cycle,but also sort of like how they
do it, because it's, you know,with with it, like you know, my
both of my boys.

(01:15:44):
They they were on the striderand they started pedaling.
They're like my oldest startedpedaling his first pedal bike at
two, like he was pedaling abicycle and riding a bicycle at
two years old.

Speaker 1 (01:15:55):
That's awesome, you know years old that's awesome In
our generation.

Speaker 3 (01:15:57):
it was like 7, 8, 10.
It wasn't uncommon, nobodyreally thought about it.
But if you think about abalance bike from a kid's
perspective, it's like and Itell this to parents all the
time too I'm like just get thebike, even when they're one, and
just put it in the house andthen they just think it's like a

(01:16:18):
toy and they pick it up andthey do these things and what
they're doing is they'relearning balance, you know.
And what are three componentsto cycling is balance breaking
and pedaling right.
You have to have those threethings to ride a bicycle.

Speaker 2 (01:16:34):
Michael, what do you always say?
What you don't need?

Speaker 1 (01:16:38):
brakes no you can't coast forever.
That's debatable.

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
My saying is, and it's on my watch here on my
little band thing is you can'tcoast forever, so yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:16:50):
There you go, there you go, yeah, so if you think
about a little bitty baby kidthat learns balance, because
once they pick it up they'rejust like you know, they're
cruising.
Oh yeah, that's cool.
And our balance bike also has arear brake.
It's got this little tiny brakelever on it and so, whether the
kid even knows how to use it,they're exposed to it, right.

(01:17:12):
So they're already starting.
They're like what is this thing?
So when they move to the nextbike and they're like, oh, I
don't know what it is, but I'mfamiliar with it, and so they've
already learned balance.
So then the next thing is pedaland braking, and if they're
introduced to braking andthey're already kind of over
that hurdle, so if you take awaybalance from learning how to

(01:17:32):
ride a bicycle, that's you,you've already got the balance
down.
You're figuring out how tocrank your legs around now.
So you take that one elementout.
So now kids are like, well,shit, yeah, they just they're
riding it so young, right, andum, you know, just kind of talk
about.
You know, tie that back intolike what we were talking about
earlier with just thedemographic and what the kids
doing are they playing videogames and stuff, and and yeah,

(01:17:55):
that's definitely part of it,but they're also they're they're
getting into it so much earlierthan we did, and then they're
exposed to so much more stuffthan we were.
You know, like with the internet, and not only just the internet
and games and stuff, but RedBull and the X Games, and it's

(01:18:16):
like the kids, you know, I meanit's still a big deal, but like
my kids don't even make a careless about, you know, the tour
de france, because that's likejust a different thing but a
bunch of old guys on bikes doingthese crazy jumps and all this
shit.
Man to watch this stuff all dayand then.

(01:18:36):
So then they're also learningall that stuff and they're just
doing.
They're still biking, they'rejust doing it differently than
we have in the past.
Yeah, so, yeah.
So back to pedo, you know ourand michael, what you were
talking about, like that, thatis sort of our, our core things
like planting the seed and, ifyou can, that's one of the
things that I used to talk aboutall the time too is like, you

(01:18:58):
know, when I started the company, um, people would I would go to
these trade shows and orfestivals and stuff, and people
would come up to them and they'dbe like, oh, this is cool, what
is this?
And then they would, they wouldsee the price and it was like
$300 for, you know, a littlebike.
And they're like, wow, theywould balk at it.
You know, I'm not gonna pay$300 for my kid or a bike that

(01:19:20):
my kid's going to outgrow in twoyears, and you know.
And A hard sell, yeah, and youknow.
But I mean, if you're a cyclist, you're kind of like $300.
That's what I spend on a seatpost.
Like for my kid to have a greatbike.
That's a bargain, you know, forsomebody that rides a bunch.
So for somebody that rides abunch, so that aside.
But my argument to the peoplethat would buck up the price was

(01:19:41):
like, okay, well, let's look atthis.
You go to Walmart and pay $100for the bike and you go out and
the kid tries to ride it and itprobably doesn't work right
because the brakes are so hardto pull or the geometry is so
awkward that the kid is justlike they almost look like a
carnival sort of clown on thebike or something and it's super

(01:20:04):
crazy heavy.
So it's like, yeah, thatexperience wasn't great for the
kid.
And you put them on a good bikelike a pillow and it's like,
whoa, okay, the brake works welland I can go.
So you spend $100 on the bikethat the kid rode one time and
thought it's tough, so it didn'twant to ride anymore.
You paid three times as muchbut your kid rides it probably

(01:20:28):
20 times as much as he did theWalmart bike.
So if you start like, if youwant to do it money wise, you
start putting that money out perride.
It's like, you know, not toolong, that $300 bike is like
already way more beneficialfinancially than that hundred
dollar.
You know bike that you know youcan sell real cheap.

Speaker 2 (01:20:47):
And, by the way, we have no issues with Walmart
bikes but but your kids willenjoy it much better if they've
got a quality bike.
And I have bought a Walmartbike before.
I had to put it together Likeit was just in a box and it's
like put this thing together, uh, which I was wondering.

(01:21:08):
Why that rear?

Speaker 1 (01:21:09):
seat was on the front of that thing.
That was.

Speaker 3 (01:21:11):
It doesn't even have a seat what you don't even need
to see that.

Speaker 2 (01:21:14):
But, uh, you know so, I, I, I hear what you're saying
and there is a lot ofadvantages to that.
And, and you know so, I hearwhat you're saying and there is
a lot of advantages to that.
And you know, I have childrenand them having that first
experience, and it being apositive experience, goes a long
ways, because if they have anegative experience, then you
have to, as a parent, talk theminto that next step.
If they have a great experience, then they're like coming to

(01:21:35):
you saying I want to do thismore, I want to do this more
Exactly.

Speaker 3 (01:21:37):
Let's go for a ride.

Speaker 2 (01:21:40):
Absolutely.
They're like coming to yousaying I want to do this more.
I want to do this more, exactly, let's go for a ride,
absolutely.
So I'm assuming you got awebsite out there for the Pelo
bike If I wanted to buy onewhere would I go, pelobikescom
Yep.

Speaker 1 (01:21:51):
Is that P-E-L-L-O?

Speaker 3 (01:21:53):
It is.

Speaker 2 (01:21:54):
P-E-L-L-O-B-I-K-E-S dot com and we'll put that on
our website we sure will, youcan drop that on YouTube and
Facebook and

Speaker 1 (01:22:02):
podcasts and everything.

Speaker 3 (01:22:04):
One final thing I wanted to say your website is
coming Cool.

Speaker 2 (01:22:07):
Okay, one thing I wanted to say.
Adam, I know something aboutRichmond Virginia.

Speaker 3 (01:22:14):
Oh.

Speaker 2 (01:22:15):
All right, yeah, do you know anything about that?
All right, yeah, do you knowanything about that?
I believe, if I am not mistaken, patrick Henry said his famous
quote in one of the churchesthere.
What was it?

Speaker 3 (01:22:28):
Oh, come on Give me liberty or give me death he said
it in.

Speaker 2 (01:22:31):
Richmond Virginia.

Speaker 3 (01:22:32):
He did Churchill.

Speaker 2 (01:22:34):
Yep At one of the churches there.
Exactly During the revolutionin 1777 probably it turned the
whole country around like it'sthe whole the revolutionary
thing started happening give meliberty or just ax me right now
but, you know it's funny is?

Speaker 3 (01:22:51):
my son, um, when he was in elementary, had to recite
that and he was kind ofstruggling with the you know
remembering it and he was kindof struggling with remembering
it and he was kind of I'm like,all right, let's go, let's go to
the church where it happened.
There you go, it's perfect, andexperience it.
You know, from that perspectiveand man, he nailed it.

(01:23:11):
I took a video of him.
It was pretty cool.

Speaker 2 (01:23:14):
Yeah, it was the St Charles or St John's, St John's,
I think, church.

Speaker 3 (01:23:20):
But yeah, it was the St Charles or St John's, St
John's, I think church.
But yeah, they have a hugeIrish fest every year right in
that little area and the churchis kind of part of that theme.

Speaker 2 (01:23:27):
I'll have to see if we've got any listeners on our
podcast from Richard.
Maybe that'll be our listenerspotlight one of these days.

Speaker 1 (01:23:32):
Well, I hope after this we do.

Speaker 2 (01:23:36):
Well, we might.
If he listens to our podcast,then we've got somebody we do a
listener spotlight.

Speaker 1 (01:23:41):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:23:43):
Which kind of highlights a certain town.
I give little hints and havepeople guess, and then the next
episode we tell them where itwas and we thank them.

Speaker 1 (01:23:50):
So Michael's background used to be history
teacher and he brings that tothe show and we kind of we have
a little fun with that wherehe'll say, do you know where
that is, adam?
And he'll go oh, you rememberthis, don't you?
And I'm like, yeah, I have noidea.

Speaker 2 (01:24:04):
But that's how I slept through history.
Well, he didn't sleep throughbecause he went to military.

Speaker 1 (01:24:08):
I did go to military school A lot of attention.

Speaker 2 (01:24:10):
Let's just say that.

Speaker 1 (01:24:11):
Colonel Meredith, I don't know where you are now,
but that's two times that you'vebeen mentioned in two shows.
So listen, we've been talkingwith Shane Cusick and Shane, I
appreciate you coming and givingus some of your time this
evening.
I've highly enjoyed talking toyou about Bike Virginia, where
it was where you guys arelooking and I see Bike Virginia

(01:24:35):
right now.
Bikevirginiaorg is the website.
Nothing new there right nowit's still showing last year's
ride, but any idea when someonemight want to take a look at,
maybe when you might be willingto announce some things.

Speaker 3 (01:24:50):
Yeah, hopefully sooner than later.
That's sort of one of ourthings, like I was saying.
Like you know, 30 plus year ofdoing certain things, it's like
all right.
Now we got to pivot, we got todo these things, and it's like
all right, how do we structureit?
And so we're in the backgroundworking on the website and

(01:25:12):
planning these events.
I'm not sure exactly when we'regoing to launch it out.

Speaker 1 (01:25:17):
That's okay.
I mean, I'm enjoying the dronefootage here, whoever took it.

Speaker 3 (01:25:24):
That was one of our.
Yeah, that was Glenmire Parkone of the years.
That's cool, Cool ride.

Speaker 2 (01:25:31):
But yeah, shane, we certainly thank you for your
time, for coming on and talkingwith us, and certainly we would
appreciate it if you'd relay anyupdates on Bike Virginia to us.
We'd be happy to get those outto our followers and anytime
something comes up new with PeloBikes, certainly let us know.
And you know, if you come outwith something, you know the

(01:25:52):
latest and greatest, orsomething maybe we can have you
on a future show, just to talkto you about kids biking and the
Pelo Bikes that you guys makeand things like that.
So I think that'd be awesome.

Speaker 3 (01:26:01):
That would be awesome .
I'd love to touch base when wedo the next batch, when the next
batch of bikes comes out.

Speaker 2 (01:26:07):
Yeah, keep us informed.
We'd love to have you back.

Speaker 1 (01:26:10):
Yeah, for sure, I, I, I, so thank you, and I know
we've we've played.
We played back and forth emailsand this was definitely worth
the wait and this was a lot offun.
I really appreciate your time.

Speaker 2 (01:26:25):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:26:26):
I had a great time.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (01:26:29):
All right guys.

Speaker 1 (01:26:32):
Okay, well, listen, you know listening to that again
.
I always enjoy when we dointerviews like that I mean
gentlemen's building bikes and,you know, enveloping rides.
I'm a little bit sad.
I mean, here we always talkabout rides going away, and so
that's never a great feeling,but I thought the interview was

(01:26:54):
great.

Speaker 2 (01:26:55):
Yeah, it's a great interview, you know, interesting
to learn about.
You know a segment of bikesthat we don't really think much
about, you know, other than hey,there's a Huffy down at Walmart
or whatever.
But I like his concept, I likehis idea.
I think he's got a good, youknow, business model from what I
can tell.
So wish him all the luck thereand it was a great interview.

(01:27:15):
Sorry, I apologize, it got alittle long, but again, when
we're having these it's aconversation and we just let it
flow.

Speaker 1 (01:27:23):
So I mean, joe Rogan has four hour episodes, so we're
not as that bad, but we're alsonot Joe Rogan, hey, hey, hey,
hey.
Hey.
Dude, remember what we learnedat Podfest we can say whatever
we want, we are the number onecycling one, cycling podcast
well, we very well could be,actually that actually might not

(01:27:46):
be, uh, uh pushing the envelope.
So true story.
And then I know we're going toget to listener spotlight and
end this.
But so we went to one of thesebreakout sessions and I'm sure
all of you have been to somesort of conference or listening
session or learning session orsomething, whether it be small
to big or whatever we're in aroom about.
Would you say like 200 people?

(01:28:07):
Yeah, so we're sitting thereand this lady stands up on stage
and she said hi, I'm so-and-sofrom the number one podcast.
And nobody blinked an eye andshe kept going and she's like by
the way, did you all believethat I was from the number one
podcast?
I'm just like I did.
Why would I not believe you?
And she's like you can saywhatever you want.

(01:28:27):
I mean, your listeners are theones that are going to call you
out.

Speaker 2 (01:28:40):
It's not regulated.
And I was like I told Michaelby golly saying we're the number
one cycling podcast.

Speaker 3 (01:28:41):
Yeah, but then you get into some moral and
credibility things.

Speaker 2 (01:28:43):
But I mean honestly, we're probably pretty high up
there in cycling content.

Speaker 1 (01:28:53):
Well, if you do your research, there is a lot of
downloads, so I love it.
Sure, never thought we would behere, my friend, and this is a
lot of downloads, so I love it.
So sure, never thought we wouldbe here, my friend, and this is
a lot of fun, yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:29:03):
So we're not going to lie, but we could be the number
one cycling podcast Could be.

Speaker 1 (01:29:09):
Possibly.
Well, I know one thing we'rethe number one podcast in this
household.

Speaker 2 (01:29:14):
Well, we are the number one cycling of leisure
podcast.
I will guarantee that.

Speaker 1 (01:29:21):
That's true, that's true.

Speaker 2 (01:29:23):
What do we got to wrap this up?

Speaker 1 (01:29:26):
Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for Listener
Spotlight.

Speaker 2 (01:29:33):
All right, we're going to wrap it up with the
clues for this ListenerSpotlight.
This town was founded byEnglish settlers.
It was settled in the early tomid 1600s.
The town's first economy wasdriven by farming and fishing.

(01:29:54):
Uh, starting in about the mid1800s actually 1840, the
railroad came to town, whichhelped spur its economy towards
recreation.
So, starting in the mid-1800s,this became a recreational

(01:30:14):
destination.
The town is named for alocation in England and this
town is one of the oldest townsin the state, st Louis.
Yeah, because we all know thatin the mid-1800s St Louis

(01:30:37):
developed, became a recreationaldestination.

Speaker 1 (01:30:40):
Well, it's always good to be with you, buddy, I'm
just kidding.

Speaker 2 (01:30:46):
Maybe a little earlier than that.
It was a destination, butcertainly not recreational.
It might have been destinationto you know.
Actually that would have beenall right, head out to
California, so they weren'tgoing there for recreation.

Speaker 1 (01:31:02):
Let Zeppelin sing a song going to California.

Speaker 3 (01:31:06):
Yes, Listen on that note.

Speaker 1 (01:31:11):
I appreciate you always doing the research,
appreciate you bringing that tothe table.
We do have some updates.
We've got some big brag updates.
We do have some updates.
We've got some big brag updates.
We've got jersey updates.
We've got all kinds of thingsto talk about, but we know this
one's long.
So please, in two weeks fromnow, please join us.

(01:31:32):
We'll give you all the updates,everything that you ever want
to know about cycling.
Men and women of leisure.

Speaker 2 (01:31:39):
Maybe not everything, but we'll give you a lot, hey
and you know what today is.
Yeah, Definitely it's a greatday for a bike ride.

Speaker 1 (01:31:50):
All right, have a good day, my friend.
Hey, you too, we'll talk to youlater.