Pedaling Through Georgia: Epic Cycling Adventures, SnoozeBox, BAK 2023 and we sit down with Franklin

Announcer: 1:13

Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure, the podcast for cyclists who understand that riding is not just about getting to the destination but the experience along the way. Now here are the original Cycling Men of Leisure Adam and Michael Hey there.

Michael: 1:29

Hello and welcome back.

Adam: 1:32

Well, I feel like I'm back from a special place in hell, but no, I should-.

Michael: 1:41

You loved every minute of it.

Adam: 1:43

I did, actually I did. What are we talking about?

Michael: 1:47

Well, you, know what We just got back as we're kind of toying with here from Big Bragg bike right across Georgia. So we're going to talk a little bit about that today, give a little bit of rundown, kind of our perspective on what we did, what we saw. We did manage to track down the ride director and a few minutes of his time, so got a little excerpt. We're going to play of him about what. You know how he thought the ride was going. We're also going to revisit a past episode that we've recorded back in April. We've kind of got some new info we'd like to add on to that. So we're going to talk a little bit about that And I'm not going to tell you what the episode is about. You'll just have to wait and see, fine, and then we're going to spend a couple minutes talking about a ride that just finished up here in my neck of the woods.

Adam: 2:42

Oh, is that bike? right across Kansas.

Michael: 2:47

That would be the bike right across Kansas. You're absolutely correct.

Adam: 2:52

You know, one of these days we got to do that right. I know you have done it, but I have never been able to do it.

Michael: 2:58

I'm trying, but you don't like to leave Eastern time, so it's a little difficult.

Adam: 3:02

Can you blame me?

Michael: 3:03

I mean you're always an hour behind. We are central time. Oh yeah, you're central.

Adam: 3:08

All right, you're essentially late, okay.

Michael: 3:12

Move on, move on Okay.

Adam: 3:13

We're done Well. On a serious note, how was your travel home? I mean, flight was okay. After I saw you, you were on standby and you looked a little frustrated, but then I saw you get on the plane. I was like, okay, that's a good sign, that's a good sign.

Michael: 3:28

Well, the driver, as you know, at the hotel was not in a big hurry to get either us, our bicycles or the flight crew of our flight to the airport in any bit of a hurry, so he was like almost 20 minutes late. Weirdly enough, he shows up driving a taxi cab, parks it in the front, gets out and goes oh sorry, it's been one of those mornings. And then Waltz is in and gets the keys And I'm like he's a moonlight, he's a taxi driver.

Adam: 3:55

What are you like?

Michael: 3:56

taking cabs between your runs at the hotel. But so he got us there late and we missed our flight. We didn't miss our flight, but we missed the 30 minutes being there prior, and so you, of course, were at the gate before I was and you got on the flight. I had to ride standby. So, yeah, i was a little bit frustrated because we were in Augusta not a big airport, not a lot of flights out. And then it also worried me when the lady at the counter said well, how easy would it be for you to get to Atlanta By driving? By driving, yeah, it would be a whole heck of a lot easier if you just put me on a flight. But so that had me concerned that I might have to be driving to Atlanta to get a flight. But you know, just before they shut the doors, you seen me waltz in and I was like I was on standby for the next flight but got in there. So it was good, yeah.

Adam: 4:55

So my story is is we got, obviously, the shuttle drivers late. We get over there and I had been bumped up to first class all the way home, and that usually doesn't happen for me.

Michael: 5:04

Is this relevant to the story? It is.

Adam: 5:06

Because it usually doesn't happen to me coming out of Atlanta. There's so many people with much higher statuses that I have on Delta that usually it's like all right, you big chump, get in the back of the plane and be quiet. And so I was surprised when, in the middle of the week, when we were doing the ride, I had been upgraded to first class. I'm like oh yeah look at that.

Michael: 5:24

I came across my bike And I heard that every single day. Oh hey, did I happen to mention I'm first class? I did not. Yes, you did. I heard about it so much Bull you liar, so.

Adam: 5:40

So anyways, shuttle drivers late, you and I are definitely in panic mode. The flight crew actually said oh, don't worry, guys, the Augusta airport's dead, you'll be fine, don't worry about a thing. Well, the flight crew got out on that flight, but you and I obviously didn't, and so we got on the next flight. And so when I got there I said she said oh you, we can't get you, that's your five minutes later something. And I'm like so frustrated at this shuttle driver. So, anyways I'm, i get bumped up first class all the way home, even on the next flight, and you're in the airport.

Adam: 6:14

Not relevant to the story. Just listen, you're in the airport and you're looking at like rent in a car. The rental car place is open And I'm feeling pretty low because I'm like, oh man, everything on this trip has just gone wonderful. Um, you know, no mechanicals, no flats, no issues, no concerns. We had a time of our life, we met all kinds of people and I'm thinking, oh man, he's going to spend his anniversary in a damn airport all day long. And so then, when you came onto the plane, i was like Hey, i gave you a big thumbs up, like, hey, you made it.

Michael: 6:48

Well then, class.

Adam: 6:49

Yeah, Yes, You passed me And so. So, anyways, you're on. And then I felt bad because we're on the same plane but I had 21 minutes to make it to my next flight And so I tried calling you to be like, Hey, I got to go. I just I don't have a choice, And I figured you would realize it. But then I'm okay. So then you call me back. I can't find my phone. My watch is going off but I can't hear my phone because I had put it on airplane mode but my watch was ringing So I obviously didn't put. I was so frustrated in the morning. My. So, my, I'm now.

Adam: 7:23

I'm talking to you like Michael Knight, like from the night writer in the middle of the airport. I'm like I got to go to my next flight, Pull in the Dick Tracy, Yeah. So then I finally made it to the flight, which was crazy because of course, I had to take the plane, train, go to the other one And then, of course, no problem made at home and everything. But I'll tell you what weather was beautiful. On the ride We got to see all of our friends, 25 people on our team, Awesome, And that was just awesome. I wish we could have, you know, got one photo of the whole team but we ended up getting a lot of different single pictures of some people that we missed. I think the one picture's got like 15 people And I was hard to coordinate.

Michael: 8:08

It's hard to coordinate, because on this ride you had some people camping indoors, you had some people camping outdoors on their own and you had people doing the the Padres tent service. So and everything was spread out a lot So it was hard to like coordinate. In a lot of towns We didn't have like cell service so we couldn't just like, hey guys, this is what we're doing.

Adam: 8:29

So yeah, it was. It was definitely a good time And I, you know, we got to see Armando and we've talked about him on the show before and and so we got to spend time with him and all of all of I mean I can't name everybody, but you know, just all of our team was just just awesome, you know. And then Brasleton, with the layover stop. So if you are listening to this and and do not know what Bragg is, bragg is bicycle ride across Georgia. I think this was like the 43rd year. Someone don't kill me, i hope that's the right, right, right answer. But what they do is they have a layover day. So if you've done bike packing or week long bike rides before, bragg is unique where it has a layover day, and this year it was in Brasleton And I thought Brasleton knocked it out of the park.

Adam: 9:20

I just thought they did a wonderful job of offering things. The brewery was right there. And of course, we did the chocolate and wine walk, which I was kind of hesitant. I'm not a big wine guy, but I had a good time. Oh you, wine. There was no cheese, there was chocolate. I thought cheese went with wine. You, you, you wine people. No, just kidding. But and then at the end of the week we got something special.

Michael: 9:52

Yes, we did. Let me set the stage. All right, please do. We are in the town of help me out, thompson, i think, thompson, we got in a little later that afternoon. I mean we did, you know, legitimately. We helped some, you know young ladies change their tires and you know all that kind of stuff. So we got in a little later than normal, but I am sleeping. The only place I could find to sleep indoors is literally I have half of my sleeping thing under a water fountain.

Adam: 10:25

Well, what would be the problem on that?

Michael: 10:29

Yeah, i'll tell you. When that guy at four o'clock in the morning decides he wants a drink, stumbles over me and then is like slurping water and I'm getting a shower. But yeah, we're there not real happy with the situation that we had. We're going to make the best of it. And then who shows?

Adam: 10:46

up, ladies and gentlemen, the man himself, the executive director, franklin Johnson.

Michael: 10:51

Yes, absolutely. Uh, he had one of his snooze boxes that the people had to leave early. They'd planned on leaving early and it was available. And he came over and said hey, you know, you guys have talked about this on your show. How would you like to experience it? And so basically it was like, hmm, snooze box under a water fountain. Not a lot of thinking for me, so we packed up our bed rolls and moved over to snooze box number one.

Adam: 11:27

Ladies and gentlemen, snooze box number one, that's right, it's like Mamo number five, except, exactly Except it had air conditioner and electricity and a full size twin mattress.

Michael: 11:46

And yeah, i mean it was. It was a great experience And we'll talk about more and more about that here in a few minutes. But you know, the ride was great. We met tons of new people, ran into a lot of people that we had, that we had, you know, met previously, either at the spring tune up or last year. I'm just going to give a couple of shout outs to a few people who kind of made my list that I remember right off the right off the bat. There was Stu Bailey, steven, virginia, vic and Mike There are always a lot of fun Mandy, brian, savannah, tall Guy and Jason Those are a few of the names that that I, that I remember right off there. And then of course, our you know our team. We had a lot of people you know, ed and Anita and Steven and those guys.

Adam: 12:35

So Yeah, no, i mean, definitely it was just, it was an awesome time. I mean we I hate to be repetitive, but yeah, there's so many people that we got to enjoy and talk to and they got to know who we are and what we are and what the heck cycling manager leisure actually is. And we also had a showing for the first time of our ladies logo out on the streets of actually, the roads of Georgia, which was the cycling women of leisure. So, and both of those ladies, mandy and Mandy and Anita were just they were so proud and I love it, that just made me so happy that they were out there and you know, showing the lady love.

Michael: 13:14

So Yeah, it was a good time. It surprised me because we ran into a lot of people that came into us and they were like are you the guys doing the podcast? And I would kind of hesitate, I'd like, well, you like it Or you don't like it.

Announcer: 13:28

Or do you?

Michael: 13:29

not like it. You know which one of those two guys you like better? because I'm, i'm him. So that was. That was kind of neat. A lot of people came up to us, recognized us, wanted to talk to us about the podcast. We had several people who were really unhappy that they weren't able to join the team that they had, you know, missed out on that opportunity, which was was cool. But we just met so many really, really really good people, went out to dinner with different people almost every single night, some new, some old, so it was a great experience. The weather rained a couple of days, but it was always a night. So I mean, there might be a little moisture on the road in the morning, but we didn't have to to go through any rain. Winds were not that bad.

Adam: 14:18

The elevation Cool, i met a visitor. I was letting you finish, but I'm going to tell you something. I was telling some friends, i've told some family and I'll say it here on this, on this show, first day coming out of Clayton Probably the hardest cycling day for me that I've ever had It was we had two choices. You could go the shorter route, which was 38 miles, but we had heard that there were these awful, awful, you know 16% peaks. Or you could choose the 58 mile route, which supposedly had less elevation. I won't be able to speak on the 38 route because you and I chose the 58. And let me tell you 50, 100 feet of climb somewhere in there. Let me repeat that, 5,100 feet of climb.

Adam: 15:11

And in Michigan we have hills, don't get me wrong, but we don't have mountains like that. So it was definitely beautiful, unlike you had mentioned that. You know it rained at night. That was the first night that it rained. We were actually in that pavilion and it rained. And then in the morning some of the roads were wet and you had to be a little bit careful. But those hairpin turns, the lakes, absolutely beautiful, beautiful riding. And then, of course, some of those hills Whoa baby, i mean, those were hills that just didn't stop, and so literally they didn't stop, like one of them was like over a mile and a half of just climb.

Michael: 15:52

And hey, i'm the flat lander, i'm from Kansas, you know we've got the Flint Hills out here, but that was way out of my league.

Adam: 16:01

Well, i expected you to come in an hour late down to the second, being from Kansas, but not just kidding, but you know it really was. I mean, for me I'm going to be 100 percent transparent here due to something personal in my life, you know. And then I wasn't able to get out, and then I chose to go on vacation. I didn't get out as much as I wanted to And Franklin had said, hey, you guys been riding. Because he came up to us and said, hey, i appreciate you guys coming out.

Adam: 16:29

To Big Bride He said, hey, you guys been riding, and we're like a little bit. And he just had that grin on his face Like like, oh, you boys got no idea what you got going on tomorrow. And so when we finished, I mean that was definitely a tough ride, But and then each day got a little bit, you know, easier. And then, of course, once you're out on the bike for a while, then you get stronger and stronger. So it was, it was great. I mean I I can't say anything but very proud to call that an accomplishment. I'm happy to share it with you, sir.

Michael: 17:02

So absolutely as always, and I think the total came out over 19000 feet of total climb, which I've said this before. Just to put it in perspective, hikes Peak is 14,115 feet, so we essentially climbed up Pikes Peak and more And a mile more.

Michael: 17:25

Just to put it in perspective. So job well done to us, job well done to everybody. I mean, i know there was some hard hills and a lot of people were. We're gonna, you know we're getting off and walking, you know whatever it takes for them to get up those hills, because those were essentially mountains as far as I'm concerned.

Adam: 17:41

But I'm not afraid to admit it right here, i hiked it on a couple of those hills, didn't like it. I usually take this pride where I'm not gonna walk that. But I mean, it was just at some point like the one forgive me the town, but like that very last hill coming into town I had overheard many people say that they, they had to walk it up, that I mean that was like seven.

Michael: 18:05

That was just a short little hill. It was in town. But I don't know what the grade was 15, 16, i don't know percent It was, it was.

Adam: 18:12

I think it depends on what computer you rode with what it said, but at the end of the day it was definitely that last little ha welcome. So, but anyways, i mean that's why we do it right. I mean, so I was happy to happy have done it And I think that, as usual, i think, for me there was no issues and concerns. I thought everything was wonderfully done.

Michael: 18:40

Say I had no safety concerns And you know you and I have talked about safety on other rides before when we felt that there safety wasn't there, definitely safety. You know I had a good time. I think everybody had a good time. Some of those days were just beautiful, going around the lakes and that type of thing. So definitely, definitely a good time.

Adam: 19:02

Did you get a pimento cheese sandwich or a pickle or I got one pimento and cheese sandwich.

Michael: 19:08

Yes, had quite a bit of peanut butter, probably a little more peanut butter than I really needed, but that's okay. That's okay. That's what it's all about.

Adam: 19:18

That's right.

Michael: 19:20

Well, the other thing I will say is we did have another fun thing occur Cycling men of leisure got mentioned on the local radio station there in Gainesville.

Adam: 19:30

That was pretty cool. Yeah, so we were. We think we just came in, you and I had, i had a phone call to make, and then we met back up after our respective showers and then Franklin said you guys don't answer your phone. I'm like don't answer my phone. I was just on your shower truck. What do you mean? I don't answer the phone. He's like, and he's like, he's like hey, listen, we're gonna do a live radio spot and I'd really be honored if you guys would join us. And we're like okay, you know, we're talking on the microphone all the time. We're good. And sure enough, we climbed up in this news box and the DJ called and started asking him some questions. Franklin, him being Franklin, and said you know how's it going out there? And he said well, i'm the director. I have no idea, but I do have two guys riding the route and they're with us today, and so I actually recorded that and I sent it to my family.

Michael: 20:19

So that was neat to be on the radio there And they mentioned Cycling, men of Leisure, and we each gave a brief, you know, synopsis of how we thought it was going. So that was a good time too. So, overall, great ride. We ended up with, like we said, 25 members of the team. Those 25 members represented eight different states. That's awesome. Two of those riders were women, so that was cool. So I don't know, we'll have to see if we decide to do Georgia again next year.

Adam: 20:53

Well, if we do, i guarantee you we can get a large team again, because many people came up to me. I mean, even if 10% of the people who came and said, hey, i'd like to be on your team next year signed up, i think we would do very well and have a nice showing.

Michael: 21:07

So we could just like have this massive dominating team there. That would be cool. That would be cool. Well, we'll see. We got all winner, at least first part of winner. To figure it out, We're looking at rides and we'll see if Georgia fits in there or not. So we'll see.

Adam: 21:24

Sounds good. You mentioned about revisiting a show.

Michael: 21:29

Yes, And that's kind of why I cut you off. Well, you were talking about the snooze box. Back in April we did a show right after I believe it was Spring Tune Up for Bragg And we talked about snooze box. Franklin Johnson had created a snooze box concept for his rides and I know he's taken it. I think this last week he was in Ohio at the Ohio ride. He's taken it to several other places, definitely taking it to Iowa, and at that time we talked to him a little bit about the snooze box, what it was all about, that type of thing. Well, since that time we spent a little bit of time with the guys who were in snooze box number one, chatted with them a little bit about their experiences before they had to go on their way And they had nothing negative to say about it. They love the concept and all of that. So I thought we would take a minute or two and kind of just talk about what we found out about the snooze box since then, since we had that original conversation.

Adam: 22:37

That sounds good. And so I had a chance on the very last day to speak to Ryan Ryan, i believe, was in snooze box three for Big Bragg And he had done it for Bragg Light the last three days And I just said, hey, listen, we're gonna talk about it on the show, can you give me an idea of how you felt? And he said and, by the way, he gave me permission to talk about this. So he said I'm a guy who uses a CPAP and having known electricity was a huge plus. Not having to move his as he said crap every day was a huge plus. And then the air conditioning on some of those nights being a CPAP user was more comfortable. So he was very complimentary to everything that the snooze box offered from him.

Adam: 23:29

We had talked to those three guys I wish I would have got their names, but we were such in a hustle and bustle and moving everything that they had said that while it's advertised for five people, that they felt that three cycling friends or three ladies together or whatever, would be the perfect. How did you feel about that?

Michael: 23:49

You know, i think looking at it as one thing but actually spending time in it is another, and I think you know it was just you and I that night. Plenty of room, i think, three people. It would be fantastic for You can get up to five people in there, but honestly I'm thinking five people would be a little cramped. I think it'd be a little tight. You could certainly make it work, and if you're only going in there to sleep then it would probably be great, but it would be a little tight with five people in there.

Michael: 24:20

Now, since I got in there, i kind of, you know, have a better feel for it. Each there's two bunk beds on one side and at the end of each bunk bed there is a good size spot to put like your gear or your luggage and that kind of stuff. So each, each one of those has it, and then it has a couch which folds out for two people, and there's also a section on the side of the couch where you'd be able to stow gear. So the gear you can pretty much get out of the way has air conditioning. Each one of the bunk areas has a fan and each one of the bunk areas has an individual light So you could, you know, shut the main light off and still read and not bother everybody else. But I for myself, five people in there, yeah, i think that would be a little bit tight for me.

Adam: 25:05

I do too, and I was thinking about you know, you and I had the perfect condition. It wasn't raining, we needed the air conditioner, we were able to charge all of our stuff, which was great because we were traveling the next day. Everything was wonderful. Now, flip flop that Think about some of the rides that we've been on where it's just pouring. I mean just coming down cats and dogs. If you had five people in there, it'd get a little tight inside that little area. Now, of course, it doesn't mean you have to stay in there. You could have gone under a pavilion or gone into the big, big brag tent or whatever, but if you were trying to get out of for some shelter, it would get tight with five people. I was telling Lauren on my way home. She had said, oh, you guys got to stay in this news box and she said that's so cool. I said, yeah, it really was cool, you know. And she had said, you know, asking me some costs and everything. And I said, well, we didn't pay, you know. But if we would have paid, this is what it would have been And we were looking at it.

Adam: 26:04

I mean it's comparative. I mean thinking of what we paid for our charter for Reg Brigh. I mean it's definitely, he's on the market for the price, definitely well worth your money. I mean air conditioning, electricity you're not moving anything, you just get your bike, you know all kinds of good stuff. I just for me, the only thing I would say is, while advertised for five, maybe a family of five with younger kids, maybe something like that But I would think like four would be put, like four good cycling friends would be able to do that. Three would be an ideal for me.

Michael: 26:40

I totally agree, but you know it was a great experience. I'm glad we got to experience it and really know what that's about. I don't think personally and I think you probably agree with me for the style that we have and we like to be out there talking with people. To me that kind of builds a barrier between that.

Adam: 27:01

But although it certainly beats sleeping under a water fountain, I could understand why you would say that, and I think that brings another point. I mean, with the snooze box you have a guaranteed spot. There's a comfort level there where you don't have to worry about it, where you know you and I are not the fastest riders. I mean I'm not slow when I'm going downhill. But on a serious note, i mean there are many people who are a lot faster than us. They come in and they would get their spot, and you and I had indoor camping And so they would get their spot and they would spread out a little bit. And I understand that they're there, they're getting their area. And then you and I were kind of in trouble, and so that night was just like the heavenly gates opened up, like how would you like this snooze box? I'm like, well, don't twist.

Michael: 27:50

Yes please, yes, please, yes, please. But no, it was definitely a good time. I'm glad we got to experience it And you know we're giving you an honest you know review from our sides. We're, you know, we're not paid by snooze box or anything. So I mean, i think that people at this point who have listened to us really understand that we're going to give you the honest scoop of what we feel And we're not just going to, you know, say a bunch of nice things out there, trying to get something out of it, or whatever.

Adam: 28:28

So I'm glad that you said that, because I think that's what makes what you and I are doing here with the show and everything. I mean, obviously we've made $0.0 on the show. Matter of fact, we've actually, you know, have all kinds of startup costs and everything. But I think, to be to be fair to the, to any of the subscribers or listeners, to give an honest opinion, i mean. So I think that I think that's really important, i think to stay loyal to what we you and I both believe in.

Michael: 28:58

And that was another question. we got a lot of out on the road. It's like so how much money have you guys made from this? We've made $0. You know we've not monetized this. You know we we haven't done really anything to you know, work on making money off of this, and I think a lot of people thought that we were somehow, you know, making money. but we're not. We're just, you know, two guys who like to chat about some of our adventures and people we meet and things that we do, and that's what we're doing. So let's talk about bike ride across Kansas.

Adam: 29:35

You know that's one of the ones that is on my list of wanting to do. I mean the year that you not, not this year, but I think last year it ended in your hometown. Is that correct?

Michael: 29:47

Last year it did end in in yes, in my hometown It has several times but yep And this year it ended about 40 miles down the road for me.

Adam: 29:57

Okay, all right. So did you get to see any of them or not this time?

Michael: 30:03

I did not get to see any of them. My wife works about 45 minutes away in a small town, at the hospital there And it was an overnight town before they ended. So she, you know, got to see you know the town putting on, you know putting bicycles out everywhere and kind of getting into the whole bike right across Kansas fever. So that was kind of cool for her to see that. But to give you a little bit of information around it, this is the 49th year, so it's been around almost 50 years. It was 539 miles this year, wow. So it went from Elkhart, kansas, which is down in the Southwest part of Kansas, all the way through Pleasanton, kansas, which sets about I don't know six miles from the Missouri border. So pretty much took a southern route, hit towns like Spearville, stafford, newton, eureka, chanute, garnet. So I haven't talked to anybody that did it this year.

Michael: 31:15

I would love to hear if anybody listening participated in this year's ride bike right across Kansas. I would love it for them to reach out. You know, hit us on Facebook, something like that, let us know, because we would like to hear kind of how that ride went, kind of maybe some of the highlights and that type of thing. I know I did talk with people last year because it did end here And you know, nobody had anything bad to say, they all had a really good time. It is a longer ride. I mean they every year go from pretty much border to border. So is it seven days? Yes, seven. Actually. I think they call it eight days, if I remember, remember correctly.

Adam: 31:57

And yeah, and so each year the route changes a little bit.

Michael: 32:01

Each year the route changes. You know it's similar to Iowa. You know you got kind of the northern tier, you've got the middle section and then you got the southern tier. It makes it difficult, especially like in the northern tier, because if you look at the northern part of Kansas where it ends where the Missouri border is, you pretty much hit Kansas City metro area. Okay. So you know it's hard to you know kind of finagle it there with, you know and keep them out of like the major, the major city. But it does does fluctuate. I know I went to high school out in the middle of Kansas. I know a few years ago it went, went through there, it was one of the stopping places. So, yep, every year it's a little bit different. So I think, i think I think that's already on our list. I was going to say let's put that on the list, but I think it's actually on that list of rides that we're looking at. I've done it before. A lot of fun.

Adam: 32:57

Even though I'll be an hour late every day.

Michael: 32:59

Well, I kind of expect that, but that's okay, And the good news is you will not have 19,000 feet of of climb.

Adam: 33:11

I'm in, no, but then again I won't be able to say that I climbed 19,000 feet, except I'm going to get to I think pretty soon in Iowa.

Michael: 33:22

So Yeah, But oh well, hey, it's all all in good fun.

Adam: 33:27

You were talking, i didn't want to interrupt, but when you said in Kansas is like Iowa, and I was going to be like, oh, it's flat, but so.

Michael: 33:35

The interstate's pretty flat, as everybody seems to to judge the entire state based upon the interstate, if they've never really been off the road while it's flat? Well, not really, but that's OK.

Adam: 33:49

So we do have the interview with Franklin You, as you mentioned, we were able to sit down with them.

Michael: 33:57

I'm sorry. I just blared ahead and went on to the next topic, didn't I?

Adam: 34:01

Oh, that's OK, But what I'm going to do is we'll. We'll play that here in just a little bit, but we'll save that for the end of the show. And my curiosity is is how do you feel about our next adventure coming up?

Michael: 34:16

Next adventure would be Iowa 50th anniversary. You know, we've got everything planned, we've got our charters, so we're ready to go. It should be interesting.

Adam: 34:31

You've gone to your local Army Navy surplus store and got MREs, just in case we can't eat.

Michael: 34:38

Yes, meals ready to eat. I have a few of those just in case the vendors in the local places completely run out of food, which that is actually a concern by a lot of cyclists out there in me reading posts and stuff. It's like are there going to be plenty of places to eat and stuff? That's why I said it would be interesting. It'll be an experience, it'll be an adventure with as many people as they're saying potentially could be out there. There's going to be some logistical things that I think that they've never had to deal with before, but we're going to go, we're going to take it in stride.

Adam: 35:13

Should be a lot of fun And just to be clear, we are speaking about Raghbri, which is the registers annual Great Bike ride across Iowa. We assume most of you who listening to this probably knew that. But if not, just want to be clear, this is the 50th anniversary. Due to COVID, they skipped a year, as everybody skipped a year almost on everything, and so this is the actual ride, the 50th anniversary. The ride is 500 miles and they're going through 50 towns. But I wanted to ask you if you saw the news article. I did send it to you. To be honest, i know you've been kind of busy with work and everything, but did you see the big change from Ames to Des Moines?

Michael: 36:01

I did. Can I step back for a minute though? Yeah, yeah, you said everybody skipped a year. Does that mean I can take a year off my age?

Adam: 36:08

Sure, I mean you do whatever you want. I mean, everyone else lies about their age.

Michael: 36:12

You're just saying everybody skipped a year, so we could just skip that year and that's awesome. I love it. No, in reality, i did read the article. They are not going for the world's record I believe that's what you're speaking of between Des Moines and Ames.

Adam: 36:29

Yeah, they just said it's just the Guinness's Great Book of World Records is making it impossible. So I don't know, i've never tried to break a world record. I mean I don't think anything I've done in my life is Guinness's Great Book of World.

Franklin: 36:46

Records is worthy.

Adam: 36:47

No, i don't think it is, but.

Michael: 36:50

I think there's another component to that too that I kind of read in the article not necessarily spelled out, but I think there's a big concern that a lot of people saw that I mean there was throwing out numbers online, not officially, but just online. People were throwing out numbers like 100,000 to break the record and things like that, and I think a lot of people were looking for alternative routes. And so just my personal opinion, i think that Matt and the rest of the crew was probably looking at this is just going to force a lot of writers to potentially take alternative, non-safe, unsagged, non-supported routes to get around that, and I think they probably saw that as a perhaps a safety issue.

Adam: 37:34

And I try really hard not to get tied up in social media. You know, big man, on campus social media fight or whatever, there was a post that somebody had posted and had tagged us in and said well, you know, we're going to just take this route and do this way. And all I replied with was I don't think that's the safety, you know. I think that's the safest way to do that. I think you should go with supported sex stop. I mean, the Iowa State Patrol is, you know, helping out. They stop traffic. And I just didn't think that was a safety concern.

Adam: 38:10

And then the gentleman decided that he wanted to voice his opinion and his way, which I understand. All I was fighting for was safety, because I just want to get home to my family, i want you to get home to your family, i want anyone that you know, everybody I love everyone to get home safely, you know, and so. So when he fired back at me, i just deleted the post. I just thought, okay, buddy, i'm not going to, i'm not going to get into a match with you, and my belief is safety and having a good time. I mean, the idea is, i thought was to go out and ride your bike and have a good time. So you're probably right, i think. I think that you're, that you're right on the track where they probably said well, cancel the world record, you know, maybe that'll get people to stay on the regular route and have a better chance of safety. So, yeah, so all right.

Michael: 38:59

Well, did you want to to hit up the interview or brief interview that we had with Franklin? Yeah, I'll drop that Here, kind of his, his synopsis of of what the ride was like.

Adam: 39:10

Yeah, i'll drop that here at the end And then then you'll. you'll close out the show like we normally do. But before I, before I drop that in here, was there anything else that you would add, sir The?

Michael: 39:24

there's. There's two things that I would add. First off, we had a really exciting night on Thursday of Bragg. We actually provided some of our own not necessarily our own, but some Kansas City style bourbon to to a great many people that were gathered there with us, and those bottles were from Jay Riegers, which is a regional distillery here in Kansas City, and we actually had our own labels put on them And it said you know, bottled for cycling, men of leisure, bragg 2023. So that was a really good time. Everybody got a kick out of out of. You know that, and so it was just something I wanted to mention, because I know a lot of people really, really enjoyed that.

Adam: 40:16

So that was cool. That was really neat. That was really neat. Appreciate you setting that up.

Michael: 40:21

Absolutely Happy to do that, and I think the only other thing I would have to say is, if there's anybody out there in the cycling leisure community who, you know, wants us to address anything or has questions about us, i certainly ask them to feel free to reach out to us on Facebook and chat us up. We're happy to talk about different subjects, certainly happy to to bring on new ideas that we haven't talked about, so I'd ask them to do that. Other than that, i don't have anything to say other than it's always today.

Adam: 40:57

It's a great day for a bike ride, that's right, okay, well, here we are, big brag. Twenty twenty three, absolutely well. Where else will you want to be? I can't think of any place. We are here with Franklin Johnson. from a writer's perspective, let me tell you everything's been excellent. I couldn't ask for better. We chose your indoor camping option and everything's worked out. And then we know you have outdoor camping. you've got here. We're sitting in currently inside your stooze box, which is fantastic, by the way, it is.

Michael: 41:33

Yes, i mean air conditioning, bunk beds. This is the way to go.

Adam: 41:37

Fans chargers Yes, not packing and repacking your craft, absolutely. I feel like all I've done this week is pack, repack, repack, repack. What about, from a director's point of view, how you think things are going?

Franklin: 41:49

Excellent, better than I could have expected. You know I try and focus on continuous improvement. My wife is big and lean as a management style, so she's harps on me all the time about getting a little bit better every year and I think over the past eight years I've been at the helm We've tried to get a little bit better every year, so it's finally starting to go pretty smooth.

Adam: 42:07

Awesome, good. When I see you, you're obviously putting out fires, just like you know I do at work. Unfortunately, i do work still, but everything pretty much in the realm of what you expect to be doing.

Franklin: 42:22

Absolutely. You're always going to get a million questions right, which is what we're here to do.

Announcer: 42:25

We're here to serve and we're here to answer those questions.

Franklin: 42:27

We have all the answers and we try and disseminate as best we can. So not too many huge fires. First day we got a lot of rain at night. Didn't rain on the rails, right, but then there was a lot of ups and downs, hairpin turns, which you're going to get. That's why you're doing that right. It's so beautiful, it's in the mountains and in the lakes, but it makes for some dangerous conditions if you're riding on the paint. So how do you go down? Nothing too serious, nobody still in the hospital and nothing will last forever.

Michael: 42:57

So yeah, we're happy about that. I love, by the way, those hairpin turns, because we don't have any of those in Kansas. And so, boy, i was just like screaming down those things, just enjoying it. The first one I do have to say I took a little wide and I was a little worried I was going to end up in the ditch.

Adam: 43:11

But it was awesome, and I hit one a little too fast and I hit the rear brake and the rear brake locked up, and then I was like, oh, and so I'm like, okay, i'm going to slow down on these things. So, but yeah, i don't have to. The lakes are beautiful out there too. So And you were kind of joking around, michael, you said that, you said where are all the lakes?

Michael: 43:28

and here we got some more lakes today. Yeah, we got some more lakes today, so that was cool That was great.

Adam: 43:32

So my question is I'm riding, by the way, i don't know how you play in the weather. Good job, because you do better than any other weather.

Michael: 43:40

A plus on the weather.

Adam: 43:41

Exactly Because there's been no rain during the day. A route's been awesome. I'm looking on the back of the license plates and I see, there's a lot of states, do you? have any idea how many states that you are representing.

Franklin: 43:52

Yeah, i think we just counted where 42 states represent, which is awesome, and quite a few countries, and.

Adam: 43:58

I heard that today one of the rest stops. I heard that you had someone. Is it Paris? Paris, france, wow that's cool.

Adam: 44:05

That's awesome. Well, from a riders' perspective, i just want you to know that love the seven o'clock kickoff every morning where you have the mass start. We actually, truth be told, we kind of recorded some of that. We're going to kind of pipe that in the back for our show next time. Awesome. And I think it also gives a target of when to be out there, when to be on the route. Your SAG, we've kind of made friends with your SAG drivers Yes, we have.

Franklin: 44:36

Thankfully we haven't needed SAG. Wait, wait, okay, that's what my question is. Like you made friends with them? did you call the SAG?

Michael: 44:41

No, no, we didn't have to call the SAG, we were out one of your SAG drivers. His wife is out there writing. I don't remember what his name was, but Jeffrey.

Franklin: 44:48

Woods.

Michael: 44:49

Okay, yeah, and we had many conversations with his wife and stuff and so we were able to meet him and saw him several times.

Adam: 44:55

But we did not need him. No, thankfully, thankfully, well, i mean thankfully we have no mechanicals, no flats. yeah, that probably just So far. I was going to say I probably just screwed myself Yeah one more day, still One more day.

Michael: 45:08

I have a big question. Yeah, this is a very serious question, do?

Announcer: 45:13

you have any idea how much peanut butter?

Franklin: 45:16

you go through Oof cases and cases, and cases. I know he will usually go through about 80 loaves of bread per rest stop per day. Per rest, stop per day. Yeah, so you know three, four and say five rest stops. you know you're uh, you're going through quite a few loaves of bread, i bet.

Michael: 45:35

Yeah, because I asked him at the beginning. It's like I wonder how much peanut butter they go through, because every rest stop you've got peanut butter, which is awesome, and there's somebody making peanut butter sandwiches And we've tried so many different things.

Franklin: 45:47

You know we said you know you get the pre-made peanut butter and jelly. That gets expensive really fast. Then you, you know, you try and do peanut butter jelly spread one on one on the other. Then you mix the peanut butter and jelly together in the bowl, put it on there, make it into a taco. That seems to be the fastest. You need the peanut butter gun.

Adam: 46:03

Well, i was going to say I don't want another ride that we did, that we normally will never talk about, but that's all we're going to say. It was not a ride that we actually would ever promote, by the way, it was a safety concern they had.

Michael: 46:15

uh major, just to be clear the ride that we did.

Adam: 46:19

that we don't speak about. The guy put us on on a shoulder. it was no more than six inches and it wasn't even paved the whole way And there were semis rolling by for a very, very long time And there was no signage to let cars know that we were on that road, that they're in the cyclist, so it was very unsafe.

Michael: 46:34

But But what he did have Peanut butter gun, okay, the cocky gun that had this thing in it and you could just like.

Adam: 46:41

Reminds me of the idea of working at Taco Bell when they had the with the sour cream Don't don't ruin it for me, don't ruin Taco Bell for me come on. But no, that's just. That is something. But one thing I'm curious about as a rider, you seem to have a lot of people who help you out on these rides. Like we keep seeing the same people at the, at the, at the sags.

Announcer: 47:03

I mean at the rest stops.

Adam: 47:06

Are these people that that you bring on as as I mean, they're willing to help you as volunteer, or are you paying them? I'm sorry, i'm just curious. That's something. I'm Yeah, so it's a mix.

Franklin: 47:16

It's a mix there are. There are some jobs that you know you're not going to get volunteers for, like Unloading and loading 2000 bags every day is not a job people volunteer for me, yeah, exactly so, yeah, so it's a mix of volunteers and paid folks to make the route work.

Franklin: 47:34

and then, you know, there's also some mandated stuff and stuff we feel for safety concern, like police officers. so we spend, you know, quite a bit on police officers to have Officers out on the route at dangerous intersections and just out there to warn, and we also have some volunteer police officers. would come out, one of them staying in the snooze box here with us and, yeah, so he comes out, brings his car making County Sheriff's Department or, excuse me, good County Sheriff's Department, and they're making Steve Gatlin His chief, lets him come because they want to support the ride and it's all cool and they've got, you know, several riders from their community to come do it.

Franklin: 48:09

So he lets him come and keep it safe. And then you have Richard Matthews and John Athens, our paramedic and lead lead. Sag guys are great volunteers that come year after year and wouldn't be able to do this without him. honestly, that's awesome that's awesome.

Adam: 48:23

Well, so, okay. So tomorrow we're coming into Athens and if you're listening to show, you'll probably hear it Augusta. Augusta sorry, sorry, sorry. The past Athens already. We don't want to go back. But so tomorrow, when we come to Augusta, you have a, you have a, you have a you have a party.

Franklin: 48:42

Yes, sir. So we have an end of the road party at the end, which we have, you know, great finish line photo opportunity. We're going to actually ride the last 13 miles on the north Augusta Greenway, so we're actually crossing in over a strong Thurman Lake into South Carolina. That's cool. Yeah, once we do that, we got awesome rest stop at a Blackberry blueberry farm, so it'll be some fresh produce there. And then from there we're going to hop on this path and last 13 miles is going to be all on this north Augusta Greenway, which is a beautiful path. No, no cars, all just, you know, bikes and pedestrians. And then we'll cross back into Georgia right in the city of Augusta, and we'll be there. We'll give out medals for our older and younger participants, will have a meal We've got an awesome band down there playing for us and get everybody you know fed and live patient up before they hit the road. Well, we are excited about that this will be cool.

Adam: 49:37

Yeah, because last year we met a wonderful man who unpitched his RV his fifth wheel RV and said you guys are cool, i'll help you get to your hotel. We had to break down our bikes and fly home and we got to see him. This year. He came out. He came at me yesterday. Unfortunately they're already on their way to Augusta, he couldn't come tonight. But he said so you obviously made it home. I said no, i'm going to make it home and made it back. So but he was awesome. But last year we couldn't enjoy those things because we had to get our stuff packed. We had to fly it out. But this time we have a flight on Sunday so we can actually enjoy the celebrations and you know it's cool about this.

Michael: 50:14

This will be a first for you and I, because we have never cycled in South Carolina. We have not, so that'll be a new state to our map, that's right you'll get 20 plus miles tomorrow in South Carolina.

Adam: 50:25

Sweet. See South Carolina on the Strava heat map. Nice Well, frank, we appreciate you sitting down with us. We appreciate everything that you've done for us and definitely helped. You've helped our show. We've told you before we consider you a friend of the show and a friend absolutely so. I actually am excited because I know that you're taking a team to Ragnbräu.

Michael: 50:46

Absolutely. We'll see you in six weeks.

Adam: 50:48

I will be stalking where your camp is every night. I would like to come say hi, and a lot of people that you are coming with we were hanging out with last night and told us to come stop by, so I would love to come see you there as well.

Franklin: 50:59

For sure. We'll have a lot of the same infrastructure we have here. We'll have the iconic big red tent obviously that's how everyone finds us and we'll have the snooze box there and, of course, the Bragg bus. And you know, we'll have about 30 folks in tents and then another 20 or so in the snooze box.

Adam: 51:13

So it's cool.

Michael: 51:15

We'll definitely look you out.

Adam: 51:16

I was going to say Ragnbräu 50 it's going to be. I hope it's fun. We're a little bit nervous with the influx of popularity this year, so It's going to be an adventure, it sure is.

Franklin: 51:27

No expectations and there's no doubt about that, i'm going to pack enough stuff on the bus to last the week, so if anything goes awry, we'll be fine.

Adam: 51:37

I think that's a wise decision. Well, i told him. Last thing I'll say is I said you know, every time we pass a case he's every time we pass anything we better go in and get something, because I just think, like the restaurants in town, normally you would wait 5-10 minutes every night. I think you're going to wait a lot longer.

Franklin: 51:54

Yeah, they have to bring in more than they normally do. I mean, there's just no other way to do it. It has to. Yeah, it'll be a gold mine for a lot of those towns. Oh, absolutely. I've heard stories of bars in Ragnbräu making more on one day than they do in the whole year typically.

Michael: 52:09

I believe that That does not surprise me at all, not at all Well, cool.

Adam: 52:14

Well, frankly, we really appreciate everything? Yes, we do.

Michael: 52:16

Yeah, we appreciate you being able to take some time. We know you're busy. You shouldn't have taken some time from us so.

Franklin: 52:22

No, y'all are great writers and we're very happy to have you here and I love the show. Like I said, it's very interesting for me to hear an in-depth review of the other side, because I'm always here on the other side of the fence, you know, so it's great to hear the writers.

Adam: 52:39

I appreciate that. Thank you so much, man Alright, thanks, thank you.

Announcer: 52:44

Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on Road Adventures with Cycling Man of Leisure. If you have enjoyed this, please subscribe to the show on the podcast app of your choice.