SPEAKER_00: 3:02

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.

SPEAKER_01: 3:15

Happy New Year and welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. As usual, I'm your favorite co-host, Adam. I'm also joined with your other favorite co-host, my good friend from Central Time, Mr. Michael Sharp.

SPEAKER_03: 3:30

Hello, Adam. That was a good save there. Well done.

SPEAKER_01: 3:33

Yeah, listen, I mean, you know, I mean, I'm not everyone's cup of tea. I know that. You know that. As long as you can admit it, we're in good shape. So how you been?

SPEAKER_03: 3:46

How was uh how was the holiday festive season?

SPEAKER_01: 3:50

You know, um throughout my life, I always had to celebrate on different days because, as you know, my father was in the aviation industry, and so many times he was uh working the holidays. Well, then I decided to marry a nurse who also works during the holidays. So um, so Christmas Day, I went hiking in the winter. I love to go winter hiking, as you know. Um, and my wife uh was nursing, uh, wherever she was nursing at. And then she had a lot of charting. And so Christmas Day, I kind of just tinkered with my electronics and and my office, and yada yada yada. But on Saturday, um, I was lucky enough to celebrate with my family. We had a whole day together. We did Avatar, which is about five million hours, we did dinner, we did um gift exchange and getting together. So uh ours was on Saturday and uh had a good time. What about you guys?

SPEAKER_03: 4:50

Um excuse me, we had uh it was good. Santa was was way better uh to me than it probably should have been. Uh, you know, we had three basically three celebrations just with the way everybody's schedule was, but uh we had our family, you know, me and the the kids and the wife and my mother uh on Christmas Day and you know exchanged gifts and ate and it was uh it was a lot of fun. What was uh really cool is uh, or really not cool, um, it was like 70 degrees here. So I woke up in the morning and I told my wife, it's like I'm wearing shorts, and she says, Why are you doing that? And it's like, because it's Christmas and I can. I have never lived, I've lived in the Midwest um pretty much all my life with a brief stint out on the uh east coast, but never before have I ever been able to really wear shorts. I could wear shorts at Christmas, but uh wear shorts on Christmas, go outside and enjoy it. So it was kind of nice.

SPEAKER_01: 5:51

Well, that's great. I'm uh I'm jealous. Uh I was uh uh on ice. Uh now you know, but uh just to be clear, I I have I think I don't know, there's titanium teeth. Is the correct pronunciation crampons for like for you to put on the bottom of your boots? So I have those and then uh yeah, about 85 layers. Um lucky for me, I did find a Starbucks that was open. Everybody knows on this show that I'm a Starbucks junkie. Um and there was one open, and I actually drove to it, and then I like to take my hot coffee and then go hiking. So uh no shorts.

SPEAKER_03: 6:31

For me, because of you, some poor Starbucks employee had to work on Christmas. Uh I hope you're happy.

SPEAKER_01: 6:36

Yep, sensor button still works. Uh well, listen, there were lots of people there. Uh, so it wasn't just me. Because of a a driving economy. Oh, yeah, the economy's not driving.

SPEAKER_03: 6:53

Well, you know, if you you know, if you addict somebody to something, you've got to keep the supply flowing.

SPEAKER_01: 6:59

So hey, listen, uh, it's an enjoyment and it's legal. So well, a lot of things are legal. We won't go down that path. So uh all right. Next on our list. Everybody wants to know, sir. Uh a lot of people riding me behind the scenes because you have a lot of fans out there, which should make you feel good.

SPEAKER_03: 7:21

I I appreciate that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 7:23

Everybody wants to know how is the job search going? Slow.

SPEAKER_03: 7:30

I you know, I appreciate everybody's outpouring. Um, it is going very slow, and I'm blaming it on the holidays. Let's hope. Um, yeah, today is officially my last day.

SPEAKER_01: 7:47

Well, um I offer you that job in transportation.

SPEAKER_03: 7:52

I I know, I know. So as of tomorrow, um guess what? I will uh I will officially be I technically won't be unemployed. We can count this uh podcast as a job, right?

SPEAKER_01: 8:06

Well, we do have multiple people who we'll get to in a little bit that I would like to personally thank for helping uh keeping this going, which actually, you know, you and I have always given back the money when we did all the stuffer Bragg and all the t-shirts and everything. Um more than ever, uh, those people who support with their wallets are uh had they have no idea how important that is right now. So uh we always say thank you, and we'll get to you in a little bit, but uh I'm I'm especially saying thank you very much right now.

SPEAKER_03: 8:40

So um I mean the money really does it comes to us, but we typically use that for you know team events and giving back to the community and stuff like that. So um it doesn't really go in our pockets, but we certainly appreciate it. It helps us do a lot of things, so uh that's always good. And by the way, I wanted to say Happy New Year. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. So our first podcast of 2026, and this uh this podcast starts uh what season five.

SPEAKER_01: 9:18

Five timer smokers jacket, buddy. Get your oh wait, no, five timers? Five oh the five timers is Saturday Night Live, right? The golden jacket or whatever, you know. Uh but yeah, uh yeah, okay. I'm mixing all kinds of references, but you are yeah, you're just like throwing a bunch of stuff together, but anyway. Fifth season. I mean, who would have thought we could we didn't think we're gonna get to five shows, let alone five seasons.

SPEAKER_03: 9:44

So we thought, you know what, this is gonna go on for like maybe we're gonna push it for six months.

SPEAKER_01: 9:50

It's fun, I love it. Uh it's help helping. Um, you know, got a random email today. Um I'll use a first name only. I'll use the first name only. Uh Laura is her name. Laura says, I'm interested in joining your team for Big Brag. I'm registered this morning. I hope that's okay. Laura, it's not just okay. It's fantastic. Absolutely. We are uh we are we are spreading the word and we try to stay positive.

SPEAKER_03: 10:21

And um I appreciate that she that she wrote us and and you know ask if it was okay. That I mean, yeah. We're not gonna kick her out or anything. No, we're always gonna welcome everybody. But thank you for uh reaching out asking us if it's okay. It absolutely is okay. Love to have you on the team and uh joining the community.

SPEAKER_01: 10:43

So it's always you sent her the bylaws, right?

SPEAKER_03: 10:46

First child well as the uh defunct legal console for the show. I will be sending out the uh you know 4,000-page document of the rules and regulations.

SPEAKER_01: 10:59

So you are you actually uh all kidding aside, if no one knows, Michael behind the scenes does go, hey man, you better be careful when you say that stuff. Uh I put out an advertisement once, um, and he says, Now, did you mark in there that that's not the actual one? I'm like, I think it was pretty pretty pretty explainable, you know. And nope, no, you better put it out there that that's not the I'm like, okay, you know, so every now and then Michael says my keister. Says pretty explainable is not valid in court.

SPEAKER_03: 11:31

Just to let you know, not that we're going to court, but I'm just saying. Well, you did do prison, so well, you know, it was a short stint. Well, just Canada. So did that really count?

SPEAKER_01: 11:55

Do not open mouth, Adam, what you really want to say. Filter, filter, filter. Okay. Uh, so, anyways, job search, um, moving down the line here. Not going well, but we're hoping that 2026 uh opens up a couple things. And of course, you are doing some proactive things behind the scenes to try to advance the career and and maybe change some stuff. So we'll uh we'll wish you well with that, sir.

SPEAKER_03: 12:21

You know, I'm just looking at the last few weeks. I've got the resume, I think it's in in good shape. I am taking some courses, uh keeping up with technology, things like that. So um, you know, I'm ready doing the full court press this new year, and and we'll and we'll see.

SPEAKER_01: 12:38

So I gotta tell you something as a friend because you know we put this on YouTube, right? If you do a resume in the first week of January before we go to Florida, and you have this view, I'm loving the Eagle Scout metal, but I would get rid of the bourbon bottles up top. The Eagle Scout is great. The cameras are great. I have to tell you the truth. I never realized that you had the lens caps off all the. I mean, I knew the older cameras you had the lens caps off, but I didn't realize on the ones there. Do you take them off when we record, or do you just on those particular models you leave the lens caps off?

SPEAKER_03: 13:22

I leave the lens caps off.

SPEAKER_01: 13:23

It's much better for display purposes.

SPEAKER_03: 13:24

No, absolutely. I don't want to look at lens caps.

SPEAKER_01: 13:27

So but uh the uh the two bottles of EH Taylor that you got up there, yeah, I would move.

SPEAKER_03: 13:34

I didn't really well only someone like you would probably notice that. But when I when I crop, I make sure that I crop out that part of the room so you can't see the the closet and stuff. Uh I just want to tell you. And and no, no, that's that's good. Yeah, we'll we'll take those down.

SPEAKER_01: 13:51

Um and now if someone's only listening to the show, they're like, we gotta log in and see what the heck he's talking about. What are you talking about?

SPEAKER_03: 13:58

You know, cameras and you know, E. H. Taylor bottles and Eagle Scouts and things of that nature.

SPEAKER_01: 14:07

I like the Eagle Scout. I would leave it right there because if someone's talking to your head and they look past you and be like, What's he got back there? And the Eagle Scout medal, nice job. That'll I mean, just like uh just like you know, you could buy that anywhere, right?

SPEAKER_03: 14:21

Uh no, we probably could, but I mean it's not stolen valor, but it it's you know infringing upon that.

SPEAKER_01: 14:31

So well, anyways, great to be with you again. Um we just had our uh we'll we'll get into everyone's favorite segment. Um but um we just had our brag release show. So if you haven't had a chance to listen to that, if you have listened to that, go back and listen to it again. I'm just kidding. Um uh but no, definitely uh definitely a good time. Wish Ron the best with his uh uh inaugural um uh inauguration into the domestic ride director of the biggest ride. I know I think he's probably gonna have a spring tune-up as well. Um little bit of confusion out there in Braggland. You can you it'll sum it up. I've I've watched all kinds of social media stuff. People are wondering about cutoff dates for spring tune-up versus big brag 2026. Um, and so I would recommend going to brag.org to answer all those questions. I'm only trying to be helpful with some things I saw on Facebook where people were like, I don't understand. When's the cutoff? Um, if you're listening to this show, you missed it for Big Brag 2026. Too late. It's gone up to the next uh next segment, but it'll go up again, so don't miss out on that. Still chance to save some money. So that's right. Uh all right, let's get into because we had some guesses, let's get into everyone's favorite segment. Uh listener spotlight.

SPEAKER_03: 16:04

All right, listener spotlight for this episode. Uh the hints are as follows there. Had a bit of a uh, you know, tension thing going on. Um started out with the this area or the area where this city is located began uh as a couple of failed land developments. Uh local development prompted the residents of the area to vote to incorporate the city. Uh historically, this area has been plagued with landslides. Just in my opinion, not a good place to build a city, but that's me. Uh, if you play golf, you might want to wear a PFD, a personal flotation device, and the city has seen its share of lethal weapons. I kind of made this one super easy.

SPEAKER_01: 17:01

Well, I guessed on the show uh whatever that uh golf courses where you see the whales, and I was wrong. So uh, but we've got a couple guesses here, sir. Okay, what do we got? Online. Connie, this is the Armando segment. I have to lead with Armando Guest St. Louis. There it is. Uh I'm just kidding. Uh, online in in very joking manner, he uh congratulated us on our 146% uh increase of listenership. And he and Alex Bell and a couple of them wrote us some nice messages on there, and he said, My guest listener spotlight is St. Louis with a big smiley face. So he did not really mean that. Um I call him Matt. You like to call him Mark for some reason. Matt, Mark, as long as you're paying them, he doesn't care. Um he says, Merry Christmas, boys. My guess is Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Well documented logistic and financial problems in the 1900s. They incorporated in 1973 as the neighboring cities and towns grew like weeds. They're famous for landslides. Nearby Trump National Golf Course has parts of the course regularly fall into the ocean. Uh uh Nike uh Nike missile sites were there on the peninsula. Nike missile batteries, yep. Okay, and then um but then he also wants to do a little bit of and I appreciate this. We never take offense to this. He gives a little grammar correction, and I appreciate this. And he said um that I pronounced it cigarro. Sigwaro. So yeah. Uh born and raised in Arizona, he transplanted 23 years ago. So uh thanks for all the laughs, he says. Now I appreciate the grammar pronunciation. I mean, last thing I want to do is like when I said uh Brazilton, and and Franklin said no, it's Brazilton. So um Oh, we're just oh dude, just click over. Click on air. Wow. For those who don't know, we have a counter. We just gained a Facebook follower. So there we go.

SPEAKER_03: 19:20

You gotta like that. Um, so the anybody doesn't under that hasn't been following us, which I hope you have. Uh last episode the city was Tempi, Arizona, and I had brought up uh the cactus, and apparently we had uh incorrectly pronounced it. So thank you for the for uh letting us know. I mean, those cactus only grow in a small part of Arizona and a little bit of Mexico, so um, you know, don't have them around here.

SPEAKER_01: 19:53

Now, Connie, I have a correction. Your husband was willing to take a couple minutes away from being with you, and he actually gave us a guess for listener spotlight. Hope I'm not too late. Here goes. My listener spotlight is, he says, drum roll, please. Rancho Palos Verdes, the 18th hole of the local golf course, fell into the Pacific Ocean. Uh Trump bought it, so Adam would need a PFD. Don't think he'd play that. Um, the area, Portuguese Bend, has been plagued with landsides, landslides since prehistoric times. Lethal Weapon was filmed there, and the area changed owners several times in the 1920s, incorporated in part because of the development in nearby Santa Monica. Happy New Year, he says. Um, and those are all the guesses that I have. And how did our favorite two gentlemen do?

SPEAKER_03: 20:53

Well, I must have made this one real easy because both these gentlemen got it correct. Um yeah, it is uh Rancho Palos Verdes, California. Uh they pretty much hit everything. It was incorporated in 1973. Um, it's had landslides going back 250,000 years. And yeah, the Ocean Trails golf course there collapsed into the Pacific back in 1999, and uh the movie Lethal Weapon and the series were filmed in the area. So um, yeah, there you go. I hope nobody was on uh that particular green back in 1999 when it decided to slip off into the ocean.

SPEAKER_01: 21:43

You know what happened? I know what happened. Well, I know what happened, it slid into the ocean. No, no, no, no. As a golfer, I I've done this many times. You get that putt that's just right there. I mean, it's just so close. And then you tap, like you tap your foot around the hole, hoping it'll fall in. Somebody tapped too hard off in the ocean. So that thing got mad sort of jumping up and down.

unknown: 22:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 22:07

Have you ever seen those uh you know pros when they golf and it's like right on the edge, and the camera just points there, wait, one, one thousand, two, one thousand, three, one thousand, and then it falls in. It's like, why can that never happen to me? Do I not wait long enough? Maybe the gravitational pull of the earth needs to go a certain way for my my ball just to good luck with that happening.

SPEAKER_03: 22:28

Uh, I know why it doesn't happen for me because uh my short game is horrible, but you've been practicing, right? You took them lessons. Uh sure. Don't expect improvements back uh in a couple weeks, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_01: 22:45

So I I told my wife there's a heated driving range in Ann Arbor. I said, You know, I'm gonna go I'm gonna go get a couple buckets of balls before we fly down. And she's like, You think that's really nice of you? I said, What do you mean? She's like, You think that's nice to Michael? I mean, he doesn't play, and you're gonna go tune up so you can be even even worse. She's like, Why don't you just like I'm like, Well, I wanna I wanna and so my wife's got your back.

SPEAKER_03: 23:10

I I knew there was a reason why I liked Lauren. Uh, there's several reasons, but um, there you go.

SPEAKER_01: 23:15

Yeah, that's just a good last show you said with Franklin and Ron, he's like, the Ron Lauren doesn't even exist. You guys are giving me a hard time.

SPEAKER_03: 23:26

But yeah, that's just a good point. Let's focus on what we're talking about right at the moment. Uh, that is a good point. Why are you trying to improve when you know I don't play? Okay, so um thank you. Moving right along.

SPEAKER_01: 23:42

Thank you, all listeners. I forgot. I normally say uh thank you for the for the for the um uh vertus. Hold on a second. Uh Rancho Palos Verdes. Thank you, listeners from there. Thank you, all listeners. But this episode, thank you for Rancho Palos Verdes, which makes me want some Mexican food, to be honest. But um, I have I have one other thing to say.

SPEAKER_03: 24:08

I do want to welcome some new listeners. Okay, I want to welcome our newest, latest listeners. We've got some more international people coming on. Uh, welcome the new listeners from Finland, Austria, and Lithuania, or add them to the heat map.

SPEAKER_01: 24:28

You know, we have some some friends from Finland. I mean, friends is a light word, it's kind of you know, hesitate. What do we know from Finland? International travelers. We met at Ragbri and they gave us the Finland flag and everything. No, no, no. They were from weren't they from they were from Denmark?

SPEAKER_03: 24:45

Oh, oh, I sorry. Two distinct countries Finland, Denmark.

SPEAKER_01: 24:51

Yep. My bad. My bad, yeah. Well, it's over there, some across the pond.

SPEAKER_03: 24:58

Hashtag Michael is correct.

SPEAKER_01: 25:01

Oh gosh. Let's start that. You know, every time we post something online, it says, Do you want to use Michael's hashtag Michael's wrong? I'm like, no, not this time. Ridiculous AI. Stop that. True story, sidebar. We were working on a project. We were using AI to find something funny for the show, and Michael will tell you if I'm lying. It said, Would you like me to write it in a way where we prove that Michael's wrong? See, AI's even got it out for me at this point. Well, hopefully AI's got it in for you starting next year. That's right. Or this year. I should have said this year, but uh this year. All right. Here's what I got on my list dealership, buddy. I got a size of a magazine, I've got uh email and social, I've got podfest and golfing.

SPEAKER_03: 25:56

Which one do you think? Um I want to talk about something. Okay. Now, when you were younger, I don't believe you did, did you ever deliver newspapers?

SPEAKER_01: 26:06

I did not. No, I I lived in rural rural Illinois, and uh, if I did, I would need more than a bicycle.

SPEAKER_03: 26:13

So uh well, you just weren't riding good enough at that point. But um I delivered newspapers, started when I was in the fifth grade, and even when I got into high school, um I kept my paper route. I was working at the radio station, so there was a couple nights a week I couldn't deliver, so no somebody else covered for me. But um I really liked the people on the route, and I made sure I got it on the porch so that you know the people didn't have to go in the snow. And and it was just one of those things that uh I didn't really need that job because I was working at the radio station, but I kept it because I like the people. So I kept that throughout my high school thing, uh, my high school days. And I was thinking about this the other day from something that happened. It's like we but we all know that media, paper media is is really had a hard time the last 10, 12 years. And a lot of news, I don't even think they deliver newspapers anymore. Maybe some places they do. I know here uh you can go down to like the Casey's and buy a newspaper. Um, but like my town used to have a newspaper, doesn't anymore. Um Paola, which is just like 15 miles away. They're the the county seat, they have a newspaper, um, but I don't think they deliver. And that just got me thinking, wow, you know how much things have changed. You know, we're getting our media electronically. Well, what really hit home, the other day I I I take bicycling magazine. I still take a magazine, kind of like you know how it feels and stuff, and got my latest copy right here of bicycling magazine, and uh the front is says Arrow Obsessed. It talks all about uh aerodynamics of bicycles, and there's some good articles in here. Um I enjoy reading it, but I I got it the other day in the mail, and uh I was like something feels weird. Uh I didn't realize until I was down in my office that this was the old one. And for the folks that are uh listening, I'm holding up a past issue of Bicycling Magazine and a current issue of Bicycling Magazine, and if you'll notice, wow, they are not the same. Um I think on the size difference, it's about an inch shorter and about two inches narrower.

SPEAKER_01: 28:34

Wow.

SPEAKER_03: 28:35

So what they've done is to obviously better manage their money is they have shrinken, shrinken, shrunk, uh make it up words. The uh the format of the magazine uh by a couple of inches. It still has all the same articles and stuff. I they just jam-pack it into a smaller magazine. I'm sure it's you know cheaper to ship and not using as much uh paper and stuff like that. But I just thought it was kind of odd. Um I bet there's other magazines out there that I don't read uh that are probably doing the same thing, but it just kind of caught me off guard the other day and got me thinking about that whole uh paper media and where it is today versus where it was 20 years ago. So um if you do take bicycling magazine and got a recent uh copy of it and you're like something doesn't seem right, it's because the magazine is a lot smaller now.

SPEAKER_01: 29:31

You know, I just realized there's something you may not know about me. Do you know I was in the advertising business? Uh photography? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I did real estate photography. That's right. It was a company? Yeah, I I don't have a problem telling you what the company's called. It's called Dynamic Color Publications. And I took real estate pictures and it was an imprint magazine. And boy, talk about hitting the hitting the market at the wrong time. I did very well for a few years. Back before digital cameras were affordable by all. Um, I remember I paid two grand for um this Nikon, I think it was called Cool Pix, is what I want to think. Cool Pix 999.

SPEAKER_03: 30:12

I wanted to render somewhere.

SPEAKER_01: 30:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 30:14

I paid like$15 for it.

SPEAKER_01: 30:17

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_03: 30:18

Sorry.

SPEAKER_01: 30:19

You know, when I first paid the two grand for it, I thought I'll never make my money back. And then like within like a month, I had I definitely did well because it was like that I did well on because real estate agents were like, Oh my gosh, I can have this picture without developing, I can have it fast, and so I I did well there. And then once the everybody could afford a digital camera, I was like, hmm, I'm in the wrong. We can do our own. Exactly. Sound familiar? So um no pun intended, but uh but um so yeah, I don't know. And then it was um god, I did that job for 13 years, and then uh um yeah, you I would get a triple A map, and I would I had an old drafting desk. I didn't draft anything. You don't want to see me draw, it's kind of embarrassing. But I bought it because I could tilt up the drafting, I would put the triple A map on it and get a highlighter. And the night before I would get my 300 stops all around Metro Detroit, and I would take a highlighter and say, Okay, and put my route together, and that way I just go boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Um, and so then it was uh at the time, uh, I'll even tell you what I made three dollars and twenty-five cents a house, and so but I have a couple hundred, and so I would do that, and I could I could knock out a on a good day, I could do like a hundred a day, and so you know, back in those days it was not too bad, but yeah, then unfortunately the yeah yeah magazine's not printed anymore, it's all online. And houses.

SPEAKER_03: 31:48

Yeah, you know what you were doing there with your marker, another sidebar. I mean you got your marker out and you're hitting all your things. You were creating an Euler circuit.

SPEAKER_01: 31:58

Is that what that's called?

SPEAKER_03: 31:59

That's that's what it's called. Euler circuit.

SPEAKER_01: 32:01

That's a big fancy word for I was just putting my route together of highlighted streets I had to go to, but Euler circuit, huh? I have to look that up.

SPEAKER_03: 32:08

Euler circuit, yes, yeah. It's it's basically the idea that you you map out something so that you don't have to go and backtrack. It's like you make a complete circuit as most efficiently as possible.

SPEAKER_01: 32:19

It was kind of cool. I figured out better ways and faster ways because I could I I mean uh in 2000 I could tell you the traffic pattern of every city in Detroit, and I would I would actually take, I mean, I did kind of like my own AI, if you will, because I would take it in the this stupid uh all these schools and 25 mile zones, and I I can't do that at this time, and I started kind of filtering what would be better, and then like in Dearborn to give you an example. Um, I found it better after a while instead of going like you know, A, B, C, D, like a, you know, like a um like a wagon wheel spoke, you know, spoken hub. I found it better to go up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, because of traffic and stoplights and stop signs, that I could actually just go north and hit all the ones north, then come back down. And even though I was adding additional miles, I would get done faster. And so I was like, well, miles versus anyways, there's a big rabbit hole. But the point is it's not printed anymore. Uh, and that's kind of where I fell into trouble. When I you hear my story, when you and I are hanging out and I tell you career trouble, uh, people weren't spending a lot of money for weddings, and people were not spending money on digital, I mean on in-print advertising. Yeah, and so everything went to digital, and I found myself in career trouble, which is why I had to start all over again. Sound familiar? So um let's hope not. Let's hope not. But um, anyways, the I that's interesting about the bicycling magazine. Now, the one cover that you showed showed a very aerodynamic bike. Are you looking at a new bike? No, no, no, no. I mean, I didn't write the article, that's just what the article was. I know, I was just kidding. So a red aerodynamic bike.

SPEAKER_03: 34:00

So no, you know, aerodynamics is great. It's like um, but it's not necessarily necessary for everybody.

SPEAKER_01: 34:09

No, for sure.

SPEAKER_03: 34:10

I mean, I mean that. Uh I used to run cross-country in high school, and um, you know, we had this one guy shaved his legs, all this kind of stuff, and I was like, he goes, You should shave your legs, and I was like, No, I'm okay. He's like, Man, this will shave like uh, you know, one three hundredth of a second off of your time. And I'm like, I mean, I was a decent runner, I was varsity, but I was like, you know what? I have not been in any race where you know a half a second has been the difference between me winning and losing. So it's not worth it. So uh aerodynamics is great, but you know, it's not gonna really help me any.

SPEAKER_01: 34:52

So uh very, I would say, second girlfriend. First one was not really a girlfriend. You you say your girlfriend, boyfriend. She was a swimmer? Oh, and she was she was your girlfriend, but yeah. I mean, yeah, what you held hands, you felt like, oh yeah, we hold hands, we're your girlfriend, boyfriend. Uh, but my I'd say like a pretty serious girlfriend, she was uh avid swimmer and really good. And I bet you we I don't know, we fell apart after high school, but I bet you she probably went on um to win multiple awards, who knows? Um, but she uh would participate in the shaving of arms and and of course women with legs, we expect that, but um uh everything, everything. I mean, it was always weird, and then I I then saw an article later on in life. It it took me right back to when I was in high school because it said, you know, be careful when you shave things because sometimes it grows back worse. And I started going, hmm, all these people who shaved their exactly. I'm wondering if that guy in uh you did cross country with, if you saw him today, he'd be like, Yes, big bushy legs, yeah. Uh, anyways, so thank you for sharing the bicycling magazine. Um, so brag release last episode. Um, again, if you haven't had a chance, please go back and listen to that. We did the brag release with Ron Ward, Franklin Johnson, yourself, and myself. We got together and we got to hear all about the Happy Trails um ride. And so good luck to him. We are gonna have a team at Big Brag 2026. And you when you upon registering for Big Brag 2026, you can sign up uh under either cycling men of leisure or cycling women of leisure. Um Brag has always been gracious to us to allow us to have two teams. So I assume that that would continue. So um uh anything you want to add on that, sir?

SPEAKER_03: 36:58

No, now one thing. No, I don't think I have anything to add on the team. Yeah, sign up. You don't have to talk to us before or anything, you don't have to ask us permission. Everybody's welcome. Uh it's all inclusive. Uh what's that?

SPEAKER_01: 37:15

4,000 page uh release.

SPEAKER_03: 37:17

Uh you know, I'll send that later. It's don't worry about it. Um just uh, you know, it's a community, we have a lot of fun, especially if you're like uh one person or two person, um, you know, and you want to go in and meet a lot of people really fast, uh, that's a good way to do it. And I know like a lot of the people who tent camped would try to tent camp together, and a lot of the people inside would try to, you know, uh camp inside together. So um if uh you're going to Brag and you uh want to make it even a better experience, certainly join the team. Not join any team, but we'd prefer you join ours. But I mean, you know, uh join a team. It it makes the experience, I believe, uh a lot more enjoyable and a lot more rewarding.

SPEAKER_01: 38:04

Yeah, I can I uh I can't say any better. Thank you very much. Uh let's see here. Podfest. I'm wearing a shirt today that says keep podcasting, right? And uh Buzz Sprout uh provided the shirt for me. They also bought our tickets in 2025 to Podfest 2025. And guess what they did this year? They bought our tickets to Podcast 2026, Podfest 2026. And uh whether you have a job or not, we're going to Florida.

SPEAKER_03: 38:39

So And you know what? That that's that was the really hard thing for me because normally when I and I see things like that, well, he doesn't have a job, what's he doing doing that? And I'm that type of person that's like, well, should you really be doing that? And I had to think hard. It's like, should I really be going? And my wife was like, You got the time off. You've already paid for your, you know, your plane tickets already paid for, your lodgings already paid for, uh, the pod fest tickets are already paid for. So I was like, okay, good point. And I will have my computer with me so I can uh take interviews or send out resumes and that kind of thing along the way. So it should be a good time.

SPEAKER_01: 39:22

Well, you know, I mean, uh I'm I'm sure that you would prefer to be going there under different circumstances, um, you know, but it is what it is. Yep. So we're going to Podfest. It's gonna be fun. Go to Podfest. Um and you know, I mean, and in all transparency. Um there were some things that were you and I kind of went, whoa, you know, these people are uh serious. And then of course, like every every convention, there's people who just want to go to a convention. Um, it's like, oh look, there's a convention.

SPEAKER_03: 40:00

It's conventional. Oh, let's go to the convention. Yeah, it's it's you got those people that are like super serious on one end, and then you got those people that are like, like you said, it's a convention type scenario. Um we're in the middle. I mean, we we take this serious, but we don't take it serious. You know, we take it serious, it's serious as to try to produce a good show and all that kind of stuff, but we are not the ones that are like, you know, gotta be on the front seat of every, you know, you know, talk thing and taking, you know, heavy notes. And yeah, that's uh those are the same type of people, nothing wrong with this, who go to like, you know, um Comic-Con, you know, and are dressed as like the full Klingon. Yeah, it's not us. That's respectable because let me tell you, some of those things are some of those costumes are incredible, but um, we're more in the line of we'll go have a good time, but I mean it's not the end all be all to our existence.

SPEAKER_01: 40:59

No, no. I mean, and what I noticed it was also last year for me, it was a lot of sales. I mean, it was and I understand people are in the business to make money. I mean, they're not there for just a hobby. I I understand that, but like the um uh pro uh not packages programs, courses, the courses that they were trying to sell us last time, and we're like, uh uh you know that this is not like our nine to five.

SPEAKER_03: 41:27

I mean, we we do this for fun and we're here because we happen to be in Florida at the same time, and uh, but the courses that they wanted to sell were kind of interesting to me, but um but you know they've got a big market because a lot of people I I would say we're probably in the very small minority. I would say, and I'm just pulling this out of a hat, I would say we're probably in maybe the bottom 15% of podcasters out there or content creators. We did not get into this with the idea that we were gonna make money, make millions of dollars. This is gonna be our time, our full-time job. I think the vast majority of people who get into content creation have that in mind. It's like, oh, I want to be the next big thing and I want to be making millions of dollars and have sponsorships and all this kind of stuff. That's never been what we just had a show and we had stories that we wanted to tell, and us kind of wanting to build that community that we talk about. Um, but most people aren't that way. So that's why I think that you know they get really course heavy and stuff because you've got a lot of people out there that are wanting to turn this into their full time job.

SPEAKER_01: 42:39

Right.

SPEAKER_03: 42:40

No, but it is for me right now. But uh I was thinking I'm joking, uh but you know, I mean. So I think that naturally lends itself to people wanting to sell you books and courses and things like that because people are looking at turning this into a sustainable business model over the next you know 30 years for them.

SPEAKER_01: 43:05

Yeah, I get I mean I completely get that. Um the uh as a friend, and just so someone doesn't think we're cruel. I mean, hopefully you have listened many times and you know that Michael and I definitely rib each other. I uh I wrote him a nice after he found out that he wasn't gonna have the the government job. I said, Well, and listen, I got good news for you. The show's making a little money now, and uh and he said, Oh yeah, and I said, But I got bad news for you. Half of it's mine. And so I said, Hey, you got about 20 bucks a month out there. And he said, Well, I can I can get I said you can get some spam, and he said, Spam. He said I can get great value, I can get more. So um, anyways, but um it'll be fun, it'll be good. So appreciate you bringing the magazine size. Uh that's definitely interesting, by the way. Of course, you know, always to save a buck. Now I have something special. Um, I've I I didn't do it myself. I'm not gonna sit here and try to josh you, um, but I do have um something that I I asked AI to do an extreme deep dive, and it did something kind of cool. But before I do that, I think we should end the show with that. And I was curious, do you have another um uh listener spotlight?

SPEAKER_03: 44:37

Well, of course I do. Excellent. All right, the new listener spotlight clues are as follows. Um, this city was severely damaged in the early 1940s. Uh the city boasts uh a very efficient and effective transportation system, which you should enjoy. Um the city has had no less than ten flags. Oh, excuse me. Um the city has had no less than ten flags. Let me start over. No less than ten flags have flown over the city. Let's put it that way.

SPEAKER_01: 45:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 45:20

You got that? No less than ten flags have flown over this city. Uh bookworms would have a ball in this city. And this city has helped inspire an American cookout classic.

SPEAKER_01: 45:37

Very easy. American cookout classic? Yes. Okay. Uh I guess, huh?

SPEAKER_03: 45:52

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 45:53

Arlington, Texas. Arlington, Texas. I mean, don't they don't they cook out a lot there? You mean Arlen, Texas?

SPEAKER_03: 46:04

I don't know. Um I'm surprised you didn't use your uh regular answer, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_01: 46:16

St. Louis? Do they actually do they actually barbecue a lot there or cook out there? Cookout classic? Cookout classic.

SPEAKER_03: 46:24

Look, look at the uh you I'll I'll send you away with homework. Uh check out the history of St. Louis and Food. You might find something very interesting.

SPEAKER_01: 46:35

Oh no, is this really St. Louis?

SPEAKER_03: 46:37

I didn't say that. I just said look at it.

SPEAKER_01: 46:41

St. Louis and Food. I'm writing this down because I have to look. St. Louis and Food. What were the clues again?

SPEAKER_03: 46:49

No less than 10 flags have flown over this city. The city was severely damaged in the early 40s, 1940s. Um, the city boasts a very efficient transportation system, and bookworms would have a ball in this city, and this city helped inspire an American cookout classic.

SPEAKER_01: 47:12

Got it. Got it. I know it. Signed, sealed, delivered.

SPEAKER_03: 47:19

He knows it, huh?

SPEAKER_01: 47:21

Let me tell you.

SPEAKER_03: 47:22

Are you gonna be bold enough or do you want to wait?

SPEAKER_01: 47:25

I'm gonna tell you. I have a put it right here in recording. Okay. Boston, Massachusetts. Boston, Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_03: 47:34

Boston, Massachusetts.

SPEAKER_01: 47:37

Yep. There it is. Ladies and gentlemen. Are you thinking like Boston baked beans? And transportation. They have a phenomenal transportation. The trains go one way, the buses go the other. Phenomenal. They are they are actually known for having some of the best public transportation.

SPEAKER_03: 47:58

And they have a very good highway system throughout the city due to the completion of the big dig back in the early 2000s. Where they put their basically interstates that went into the city, they put them underground. So it took them forever, but they got it done.

SPEAKER_01: 48:16

Well, don't answer if I'm right or wrong. Um, you actually know probably I'm 99% wrong, but every now and then I have been known to pull a rabbit out of my hat. So uh we'll see. All right, fair enough. All right, here's what I got. Okay. Now, you know I'm a guy who uh has been doing my workouts, and when I started my workout this morning, knowing we were going to get together, I asked AI to do an extreme deep dive. I asked it specifically to go to our 2025, all 2025 and only 2025 episodes of Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. I asked for a top 10 list in Dave Letterman style, and it kind of came up with something and I kind of corrected it, and it took 45 minutes. I actually thought it had failed. Going through the archives, going through the archives. I thought it failed, and then then it came up and it said, I'm ready to present my answer. And I thought it's here it goes.

SPEAKER_03: 49:24

So so let me just clarify. So this was all of 2025's episodes. So that should be what 27 episodes, 28? Yes, sir. Throwing a couple special okay, so 28 episodes basically. Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 49:37

So I wanted to give you the source before I give it to you, and so that's where the source was. That our episodes 2025, these are the top 10 things.

SPEAKER_03: 49:48

Um that I'm interested in what what our top 10 things were.

SPEAKER_01: 49:55

Okay, here we go. As we roll towards the close of another incredible year, we took a moment to look back at everything that made 2025 special for road adventures of cycling men of leisure. From big rides to busted plans to bourbon, community and moments that reminded us why we ride together. And here's our top 10 highlights from 2025. Number 10. A big picture cycling industry deep dive. Why legacy multiday tours are struggling, what's challenging changing, and why community matters more than ever. And I thought you'd like that one.

SPEAKER_03: 50:38

Yeah, we've actually talked about that several times. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 50:42

Number nine, Podfest 2025. We just talked about that, but learning the craft, meeting creators, and pulling back the curtain on how cycling man of leisure keeps rolling.

SPEAKER_03: 50:55

Cool.

SPEAKER_01: 50:56

Number eight. I feel like I should have a drum roll, but that's okay. Number eight, bourbon country burn. Bikes, buffalo trace, lore, rare pours, campfires, and the kind of stories you only get after 60 miles and great friends.

unknown: 51:15

Cool.

SPEAKER_01: 51:16

Number seven. Thank you. Episode 75. Celebrating the milestone, the miles, the laughs, and the growing community of cycling men of leisure and cycling women of leisure. Number six, our biggest brag team yet. 43 riders, legendary climbs, hello, three-headed Medusa Hill, Hillary Stops, and the unforgettable Georgia Towns. Number five. The decision to cancel rain. Choosing shared experience over the accomplishment and staying true to who we are. I think that's leading because I said I wasn't going to do it without you. Um number four. The crash that changed the summer, fractured clavicle, busted plans, and the reminder that resilience is part of the ride. True. Number three. Bragg 2025 route release with a Franklin Johnson, family, whiskey, storytelling, and a whole lot of southern charm. If you remember, his wife for their anniversary had got him a very special bottle of whiskey. He opened up on that show. That's right. He actually gave us a choice, either the one that his wife gave him, actually, it wasn't a choice. He kind of showed us the choice. Yeah. And then we were like, no, he made the choice. But yeah, I appreciate the participation. Number two. Launching the Bragg 2026 route guessing contest, welcoming domestic ride director Ron Ward, and inviting the whole community to play along, which is really cool because AI picked that up just from two days ago.

SPEAKER_03: 53:08

So that's cool.

SPEAKER_01: 53:10

Number one, the year end safety conversation, counterfeit cycling parts, real world risks, and why cheap can sometimes cost more far more than money. 2025 reminded us that cycling men of leisure and cycling women of leisure isn't just about bikes or miles. It's about the people, the stories, and choosing the adventure together. Thanks for riding with us, listening with us, and being part of this community. Here's some more roads, more laughs, and more leisure ahead. On behalf of Michael and I, we want to say thank you and it's a great day. Great day for a bike ride.

SPEAKER_00: 53:56

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