Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure, the podcast for cyclists who understand that writing 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, good to be with you again. Happy to be with you again, Adam here.

Sunny Florida. Yes, we are still in Tampa, but uh, this time we're in a hotel lobby because, uh, as much as of elitist, we thought we were, we got kicked out of our room. So we tried for the late checkout, but, uh, the hotel was nice enough to put us down here, so, um, so yes, here we are. We've, we've been in Florida for a week.

I recorded a few shows and got together, but, uh, but why are we here today? Well, we have a guest today. We do, we do. Uh, well, all right, so let's talk about the guest. This guest. Go ahead. Uh, let me, let me, let me give you three words Okay. And see if you can figure out who the guest is. All right. I'm ready.

Peaches. Okay. Pimento sandwiches I'm in. And the best cycling kit ever. Oh, it's gotta be brag, hands down brag. Ladies and gentlemen, let us bring on Franklin Johnson. Hey buddy. How's it going guys? Doing good. Good. Doing real. Uh, appreciate you being here with us today and uh, uh, you are in full season right now?

We are. We just coming off of a ride in Mexico. We are about to start our ride down on the coast of Georgia and in the throes of planning for, uh, all the other events this year. Wow. Well, um, that's, I mean, that's kind of some of our questions that we have today because we only got introduced to you because we would see your very red tent at Rag Brie.

Mm-hmm.  and said Bragg, and we saw your very colorful bus and I kept saying to Michael, what is Bragg? What is Bragg? You know, I mean obviously I would ask and then he said, oh, it's a right across Georgia. We have to do that one day. Well, that was last year. Yeah, last year. You're like, well, let's do it now.

Exactly. Um, you, you took over as executive director in 2015. Um, what makes, I guess, what makes a person, uh, say, Hey, I want to do this. I mean, you're a cyclist yourself. I've seen you ride. Um, is that just kind of like, um, it just came in your lap or, yeah. Kind of a, a strange story. I was actually a full-time.

Um, at the time, and I had done brag growing up, my mom's done about 25 brags, uh, plus or minus over the years, um, and was getting kind of. Tired of finance and was doing beer and music festivals kind of on the side. Okay. Um, so with that kind of decided, I wanted to start exploring some other options outside of my primary career.

And lo and behold, my mom introduced me to Jerry, who was the old executive director, and he was, I think 72, 73 at the time, and was kind of looking for an exit strategy or a young whipper snapper to come, uh, turn it around and take it over. And, and that was me. Um, so. Quit the full-time finance gig when a whole year without a paycheck to, to take it over and turn it around.

And your wife and family still love you. No, I'm just kidding. . . Uh, it took some convincing for sure. I'm sure. I'm sure. What was one of the biggest challenges that you have, uh, encountered? Um, what you're not in your eighth year or. . Yeah. So, uh, lots of challenges, of course. Um, but before coming on board, I, you know, I noticed there's a few unicorn rides left in the country where you actually ride across the entire state.

Um, point to point, you know, those are, those are dying off, you know, at a rapid pace. Uh, and Covid certainly wasn't helpful. Um, But I, you know, I noticed the demographic was skewing older, you know, and I knew that long term I was gonna have to lower the age range of all our riders if this ride was gonna survive.

Um, so I think to answer your question, the biggest challenge was balancing, uh, bringing on aspects to make the ride better while also not alienating the existing ridership. That's cool. . Yeah. Cuz you, as you add certain things the core supporters don't like and new writers do, uh, you kind of have to, to balance that.

If you're bringing on loud music playing until late in the night, the older crowd doesn't like that, but the younger crowd does. Um, But since then, I've kind of wised up and moved away from trying to balance that and just started doing both. Um, so on Brag, you can still get the trolley tour, the walking tour of historic homes and museums into town.

But there's also ax throwing down at the local brewery with a five piece melt. Your Face Band cover in Purple Rain. Uh, it's gonna bring tears to your eyes. I love it. You kind of, you can still do both. Um, and you know, as time will tell, you know, as the ride grows, uh, you know, we will shift one way or the other.

Um, but that was definitely challenging, figuring out how to do both of those things at the same time. Cool. I'm glad. I appreciate that. Nice. A little something for everybody then, so that's awesome. Absolutely. Now the bike ride across Georgia is unique because when you look on your website and like when we went and registered last year, um, we're used to just going on there and, Hey, here's the ride register, but you've actually got like four different ride.

That are really associated with Bragg. Um, can you talk a talk about those and kind of how do they all fit together? Yeah. So we like to offer, uh, an event for every season just to kind of keep everybody engaged on their bikes and riding and experiencing Georgia throughout the entire year. Um, So what we're actually about to get started on, uh, tomorrow actually, is our winter ride.

Um, and that's a great winter escape. Uh, it's if you're, you know, some, somewhere where it's really cold, you can come down and enjoy the nice, beautiful warm weather here in Georgia. Um, and we get to visit Cumberland Island. Amelia Island, Jekyll Island, St. Mary's, uh, . In fact, Andrew Carnegie, a man with unlimited resources who could have built this house anywhere in the world, chose to build an island off the coast of Georgia.

Uh, this place called Cam Cumberland Island, it's now a, a national park and we are gonna get to ride there. Um, So that's our winter ride. Then we also do our spring tune up ride, which is very special and unique I think, uh, you guys have committed to come to this year. We have absolutely. We'll be there.

It's gonna be a 10 hour long drive, but I think it's gonna be worth it. Some of our friends, uh, you talked about it last night in your open house meeting, friends and family, you know, at the rides and we've, we've met many. And, and so they, they said, Hey, you guys should come down. And part of us was like, let's see.

He's from Kansas. I'm from Michigan. That's a long drive. But you know what, we're in, we're in, we're in. So  nice. Great. Yeah, so spring trip's definitely one of my favorite rides. It, it just, it fosters so much camaraderie. Everybody camps out at the same beautiful Sunflower Farm where we stay, uh, a ton of people bring their RVs.

There's three or four different route options every day. So if you have somebody who's, uh, you know, Adam's trying to crush Miles and Michael's a little hungover, , uh, you can, you can do different things, uh, which is. Um, it's just a, a beautiful part of the state. It's actually the only part of the state that Sherman did not burn down on his famous march to the seat during the Civil War, cuz he thought it was so beautiful.

Um, and then after you ride, you get to come back together with everybody. There's people doing yoga. We've got yoga classes, there's bands playing all in the afternoon. There's food trucks, there's kids froing in the tall grass. It's really just a, a special event, uh, in its own right. Well, I'm definitely looking, I mean, I'm, I'm excited.

I'm looking forward to it for sure. That'd. . So you've got, and the big red tent will be there. Oh, wow. There we go. Listen, we just assumed that every, every time we'd come by on big brag last year, you'd have your staff underneath there, you know, helping people or helping people where to go take showers or you know, how to get into town, where to go.

And everyone looks so red under, I mean, I, I bet you're, I bet all of your volunteers by the end of the week, all they could see is red. So, um, but I'll tell you what, you'll see it everywhere. You can't miss it. You can't miss it. That's for. Speaking and that tent has really become a, a hallmark of a ride.

You know, I had to figure out a way for my li my wife to, uh, allow me to go do Rag Bri every year. And I sold her on the fact that it's marketing. I was like, yeah, we'll take the tent and the bus, and a lot of people will hear about rag that way. And, uh, that was originally a scam just so I could go ride all week, but has turned into our greatest marketing effort for sure.

I, I, I believe it. That's beautiful. I believe. Um, yeah, I have a wife too. I have to scam her sometimes too. But, but, uh, norm, she came with me in 2018 as a support driver. Yeah. Um, every time I ask her, now she's out. So it's, it wasn't, wasn't , it wasn't for her. But, you know, we're going back this year, of course, for the 50th, and I think you, uh, you, you were alluding to it last night in your town hall.

It, it's gonna be, it's, it's gonna be the biggest numbers they've seen. It's gonna be crazy. So now you do. It's gonna be crazy. You do realize, Adam, you just.  on recording that you scam your wife? I can. I'm the one who edits the show. Oh, okay. So I can edit it out later. So, um, so we did talk about everybody under your, under your red tent, and I could see how that could be definitely a wonderful marketing piece as well.

What kind of staff do you have? I mean, do you have, I mean, we see you, um, and I, and I've heard you mentioned Stephanie and, and actually behind the scenes she's actually written me to be honest, but, um, what, what, what, what is your staff. . Yeah, so there's obviously myself. Um, and then we also have Stephanie, like you mentioned, she's, you know, big in the marketing and operations and we have, uh, Vicky Vicky's worked with Brag for 20 plus years.

I think she's one of those people who can remember everybody's names and when she's on the ride, you know, she rode back in 85 with so and so that was on the ride. And she's really great at, uh, remembering folks and. Uh, we've got Scott and Amy. They run our, our rest stop team. That's a big herculean effort every year.

Mm-hmm. , uh, there's a husband and wife team that runs the rest stops. And then we've got Guy Richard, he's amazing, leads up our SAG team. He drives, um, a vehicle that he just outfits with every light and siren possible to keep everybody safe, which is great. And then, uh, we got a motorcycle sack too. He comes to all the rides and, uh, oh, we saw him.

He paramedic that runs back and forth. Yeah. Yeah. We, uh, with his.  with his two stuffed, uh, either pigs or something on the, something on the back. Yeah. . Yeah, he's, he's big, uh, big time paramedic actually teaches all his classes and he always has, uh, some fun stuff for the kids to keep him entertained on The ride is always cools.

Awesome. Yeah. Um, yeah, then we have an army of volunteers, um, you know, the rest ops and sag. Not to mention the town, you know, we get the Chamber of Commerce, the all the city involved, and they have another army of volunteers that support us in each town we go through. So it's um, you know, it's really enumerable around the actual ride, how many folks we have coming on board.

It's a, definitely takes a village. Cool. Awesome. I'm curious of all four of your rides together, what, what's your, what is your ridership numbers? I mean, how many people do you pull in on all these rides and say like a single year? Do you have any. . Yeah, so it depends, you know, our, you know, big brag will be somewhere around 1300 or so.

Um, spring tuneups usually, you know, 1100, somewhere around there. But interestingly enough, I was looking at it this morning. Stephanie has just done such a stellar job. We're normally at about 390 registered riders, uh, at this point in time for our spring tune up. Uh, right now we're about 720. Wow. . So I think our spring tuneup ride has really hit a tipping point in terms of, uh, friends telling their friends that are telling five friends that are telling five more friends that it's really gotten to a point where I think this year it's really gonna take off.

Um, that's awesome. I'm excited that I'm gonna be there. ? . Yeah. And then we have, you know, we have our Mexico ride that's, uh, we keep our, our hotel tour rides pretty small, so. On winter ride, we do two back to back. That's about 70 folks each. And then there's about 40 at our, uh, Mexico ride. And then our fall ride, we typically try and shoot for around 500.

Uh, we did not do that last year, but we're gonna get back to it. Cool. I must tell you, as a guy who lives in a winter tundra, looking at your photographs, um, uh, in Mexico and, and the blue, blue water and, and, um, green trees, I, I was very jealous. I will not lie . So, Well, we are gonna do two of 'em back to back next year, so you'll definitely have to join us.

I think we could do a podcast, uh, sipping on some, some coconut rum, uh, in Mexico. I think you guys would enjoy that. Oh, well we are the cycling men of leisure, so I think that would, uh, right up our alley that would be there. You know, and as, as a side note, I must tell you that all of this idea, this entire cycling men of leisure started on big brag, and I'll tell you exactly.

You did a community thing where I think you helped out a local golf course and you held an event there with musicians, and I'm not sure if you gave back or not. I think you did. You can talk, you can talk about that. But we sat back, listened to some music right there on the golf course. We actually got a ride on your bus.

Mm-hmm.  your driver and said, come on, we're going, come with us. And so we jumped on your bus and we sat back on the picnic table and we were, uh, truth be told, had brought some of our own libation and had a ci. And people just kept coming by us saying, this is crazy. You guys are living the best of life.

And, and this is kind of the, the roots of cycling, men of leisure. So that's what helped start the whole thing. So that's absolutely, it all started in a country club in Georgia. That's true. Oh man. I'm honored. Um, You know, with this job, I spend so much time in the car, I listen to so many podcasts, um, and I just love you guys' podcast.

It's for me as an event director, it's, it's good to see the other side and how you guys are, you know, going back and forth about all these different rides, what you like, what you don't like. It's really insightful for me to, uh, listen to. So definitely thanks for having me on here. I appreciate that.

Absolutely. Let's, let's take a moment to explore planning. Um, , how do you go about creating the route? I mean, I mean, you were gracious enough to share our show about how we broke down the route and in that show we made a comment how it doesn't actually go across Georgia, but it did last year. How, how do you decide that?

Do you go back and forth? Is it just something that you guys do research on? You mind the touch on that? Yeah, it's uh, creating route's always tough cuz you can't please everybody all the time. Um, , much like you guys disagree about stuff. We have rider who like the mountains, some who don't. We have rider who like flats, some who like small towns, some like big towns.

Some folks like staying in high schools that are close to town. Meanwhile, other people wanna be outside of town. Um, but needless to stay. We have to balance all that between everybody. , but you know, we like to let history guide us a little bit, so, you know, we've got 43 year history of different routes we've taken.

So we like to look at that and hopefully history will guide us in a, in a good direction where, you know, we haven't been to the mountains in five years. We haven't been over here in quite some time. Uh, so need to show some love to this part of the state. Um,  and, and then I think it just, it comes down to picking a corridor.

You know, you can never just, you know, put seven cities together and, and make it work. You gotta pick a corridor of north side of the state, south side of the state, wherever it may be. And then from there, you're, your anchors are your start and you're in town, which you're kind of limited to on a geography standpoint.

So, . You know, if you wanna start on the east side of state or the west side of the state, there's only so many options. And then after that, you gotta have, it's like a mobile army. Everybody's gotta eat, sleep, go to the bathroom. Um, And you're just starting to look for towns that can provide those amenities.

You need hotels, you need indoor camping, uh, you need restaurants, you need towns that are actually willing to host you. So I mean, it's really, uh, a whole host of things we gotta look at to put a route together. Oh, and you need tons of interesting things to do, uh, in between all those towns. . Well, that's, it's, it's incredible.

Um, because in talking with ride directors, um, A participant who's been in dozens of these things across states, um, you know, we never see that. And, and, uh, like last year when we were at your event, it was flawless. I mean, I'm sure things were may have been burning in the back, but you know what? As a writer, we never saw that.

And that's what always just blows my mind is that you guys can put together this week long ride moving every day. And from my perspective, . It's great. It's fantastic. I don't see all those little hiccups that I know are probably going on, so, uh, it, it's incredible the level of organization and how you guys are able to pull that off.

It just blows my mind. Yeah, I, I, I, I would, I would like to second that, not to be repetitive, but I mean, I didn't have any complaints, concerns, and then if we had any issues or concerns, you were right on it. I mean, you were, you or your team or somebody. And I'm the same way. I'm a deputy director in my job and, you know, lots of things my staff just does, and I hear about it later and I know that's part of.

Um, it was flawless for us for sure. Um, and I think, I think it, go ahead. I was, I take that as a huge compliment. You know, they're, they're, if we're doing our job right, you guys should have the exact experience you're talking about. Absolutely. And that, that actually leads me to another question. You are a very central figure, uh, in this ride.

And I know I've been on rides before where you don't really see the ride. Um, they're really not present. They're more of, they're in the, the back, you know, coordinating everything. You're really a central figure in this. I mean, we saw you every morning, uh, you know, we would see you at, at different stops, things like that.

Um, how do you feel that really helps with the success of these rides? Uh, I think it, I think it's, it's hugely instrumental to be as involved and, you know, if people do have concerns, you can hear their concerns and act on those. And I think, you know, being seen is definitely a part. Um, so, you know, I've definitely had like your experience, I've had several people.

Uh, I just saw you at the last rest stop and then I saw you this morning too, . So it's, it's great to to know that I am being seen. But that being said, I mean, we do have a very strong team or have a very strong team behind me, and, and Brad has a very strong team. And, you know, hopefully one day I can work myself out of a job.

You keep putting the right people in the right place to take care of, uh, all the operations. Hopefully I. Shake hands and kiss babies one day. We're not there yet, but that's, that's what I'm shooting for. , I think. I think it's his hat. I mean, it's his hat. It's, it's definitely the hat. So , um, yeah, that's the thing.

I, I fool you regularly. I wear the hat all the time. Then when I want to disappear, I just take the hat off and nobody recognizes. Yeah. It's like this another person there. I was gonna say, I saw you rag, you didn't have the hat on there in last year, so  , well, not that I saw you anyway, but. I just wanna make a mention, not, not so much of a question.

I just wanna compliment you for, I, I enjoyed the town hall that you offered last night, and you're gonna offer two more of those. Um, and I appreciate you answering my question because I. I had signed up for big brag and I, once you had the route announcement, I'm the only guy, probably, uh, not the only guy, but I was one of the people exactly the stroke of midnight, hitting refresh on YouTube, refresh, refresh, refresh.

My wife is a nurse and had worked all night, and so she was sleeping, and so it wasn't very exciting. So I was like, I wanna know where we're going, . Um, and so the fact that you give a chance for people to ask questions who've never done this, and, um, I was right there with those people before last year.

And so I just want you to know that I think that that's, that's a really neat feature that you're offering. . Uh, yeah, I appreciate that. And definitely Stephanie, uh, kudos to her for putting that together. Um, she came up with that and thought of it and. Totally agree with her that, you know, if you've never done a cross state ride or if you've never done a ride like this, the logistical challenges are immense.

Um, or they seem immense. It seems overwhelming. It's really not. Um, so just to be able to hop on and ask some questions, I think can alleviate so many stressors for a lot of people. Um, and, and hopefully we can continue to do that and we'll continue that tradition. Uh, before, before every. That's awesome.

Yeah, I, I really like that. Um, because a lot of other rides, they, you know, you have all the, the social media and they ask the questions, but that one-on-one, uh, kind of encounter, I think really, uh, really helps. So I definitely, uh, am appreciative that you're, You're doing those type of outreach. And I'll tell you, I didn't realize that whatever I typed to you actually stays on Facebook.

So if someone wasn't actually able to view it, uh, I saw later on that what I had typed you and said, thanks. I, I was just saying thank you to you. I didn't realize that my, my little word of thanks was then gonna show up on, on Facebook. So, . Um, yeah, we didn't know that either. That was the first time we'd done a Facebook Live event like that.

We, nor we normally do Zoom on some of our hotel tours, but, uh, for this we didn't know what to expect. So we did Facebook so they can accommodate a bigger audience and we're, we're glad they did. It's a cool feature. My next question here is you took on this job as a ride director, um, you guide and gave us her background.

Uh, you gave us your background. , can you give us something that maybe just surprised you, that you didn't realize, that you didn't see coming when you, you know, you kind of took over this ride. Um, what has been some of those, those surprises that you've encountered, if you don't mind sharing. Yeah, so I think the, the biggest thing, um, that, you know, I guess it shouldn't have been a surprise, but it kind of was.

I was coming from a, a finance business school background. Um, and, you know, I, I quit my job to take over this company and I thought, Very much a, you know, put the right people in place, have the right processes, apply some capital, uh, some technology repeat. And this thing is gonna grow and grow and grow, you know, until you want it to stop.

And, um, I think I underestimated how big of a commitment it is to do a ride like this. Um,  and no one's ever gonna sign up for brag by seeing a Facebook ad, unfortunately. Right? Yeah. It's gonna take a friend, it's gonna take a friend who's done it, or, uh, you know, a family member that's done it for years to convince you to do this ride.

And I think we have that. We have a rich 43 year history, um, of folks who have done it, you know. So many consecutive years. And they are, you know, singing our, our praises to the hil, thankfully. And that, and that's why we're continuing to grow. Um, and I think I kind of miscalculated the value of the community when I first took it over.

Mm-hmm. . Um, I now realize that's our most valuable asset, you know, and our community is, is so amazing and so supportive of each other and getting new folks into the ride. Um, so I think now I'm really focusing on fostering that rather than applying anything you learn at business school. Cool. . All right, now let's get, let's get down to the beginning.

Let's get to the real question. Now, I was gonna say, oh, the real question, the real question. Question. How in the world did you come up with the best Jersey of last year? I mean, that has to be the best Jersey ever. Now, before you answer that, Adam, you need to tell the story. All right? All right. So no kidding.

Not, this is not joke. No. Uh, a hundred percent true. So I'm in my office. Um, . Michael texted me and he said, Hey, did you sign up for the official jersey for the route? Um, looks like they're ending the orders or something. And I, I thought, I know I did that upon registration. I said, I, I don't wanna miss that.

I'm, I'm, I'm going to that route. I, I want it. And then he sent me the picture and then I realized it was April Fools. And I have said this, is this a, is this a joke? I mean, is this, is this real? Is it not real? And so we were having a laugh on our. Um, and then sure enough it was real. And then that night we actually stayed, um, in the Marriott that night.

And so we shared a hotel room there, and then he came out with me. I had the, the kid already on, he was in the shower, and I kind of did like this dance and he said, no way. But let me tell you something. We got the most traction out of that jersey. We did multiple rides last year. We went to Bourbon Country Burn and this ride in Michigan called Doac and Rag Bryan.

And of course, your. . Um, and everywhere we went, they're like, we love those. Where'd you get those? Where'd you make those? I'm like, we didn't make them. It's actually brag and check it out. And so I I What, where did, was it, because it was last year was supposed to be a, like a farm tour or, yeah, so it is definitely because it was supposed to be a farm tour, but let, let me just say, uh, Thank you for appreciation of that jersey.

I poured my heart into that thing, and when everybody came out on Facebook, everybody thought it was an April Fools joke. Oh, my heart sank. I was so hurt.  . It is awesome. Awesome. Yeah, and people love it or hate it. It's the most polarizing jersey I've ever seen. Um, and for those of you listening, uh, it's. It looks like a pair of overalls.

Uh, and in the back pockets, you know, cycling jerseys have three pockets in the back pocket. There's a coke sticking outta one. Uh, there's a corn of co sticking outta the other and a peach sticking outta the other. But the whole thing looks like you're wearing a flannel shirt with a pair of overalls over it.

Um, And yeah, so last year our, our tour of the theme was peaches to beaches. We went by 14 different farms and, um, I happened to love my Carhartt overalls and my wife hates them , so I figured if I turned it into a jersey, I'd actually get to wear overalls sometimes. Nice. So after we received the jersey, we did something kind of crazy.

We went out to a, a company that makes socks and we actually had boots, socks made to go along with it. So we, we, uh, we, we were it with a, we embraced the farm. That's right. That's right. Yes. Oh, nice. I'm jealous. I hope you guys ordered me a pair . We'll have to, we'll have to get you some, a pair sent over. . Oh man, that's awesome.

Yeah, that jersey was really, it took me, I, we reached out to so many different designers with that concept and everybody kept coming back with cartoonish looking things. And I actually downloaded several different programs and I probably had, you know, 20 hours almost of design work and figuring out how to make lettering look like stitches.

And I mean, it, it was a heavy lift. For me personally, but I did every inch of that thing to, to get it, to turn out like that. And, um, I was so pleased with it, but half people are and half people aren't . What I did see, um, just as a side note is after the ride, I did, you know, of course I'm always the guy paying attention to social media and, and knowing that we were gonna soon start a podcast, I saw that people wanted to order it afterwards.

I saw all kinds of, Hey, I, I, I didn't order a ride. Does anyone have an extra jersey? And, and so that was kind of cool. So, funny enough, I had accidentally ordered two jerseys. Yes. So I wound up selling my jersey to, to, you know, someone out east there. So, Oh, there you go. Nice. Yeah, we, uh, we took a, a move from our, our partners, um, to the east over in Augusta where Bragg's actually ending this year.

And so to get our gear, you actually gotta come to an event. We all sell it online and, uh, once it's gone, it's gone. So That's cool. Yeah. So where do you take brag from here? Ah, that's a good question. Um, and everybody asks that a lot, I think. I think it's. The answer's not so much a number as it is kind of a, a level of service and amenities that I wanna be able to provide the riders.

Um, so I definitely want to continue to grow, uh, ridership and get bigger. And the only reason I wanna do that is to be able to provide a better experience for the riders. So I think with, you know, Some more backing and some more riders. We're gonna be able to bring some stuff to the ride that's gonna make the ride even, uh, even better.

Uh, you know, get us involved in some of the communities a little bit more and provide some more creature comforts on the ride. Um, for folks that aren't. Camping inclined, if you will, . Yeah, no, I, I guess my follow-up question would be is, um, are you ho so you are, I mean you, you, I had wrote down for myself some notes, but I was gonna ask you if you're hoping for larger numbers.

I mean, there's, there's pros and cons I imagine, uh, having larger numbers, of course. Um, you know, of course it's good for business, but sometimes maybe it's too tight for a town or whatever. So you, but, but if I'm hearing you correctly, you do hope to. . Yeah, I think we can definitely get a little bit bigger.

Um, you know, I think somewhere around the 3000 or so would, would be when we start to, you know, quote unquote price ourselves out of some towns that don't necessarily have the amenities for that. Um, but I think, you know, we're still well within our, our bounds of what we can provide to, to folks going through a lot of these small towns and, you know, sometimes we definitely bring in extra food trucks or, you know, we shuttle the hotels or the next town over what, what may have.

Uh, we definitely have room to grow and stretch our legs. Well, this may sound silly, but the first time I ever had the ever famous Chick-fil-A was a food truck that you brought on. Uh, and I I went out there and I said, Hey, I've never had this before. So, , you have never had Chick-fil-A. I know. I've all the place, I mean, I'm, I'm in Tampa today, but, uh, what happens to me is I, by the ones in.

They literally cause traffic jams. Cars are out the out the parking lot. So I'm like, why am I gonna wait for a chicken sandwich , now you know why they wait for chicken sandwich ? Well, that's pretty good. I won't lie. So, well, and now have you had Waffle House? That's another Georgia staple. Oh yes we have.

Yeah, we have. That's right, that's right. Okay. There you go. As long as you have those two things, you've got a pretty good experience here. All right, fair enough. So this year's. Uh, lakes and libations. It looks like that's kind of your theme. Uh, you're going up into the northeast kind of quadrant. You make a big sea.

Um, I really like the idea that you're actually going to be in another state, kind of ending out the, the last day there. That's, that's a really cool kind of twist on it. Um, seeing the, uh, the logo, and I think this logo is really, really cool too. We were both commenting that it's like, oh, that's, that's a cool logo.

So, uh, we. So we are, we are all scheduled, we're lined up. We've got all of our stuff ready to go. Um, so, uh, it, we're really looking forward to it. Oh, I, I, I, you know, first of all, as you, you've listened to our show, so we talk about distilleries and breweries and stuff, and so when I, when you release the teaser of lakes and libations, I'm like, I am so glad I'm signing up for that.

Yeah, we're excited. We're going through some really, I actually, uh, went to a summer camp growing up around Clayton, Georgia and that that first day of riding is probably gonna be the, one of the most beautiful days of riding, uh, you're ever gonna get. We go around three of the most beautiful lakes, um, in the Southeast, and it's gonna be truly amazing.

So one thing that you do, which is really, um, unique and neat in my opinion, and we are, we are, we are trying, um, we're, we're close. Um, but you do, um, a team jersey if you get 10 or more, um, of your team, people signing up that you provide a jersey for, for everybody on the team. Um, that to me is genius. Uh, is that just, I mean, you came up with that or marketing, I mean, can you touch.

Yeah, I, I steal most of my good ideas for sure. . So we, uh, you know, before I came on brag full-time, I went and did a bunch of other cross state rides to, uh, you know, do some research and Rag Rye was one of those. And they just seem, the, the team culture up there is just like, you know, you guys have seen it, but everyone listening's, never done rag by the culture around the teams there is just amazing.

You know, they all get matching kits and matching jerseys. They have their own teams, they have their own traditions, they ride together, they, you know, hang out and party together. It's just a really amazing, uh, aspect of that community and I wanted to try and recreate that. Um, here, hopefully with, uh, you know, teams of two like yourself that will go out and recruit eight more writers for us.

Right. . So the jersey is just a carrot to, um, You know, to get a, get more writers on board with us, but b, also create that, uh, that team aspect, um, around the community and, and in our broad community. I think we need, well, what happened to me last year is the very first rest stop. , this woman had, um, a jersey that now I know was part of the team jersey, but at the time I said, oh my gosh, that is so neat.

It has like the whole state on it. And it had the line going. And she said, oh yeah, why don't a person on my team designed that? And I said, oh yeah. She's like, oh, so and so come over here, meet this guy. He wants to talk to you. And when I turned my head to the left, there were like nine of her friends dressed exactly like her.

And I was like, I'm like, how did you guys do that? Well then that's the first time that we learned. So our goal was set right. We all right, we're gonna get our cycling, minute of leisure is gonna have a team. And so, uh, just this morning we, we gained somebody else. So we're, we're gonna get there. We're at seven.

We need three more. I mean, uh, our point is, is even if you don't wanna hang out with us every day, um, I'll provide the bourbon. Come sit with us and, and just tell me a little bit about yourself. And I'd like to meet new people. So, um, well, I might have to join the team just to get the bourbon. Listen, listen.

You're certainly welcome. You're certainly welcome. But I'm sure we'll, we can just provide it so there. All right, well, uh, yeah, the, the promotion for those of you who, dunno if you get 10 people to sign up together for the ride and you list the same team name. Uh, you get your own jersey that you get to design that has your team name on it, uh, and it's included with the registration.

So, uh, if you're looking to join a team, I hear Cycling Men of Leisure is looking for, uh, three more or more members. You, you heard it right here, yourself, ladies and gentlemen. The ride director himself is, is promoting. I appreciate that, sir. But, um, you know, that's pretty much from us. Um, question wise, I would love just to give you the floor for a second.

Well, we've talked about spring, uh, tuneup. We've talked about big brag. Did you wanna mention the dates of those and, and, and, uh, where someone could actually register? Yeah. So if you want to check out any, any more about Bragg, just go to bragg.org. Super simple. Uh, all the information's on the website.

Stephanie does a great job of laying everything out, but big brags the first week of June every year. Um, our spring tuneup is gonna be the, uh, We, or a second or third weekend in April, that 13th, um, weekend. And that's a, just a, a great intro into Bragg if you've never done it. Um, if you're more inclined to go international, we've got a tour in Mexico every year.

Uh, do a winter ride tour down on the coast of Georgia. If you wanna check out Georgia, if you're currently buried in snow. So definitely lots of checkout. And again, it's all on the website, just bra.org. Awesome. . Well, that's pretty much it from me. Michael, would you have anything else? Well, I got, I got a couple things.

Uh, number one, Franklin, we certainly appreciate you taking the time, energy, and effort, uh, to come and talk with us at, uh, we always enjoy learning about the kind of the inner workings of this thing that we really, really love and enjoy. So we appreciate your time. Absolutely. No. Yeah. I was so excited. I, I listened.

Countless hours of podcasts. Cause I'm on the road so much for this job. And I told my wife this morning, I was like, I get to be on a podcast today. And I could hardly contain my excitement there. See, there we go. And, and, and if I do my job, it'll be released on Sunday. So, uh, so that's awesome. All right.

The only other thing I have to say today, Franklin, is it's a great day for a bike ride. Thank you so much for time. Awesome. Thanks. Have a great. 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.