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. Well, hello there. Hello and welcome.

Excited to be here, Adam, for our first podcast. What are we talking about today? Today we're gonna talk about the origin of road adventures with Cycling Men of leisure, what it is, who we are, and what the listener can expect from this podcast. But speaking of the listener, if I were a listener, I'd wanna know what is Cycling Men of Leisure?

You wanna take that?  Absolutely can. That's a valid question and a question that we get asked quite a bit. Cycling min of leisure to me is an attitude. It's a kind of a way of thinking about cycling. A little different than what a lot of people currently, uh, envision. You know, we get up every morning, we have a destination that we're striving to meet, and.

We've both been there, we've cycled with a lot of guys that it's like the destination, the destination, gotta get there as fast as I can, um, as focused as I can and get from point A to point B. And that's what I've gotta do. Well, the problem with that is, and, and we've seen this, is they get from point A to point B.

Uh, they get there before us, and then, you know, Get in there an hour or two later and we're like, oh man, did you see this? Did you see that? And they're like, no, where was that at? So the whole point is, is that the destination's important because that's our goal. But what about all the experiences and the things that we could see and do along the way?

Um, you know, the people that we meet, Memories that, that we'll gather, uh, the pictures that we can take, just all of that. Um, kind of, you know, what's, what's the journey to get there and to really live living that up a lot. You mean like gotta get the good spot, gotta get

Yeah. Uh, that's a, that's a great joke. You know, a lot of guys ride this and they go fast and they're like, well, I'm not racing, but I've gotta get the good spot at the good camping spot, or the good sleeping spot in the gymnasium. And that's kind of their, their way of justifying them going fast. Yeah.

Except many times, like you said, that, uh, you and I will be with those individuals and then we will say things like, Hey, did you see X in this certain town? Like, no, I didn't see that. Well, what about the one thing I can think of recently was in Iowa, the Fossil, uh, lake and fossil area, say, Hey, did you see that?

No Fossil. Yeah, no, I didn't see that. Um, so yeah, I mean, I think that's, that's a great point. Um, to me, cycling men of leisure, uh, I need to kind of start at the origin of myself, which is, um, how I got into cycling to begin with. So my story is, um, I had kind of poo-pooed the idea of working out as an adult.

Um, and in the end, not in the end, but, uh, it, it began developing a real problem. I, I started to become extremely obese, um, actually morbidly obese. And in my prior life, I was a wedding photo.  and I had a client that called me and said, Hey, I need to make a change to my contract. And so I was watching television in my basement and so I have a two story home.

I ran up to the second floor where my office was, and when I was trying to talk to her, I realized that I very short of breath and I could feel my blood pressure, uh, skyrocketing and, and I was a little bit concerned. I had that Wawa wa feeling and I knew something wasn't right. At the time, I didn't know what it was, and so I decided I was gonna make an appointment with my primary care doctor, and he, uh, he was very boisterous to the point of what was actually going on, which was, uh, I was just morbidly obese.

Uh, I was, um, you know, definitely living a, a very, uh, sedimentary lifestyle. So he pretty much shouted to me straight and said, listen, you need to start, uh, eating healthier and at least do 30 minutes of exercise per day. So I started walking around my neighborhood and eating healthier and I was losing some weight, but I kind of got to a plateau and I had shared with a, a good friend and neighbor and said that, you know, I couldn't lose any more weight.

And he said, you know, it's. A lot of people hit plateaus, but you know, maybe you mix it up a little bit, maybe do something different. And he had said, did you ever consider riding a bicycle? And at the time I remember thinking of my hat bicycle, I, I hadn't ridden a bicycle since I was a kid. And, um, he said, no.

He said, no, really, it's a, it's a low impact exercise. And, and so obviously now I agree with him, but at the time I was like, okay. So he said, actually my friend owns a bike store. At that time I thought maybe he was, he was marketing for his friend, like maybe ha we'll get another sale. But  . But truth be told, there are wonderful people who own the bike store and I ended up buying, uh, at the time, a hybrid bicycle, a fitness bicycle.

A bicycle with a little bit thicker wheels. And, um, I had ridden around the neighborhood, but I started to outgrow the neighborhood and I said, uh, to some of my friends and where, where does everyone ride bicycles? He said, oh, you go to our metro parks, they have, you know, they have a, they have a trail to Metro Park.

So I drove out to the Metro Park and. Um, paid my sticker for my entrance fee and put on my helmet. And I asked a woman, I said, well, which way do you go? And she said, well, you can go either way, but is this your first time here? And I said, yes. She said, I'd go that way. And now I know why she did that because, uh, no one told me there was, uh, a lot of elevation at our metro park.

And the reason why she told me that is because she probably knew that I was gonna have trouble with the first hill. It was a very large show that just kept going and going, and I actually had to get off and push the bicycle. Um, So my first goal was I wanted to ride around, uh, one time without having to get off and push.

And eventually I met that goal. And then my second goal was I wanted to ride around twice, and then eventually it was three times, but then with my job and, and light restraints and work restraints. But that was pretty much it. So it was about 27 miles. Um, and then what happened was, is I started saying, well, I wanna see how fast I go.

And then I got into the whole bike computer and, and how did people determine this? And so then I purchased a bike computer and I started being more concerned about the stats and, and, and, you know, what was my averages? What was my pedal speed, RPMs heart rate? I started really being really concerned about that.

And don't get me wrong, I look at some of that stuff still today, but, um, at, at. At that time, it wasn't about the actual ride, it wasn't about where I was or what the experience was. It was more about, um, how fast I could go and, and keep, keep getting better and better and better, and, Truthfully, I was pretty much living that lifestyle until I, I met you, um, uh, at Rag Bri in 2016.

Um, if anyone's never ridden Rag Bri, which stands for Registers annual Great Bike ride across Iowa, um, it's usually seven days and there are different routes and, and most times that they hold the, hold the event. There's an optional century ride and you and I met, um, Well, we were camping together, but o out on the road, you and I pretty much met, um, at that century location where there was a patch stop.

And so if anyone's never done that, if you ride the century, they usually give you a, a, a patch to symbolize your, your achievement of a century. And that was actually my first century that I had ever. And you noticed that I was struggling. I think the patch stop was somewhere around 65 to 70 miles. And, and I, I was struggling and you could see that, um, and you kept saying to me, it's not a race.

And I was the first, the first 70 miles, I was more concerned about how fast I was going and, and was I gonna make it at the end and was I gonna make it by daylight? And I had to set up my camp and I was so, so focused on that. But then it was, Interaction with you that when I met you and you said, Hey, you can ride with me.

You know, I'm, I'm not fast. I I'm not slow, but I'm just gonna ride at my pace and I'm gonna enjoy myself. And it was at that moment that I think that for me, what is now Cycling Men of Leisure kind of, uh, developed, um, the mindset of, you know, you and I don't write slow by any means. Um, but we also don.

Speed. We don't race. We just, when we, when we feel it, we go. When we don't feel it, we don't go. Um, but yeah, I think, I think that's, um, a good introduction of how I got into cycling and what it is to me now, which is just enjoying, I mean, life as it is flies by, I mean, It just smokes by. And so just enjoying what we're doing, enjoying the ride, and uh, the people that we meet.

Um, having that, um, lifestyle of, uh, the leisurely lifestyle, which, hey, where are you from? What are you doing? And if you and I sit in a town for a few minutes on these longer rides and meet some people and say, where you're from, not panicking about, we gotta get in, we gotta get in, we gotta get. And so I think that's what it is for me.

But you know, something I've never asked you was how did, how did you get into cycling? Well, I got into cycling. I mean, I'd lived in Denver, so I had a mountain bike, so I did some cycling there, but, For years. My father had always talked about how he wanted to cycle across the state of Nebraska, and I don't know where this ever came from, but um, year after year is like, oh, I wanna cycle across Nebraska.

And he wasn't a cyclist. And so finally, I think in 2001, I told him, it's like, well, if we're gonna do this, let's, let's do it. Let's stop talking about it. Let's just do it. We bought, uh, road bikes, did some training, thought, you know what? If we're gonna do this, let's do it. Right? Let's create a team. So we created a team, team Sherpa.

Um, my mother went along, uh, as our support driver. My sister was there, my nieces were there. So we really turned it into a family activity and, uh, completed. It was a great week. Uh, great family time, great memories. And then a year later, my dad came back and says, why don't we do it again? So we, you know, did another state.

And every couple years we were just doing different states and different rides. And for me it was really a, uh, family, uh, activity in a way for our family to share time together. And so that's really where my experience in cycling, um, started and, and came about in my adult life here. And then in 2016, obviously you and I started cycling in Rag Bri, and it just kind of, uh, I guess got outta hand after that.

Yeah, that's what my wife would say. Um, , my wife is a nurse and, uh, works midnights many times and she says, oh, you're going on another trip. Must be nice now. Um, to be fair, I do have a, um, a day job. I'm, my name is Adam. I'm, I'm a deputy director for our local county government for transportation. Um, married to a beautiful woman named Lauren.

We've been in Michigan, uh, for a while now. What about you? Hello, my name's Michael. I live in a little town just outside of Kansas City with my wife and kids. And, uh, my day job, I am a business architect and. We're not even gonna get into that right now. Please don't. Because every time I ask, I'm not sure what the heck it is either.

So  let's, let's spare the listener. So, um, if I were listening to this podcast, if I happen to click on it or looking at a cycling podcast and I saw the title, cycling Men of Leisure, um, I would think that it's only for men is cycling men of leisure only for. , absolutely not. No. Cycling Men of leisure is for men.

It's for women. It's for everybody who enjoys cycling and, and we're talking. You don't have to be into the multi-day rides. You don't have to be into Century Rides or single day, you know, 160 mile out, uh, 160 mile days. Uh, it's for anybody who just likes to go out and likes to cycle, likes to meet new people, likes to experience.

The road and what the road has to offer along the way and uh, you know, just get together and have fun. Yeah, I think when you were talking about that, it reminded me of our last event, which was in Kentucky called the Bourbon Country Berm. And the couple that were sending their last child off, I don't remember if it was a man or a woman, I, I don't remember, but they were sending their last child off to college and they were proud to tell us that they were going to start, uh, venturing out and doing some of these types of rides and.

You know, we were obviously doing some promotion for the podcast and she said, well, what are you guys gonna talk about? Is it just for men? And we said, no, it's, it's for everybody. And she said, well, what is the subject gonna be? And we said, well, you know, um, packing and, and flying with your bike. Oh, you guys have flown with your bike?

Yeah. Oh, I would love to hear that. Gimme a cart. Cuz we were passing out some cards with a QR code and, and, and she said, I, I, I want to hear how that happened. And so, you know, I think that, um, It's important for me to get across that this is for anybody and everybody. We've both had experiences, um, many experiences together riding.

You've had some obviously with your family and, and, um, you know, I've had some here local, with some local rides that I do here. And I just think that you and I have a lot of experience, um, man, woman, anybody that, um, we can pass along the way. Awesome. So if I were a listener of Cycling Men of Leisure, what can I expect moving forward?

Sure, that's a good question. Um, obviously we are going to be psych cycling centric. Um, you know, talk a lot about multi-day rides, uh, state rides, um, some long distance single day rides. Um, but we also, you. Do short single day rides, and we'll talk a little bit about them. I think we'll probably get into some, some, uh, tr tricks and hacks and things of cycling.

Uh, talk a little bit about equipment, um, you know, what we use, why we use it, things like that. Uh, another big question that comes up is charter services. A lot of these longer rides now offer charter services, and people have asked us, do we need to use 'em? Do we not need to use 'em? Is there advantages?

And we've done it with a charter without a charter. We've used a couple of different charters, so we can certainly provide some insight around that. Um, you and I have a very specific way of packing for this, uh, or these events. And so we wanna share that and give some people some, some. Tips there. Hold on one a second, Bob.

Go ahead and back up the truck. Is that what you mean? Yeah. Yeah. That, that's exactly it. , I'm just kidding. . Uh, no. Uh, yeah, just kidding. Of course. , um, talk about some of our road stories. Yeah. Um, things that we've experienced along the way because. Although cycling is a big part of what we do. We, we do other things.

I mean, we visited distilleries. Um, you and I on, on one of our trips, visited the, uh, Ford Museum there in Michigan. And, uh, you know, share some of that with, with the folks out there. Um, and also talk about some of the exciting places or interesting places that we've wound up, uh, on a bicycle. I don't know if there is any way possible we could have ended up in some of the places that we've ended up.

No way. Um, if we weren't out there cycling and doing this, I mean, I, if we lost the map and had no g p s, I still don't think we would've ended up in places like Bethesda, Iowa, or, uh, what Rothbury Michigan, um, or Lumber City, Georgia. You know, they're just, they're places that are not on the highways, not.

Really, you, you kind of just have to, to be there and, uh, in the middle of nowhere to find them. And they've, they're interesting places and we'll talk a little bit about that. So, um, that's kind of the meat of, of what we're talking about. The other thing that we've, we certainly will be addressing is we've had lots of people ask us specific questions, uh, about how we do things.

Uh, and we'll certainly be talking about that as well, is cycling men of leisure, a teen. Cycling Men of Leisure is not a team cycling. Men of Leisure is, uh, I look at it as more of a. Um, people that, that want to have like-minded, that want to go hang out, uh, you know, get together at Rag Bri or Bragg or any of these rides that we're doing.

Um, spend an evening together, maybe have a libation, um, talk about our, you know, Uh, our adventures that we've had and share some memories with people that we've cycled with before. Uh, it's not something where we're going to be sitting around, uh, comparing Strava segments. Uh, look what I did on this one. I was, you know, number two.

No, um, not about that. Well, I mean, I'm, I'm excited I'd, I'm a co-host, but I'd, I'd like to hear the second episode myself, . . Well, we have told the listener who we are. We, we've introduced ourselves, we've told the listener what to expect moving forward. What'd you say? There's anything else? No, there's just one other thing, and that is, you know what I always say, it's a great day for a bike ride.

Indeed. Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure. If you have enjoyed this, please share the podcast or tell a friend about it.