Slow Travel And Road Trip Catch-Up

SPEAKER_04 0:01

So, what do you like better? Two hundred and fifty or one hundred?

SPEAKER_03 0:05

Hmm. That's interesting.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

There's a kind of adventure you only find when you're not in a hurry. This is Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. Stories from the open road where routes are questionable. The stops are intentional, and leisure isn't a reward. It's the plan. If you're looking for speed, well, you're lost. But if you're looking for laid-back adventure, good stories, and even better company, welcome home.

SPEAKER_04 0:53

Welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. I'm Adam, and once again, I am lucky enough to be joined with my good friend after a long extended break, Mr. Michael Sharp. Welcome, sir.

SPEAKER_03 1:09

Thank you, sir. And we do apologize. It has been an extra week and a half. A little late on this episode, but um we hope it's worth it. It's been a little busy and chaotic and other things. But um, yeah. Uh how you doing, man?

SPEAKER_04 1:24

I'm I'm good. I'm good. I just got back from the upper peninsula, and and then spirit of the show, guess where I was?

SPEAKER_03 1:32

Uh I'm gonna guess another uh transportation conference.

SPEAKER_04 1:37

Uh not a conference, but you're close. Very close. It's close enough. I mean, you in in the spirit of a contest, you would win. It was a meeting, but yes, I I was I headed up north for a couple events. We were we went to lighthouses in Escanaba, Michigan. There was no moonlight, but uh okay, that's a joke for uh but there was a sun in the morning um and uh went went there for uh my association meeting and uh on the board that I that I reside. But I I thought boy if Michael could see me now on another on another work trip.

SPEAKER_03 2:11

So uh it just seems way too complicated to keep it's a bus. Bus A, go there, bus B, go there. I okay.

SPEAKER_04 2:22

This was more about funding the bus, making sure the bus has not taken so many trips, and guess what?

SPEAKER_03 2:28

You got funding.

SPEAKER_04 2:29

Well, somebody's gotta take them, buddy. Somebody has to take them. So okay, fair enough. And then I went on a whirlwind trip to my favorite state. That would be Ohio. And then they answered this question. Yeah, I had to go there for a family wedding, which I'm happy to go. It was my uh I have a cousin who works for the Cleveland Clinic, and um and he uh is a cardiologist. Turns out on the cardiologist floor, um met a beautiful young lady, um, and her name is Sorovi, and I would like to formally congratulate Ken and Sorovi on their on their marriage. They looked very happy, although this is the second wedding I had to go to on a Sunday in 2026, so that stuff can stop because that's I don't know. I maybe they saved like eight bucks or something. I'm just kidding. But um, we we were happy to be there and we appreciate the invite. But yeah, rolled in back at midnight, and so uh I thought about the Sharp family as you guys always enjoy your your road trips. Yes. I I am a guy who normally says, get me to the Delta Sky Club, get me on the plane, and get me there.

SPEAKER_03 3:46

So seeing, and that that's the problem. You go from point A to point B, and then at point B, you start your vacation. You miss everything in between. I mean, you've never been to the Laurel and Hardy Museum, you've never been to a kazoo museum, you've never been to, I mean, you miss all of this truly American stuff that you would see along the way. You're kind of when you take vacation, you're kind of anti-cycling men of leisure. It's not the destination. Uh, sure.

SPEAKER_04 4:24

Actually, I thought that we both agreed. Sorry to call you out here, but we both agree to kind of transition from not only cycling, but all things leisure.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Well, that's not all things leisure, because it's about getting to it's about the journey along the way. And if you're just flying, I mean, I get it. I'm not, I get it. Some people like to travel that way. I just feel you miss so much of the true America by not having, you know, so to speak, boots on the ground and being able to take in, you know, roadside fruit stands and alligators crossing the road and uh, you know. But that's okay.

SPEAKER_04 5:05

I've been to a golf course with you where there was alligators on the golf course.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Oh yeah, we have been doing yeah, it's probably the fastest hole we've ever played. Okay, let's it yep, close enough.

SPEAKER_04 5:20

Sorry, but I flew there. So no. No, I understand. There are things I I will admit. I mean, I've this this year alone with work, I've traveled to places I've never been before, and and I it is it is uh it is nice to have some more culture and see some things that I haven't seen before. So um, but yes, I I I did think uh I'll tell you what, the upper peninsula, Michigan at this time of the year is absolutely beautiful. So if you get a chance, I bet um on my way over across the bridge, um, not so beautiful. I could only see about 50 feet in front of the car. They had uh all kinds of flashing lights, and um literally the fog was was so heavy that I kept thinking, I sure hope the bridge is still there. But on my way back, beautiful, absolutely beautiful. So the mighty Mac. If you uh ever get a chance to cross the five-mile Mackinac Bridge, uh please do.

SPEAKER_03 6:18

So we've been under under the five-mile Mackinac Bridge before you and I going to Mackinac Island on a bicycle ride. So very cool.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

Right there on the line between the two Great Lakes. I mean, we saw the imagination.

SPEAKER_03 6:33

Okay, well we didn't see a line, but they told us that there's a line right there underneath the bridge, yeah. Separating one great lake from the other great lake. Same water, but imaginary line. That's right.

SPEAKER_04 6:45

That's right. Uh what about you, sir? How how has the Sharp family? How have you been? Hopefully, you've been well.

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Been well. Uh been busy. Um you know, uh good and the bad. We had some more tragedy in the family. We're not gonna get into that because that's gonna bring this episode down. But uh we did have a party last week for for Max in his graduation from junior college.

SPEAKER_04 7:08

So that was fun.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

All right. So uh yeah, um, things are going pretty good here. If we could just, you know, go a day without it torrential downpouring, but other than that, it's okay.

SPEAKER_04 7:23

If you don't mind, I would like to tell you a weather story. I don't mind. My wife has recently really started to enjoy this meteorologist who is on YouTube. Uh Max Somebody. I can't think of it. The story would be better if I could remember, but um, anyways, I will come up with a velocity. Yes, Max Velocity. Thank you so much. And every time she's watching, I'm looking at Lawrence, Kansas. I'm looking at Paola, I'm looking at all these towns that you have taken me to. Uh, but you you you know the problem with that, right?

SPEAKER_03 8:04

Yeah, because you're looking at those towns because there's storms in those towns.

SPEAKER_04 8:07

Yeah, I'm looking, I'm like, hey, my buddy Michael. Wait a minute. Well, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_03 8:12

There's a tornado headed to his house. Yeah, your your towns or towns nearby do not get highlighted on a weather channel unless there's something bad happening.

SPEAKER_04 8:23

And they got these people who like pull out their cell phones or maybe GoPros or whatever those new action cameras are, whatever, those Osmodo or whatever. Hope I'm saying Osmo or whatever. I look up on the TV or the YouTube channel, and I'm like, hey, I've been oh, what was that? That's a cow. And then my cousin, who also came to the wedding, you you know him. He's he's supports cycling man of leisure. Yep, he was on a train from LA to um uh he took the train to Elyria, Ohio, which is um one town over from where the wedding was, and he's a he's a big train guy, loves us loves to travel by train. He was supposed to change trains in Kansas City. Little to my education, I guess Kansas City is a big train hub. And uh it's like a central hub where things fork off, yeah. Yeah, and he was supposed to change there, but you all had a train derailment, and he was unable to change trains, but he still made the wedding because he was Amtrak uh actually called him, maybe text, maybe they text him and said, please don't change this train, stay on this train until you make your destination. So that's pretty cool. Do not get off this train. Yeah, this train's going nowhere. No, just kidding. Um, so it's good to see him. He has definitely uh uh had some uh cycling men of leisure swag out in the LA area, and he's taken some photos, so we appreciate that. So well, uh listen, we got two things to talk about before we move forward. I was requested uh instead of the normal listener spotlight. I was told and requested and asked if I would do something a little bit different, maybe a little jingle. And so uh you and I uh worked worked a pretty long time, and we've got something cool.

SPEAKER_03 10:22

But let me all put together a jazz band

New Listener Spotlight Jingle Debuts

SPEAKER_03 10:25

to perform a jingle is not an easy feat.

SPEAKER_04 10:27

I'm just saying. I couldn't believe the writer that we had to sign. They wanted four cases of water and two cases of hot Gatorade. Who drinks hot Gatorade? Is that for their voice?

SPEAKER_03 10:39

The blue MMs. No other color, just wanted blue MMs. Just he's a weird guy.

SPEAKER_04 10:44

But yeah, that's that was weird. So um, do we uh we did have a guess for listener spotlight? And so before we jump into the main meat and potatoes, should we should we hear the jingle and and then let you give the towns and then I give the guests?

SPEAKER_03 11:00

Let's do it. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 11:01

Let's hear the new jingle. Here we go. Here it comes. After 100 episodes, we're still human.

SPEAKER_03 11:10

Yeah, we we make an occasional mistake.

SPEAKER_04 11:13

We actually received fan mail, uh, listener spotlight guests, which was the sole reason to make the jingle.

unknown 11:23

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

The one the guy who said we should change it up.

SPEAKER_04 11:27

And we totally did not record him in the episode, but we are fixing it now and post-production. That's right. All right, here we go. Without further ado, here's a gentleman from Central Time.

SPEAKER_01 11:40

Hey, this is Paul from Columbia, Missouri. Uh, here's Central Time Zone, best time zone. Um, just wanted to throw out two things. Number one, uh, I love the listener spotlight bit, but if we're gonna do it every week, can we get a better sounder for it, maybe like a song, uh, something with a zany sounder, something like that, more than just Adam going, this is listener spotlight. Also, um uh the listener spotlight this week was a uh toss. It was a total joke in that it was Omaha, Nebraska. That's right, Omaha, Nebraska. Um, obviously paying attention to the history of where we get sent for our um uh transportation conferences. Um, so I'm just gonna say that again. Uh Omaha, Nebraska, Listener Spotlight, final answer.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

Thank you so much, Paul, for using the fan mail. Without further ado, let's get back to the show. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 12:34

Your clifting and your dialing, you ride along with us every spin.

SPEAKER_05 12:47

Listeners, my light take it.

SPEAKER_04 12:54

So I hope, I hope the community likes it. Um it kind of grows on you, man. I mean, it grows on you.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Yeah, yeah, it's it's yeah, it's jazzy and really cool. And uh, you know, maybe that two cases of hot Gatorade uh really did a trick. I like it. It's it's uh it's catchy. I mean, you yours was great, but you know, we've moved beyond that, I think.

SPEAKER_04 13:17

Yeah, after after 100 listener spotlights. Now we have a fancy, fancy clip zone.

SPEAKER_03 13:26

Well, it's not been a hundred listener spotlights. Because we didn't start listener spotlight until a little bit in, but we get the we get the drift. But anyway, yes, sir. The clues for the listener spotlight are as follows. This town started over lunch. Uh the community gave rise to a very unique Boy Scout distinction. It found a good use for Russian dressing. An invention from this town changed TV viewing habits forever. And what else we got here? Um, in this town, you don't have to be outdoors to enjoy the rain.

SPEAKER_04 14:12

Well, our good friend Armando. Uh, he says, Good morning, boys. Here's an answer to the latest listener spotlight. As a former ivory soap user, I am 99 and 44 100% my guess is correct. The remaining 0.56% is Radburn in my home state of New Jersey. So, the answer is Omaha, Nebraska. Omaha! I told you, you can't go to Omaha or State of Omaha without thinking about Peyton Manning. But, anyways, Omaha, Nebraska. Reportedly, the founders of the finalized the city's plans over lunch in Council Bluffs. Exceptionally high concentration of Eagle Scouts. Ruben Kolovsky is widely accepted as the inventor of the uh sandwich of the Omaha Swanson TV dinners. Uh, started there was Malcolm X as the Omaha native. The local zoo has a rainforest exhibit. I was also influenced towards Omaha for two reasons. Adams Reeson's uh boondoggy disguised as a conference there, and the and the last hint that you had both been to that city. It's a great day for a bike ride tomorrow. It's late and hot today.

SPEAKER_03 15:36

Okay. Uh thank you for your guests, and you are 100% correct. Actually, there was one that I forgot. I said the spot was marked by X. Um, but the other clue that wasn't really listed here was the fact that you had just recently visited there. But I'll tell you how it broke down. Um the city was informally established on July 4th of 1854 at a picnic on Capitol Hill, not Council Bluffs, Council Bluffs across the river, but Capitol Hill. Um it gave rise to a unique Boy Scout distinction. Uh, I don't know whether Armando is correct there, but I will tell you it is the birthplace of Gerald Ford, the 38th president, who has been the only president who was an Eagle Scout. So that's uh it found a good use for Russian dressing. 1925, uh, the classic Rubin sandwich was invented at the Blackstone Hotel. Uh, an invention from this town changed TV viewing habits forever. Carl Swanson in 1927 invented what we know today as the TV dinner. Uh in this town, you don't have to be outdoors uh to enjoy the rain, and that's reference to the Henry Doyley's uh huge indoor rainforest. And then this spot was marked by X. That's reference to the fact that Malcolm X was in fact born in Omaha, Nebraska. Well, so there you have it. I actually went to the zoo when I was there. And uh I actually lived for a year in Omaha, Nebraska. So it's a great town. Love it.

SPEAKER_04 17:20

Well, we were supposed to get together, but I screwed that up. But um, well, all right. Not diminishing that we weren't able to get together. I'm not, I'm not, but I think we have something big to talk about. What is that? One hundred episodes podcasts.

SPEAKER_03 17:43

Wow, isn't that crazy? Can you believe we have done 100 episodes? I mean, it's just insane.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

That that is amazing.

SPEAKER_03 17:55

Oh, Maya, we're in the middle of a recording a show. Uh, say hi to Adam. We'll just have to cut this part out. Hey, Maya. How are you? Uh, what are we doing today? We

Omaha Revealed And 100 Episodes

SPEAKER_03 18:06

are doing the 100th episode. Can you believe it? We've had 100 podcasts. Wow. And we're recording the 100th episode. So we thought for this one it would be fun if maybe we we thought of came up with some questions. Hopefully, you've came up with some or AI can come up with some questions that maybe listeners would be interested in knowing about. So that's I think what we're gonna do. So, did you need something important?

SPEAKER_02 18:27

Well, I have some questions. Can I ask you guys?

SPEAKER_03 18:31

Can she ask us questions? Of course. Now, is this relevant to the show or is this just questions about the universe or whatever?

SPEAKER_04 18:39

Dad, can I have some money?

SPEAKER_03 18:42

Is this yeah, dad? You got 20 bucks? Yeah. Wait and find out. What do you say, Adam? Should we? Yes, absolutely. Let's uh let me set up another mic over here. Get things um yeah, pull over this chair. And I think I can push this out far enough that we can both get within my camera.

SPEAKER_04 19:03

But but I think I think while you guys are setting up, I actually can uh I can kill some airtime. Um I think it's important to mention that that ladies and gentlemen, Miss Maya Sharp has been on the show before. Um, if we will actually uh now that this is her second show that she's gonna be on, we have to make a page for her on the website. Uh we'll do that, and then she can be a contributor. Um if you would like to know about confetti, confetti is a Thai beanie baby that Michael Sharp. Oh, I see him right there. I see him. He has made, if not all, most of 99% of our adventures. And and uh, of course, there's lots of photographs, and I would imagine one day when Maya decides that she's ready to move on in life and and maybe at a wedding or some some magical moment in life, whenever that is, that she will receive a wonderful um memory book of all the all the big big moments that confetti spins. But there's a show out there, and I have to give Maya a little credit. We recorded in your garage, we did early on. I was gonna say like episode like four or twelve or nine or ten or something like that, somewhere in there, and we set up in your garage right there in the central time zone. One take, ladies and gentlemen. I promise you, one take, and she was a natural. So when you say, Can I ask you questions? I already know you can do it.

SPEAKER_02 20:49

So I appreciate your faith in me.

SPEAKER_03 20:52

All right. So, ladies and gentlemen, for our hundredth for our hundredth episode, Maya will uh will apparently put together some questions and will be asking us questions that Adam and I do not know what she's asking. So this is gonna make it even more fun. We have have not in any way, shape, or form know what questions she's gonna ask. So um take it away, young lady.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Okay. Um what made you guys want to go try that? Okay. Um what made you guys want to start a podcast?

SPEAKER_04 21:24

You want me to take this one? Yeah. Yeah. So I am a big podcast um person. I love to listen to podcasts. I uh most of them are crime-ridden, um, of people who unfortunately uh did not make it out of the situation, and then there's uh a 60 or 120 minute episode. Um I enjoy when I'm working out to listen to podcasts, and

Maya Joins With Surprise Questions

SPEAKER_04 21:54

then I started going down a wormhole of other other subjects such as electronics or Or projects or whatever. I mean, anything from making, you know, how to how to make your batteries work better in the winter for your drills and bring them inside. And I started to think to myself, you know, your dad and I have some pretty cool stories from the road, people we met along the way. And I called your dad and I said, Are you sitting down? And he said, I I I actually am sitting down. And he said, Why? What do you got going on? And I said, I've got an idea. And he said, All right. And I said, What do you think about starting a podcast? And he said, What will we talk about? And and the answer was our stories and everything. And I said, I said, Great. And I think the answer to your question would be, is what made us want to start a podcast is I think that that with our personality and the people that we've met, that we thought we have something enough to talk about that we could start a show. But I'll be honest with you, and I I'll I'd love to get your dad's answer too. I never thought it would be like this. I never thought it would grow to what it is today.

SPEAKER_03 23:10

So I hope that's a good answer or something. Totally agree. I would have never guessed that it would be what it is today. I certainly never thought we were going to be sitting here with, you know, recording episode number 100. Um, yeah, it was just one of those things that he the story is 100% true. Uh he said we should do it, and I was like, Well, we don't know anything about it, but we can figure it out. And um, yeah, so it all it all came about uh because this guy got tired of listening to uh crime podcasts, I guess. So but no.

SPEAKER_02 23:50

Okay. Um what was your guys' original vision for the podcast? And is it much different from what you guys do today?

SPEAKER_03 24:01

You want to take that one? Yeah. Um I think when we started, the original vision was we were going to just tell stories about travel stories about adventure stories, things that we had done, because we have been on a lot of rides and things like that, and it really revolved around cycling. And um, so that was kind of the original intent was it was going to be about our stories. And then um some ladies got a little upset that we had been cycling men of leisure, and the whole point was it was supposed to be about us, cycling men of leisure's adventures. Um and then the ladies said, Well, what about the women? So then we started cycling women of leisure. Uh, so it started out just our stories. Now, what it's evolved into is uh we are we we still do cycling, cycling's important to us and that kind of thing, but we've branched out, we do a little bit more leisure stuff now, as opposed to not just be everything about cycling. Uh, we do more uh in the leisure side. And what we never saw coming, or we never designed or anything like that, was the fact that we have in fact created a community out of this whole thing. That was never our intent. That just came out of just came out of what we were doing, and and uh both Adam and I never never intended that. It's awesome, we love it, uh, but that was never our intent.

SPEAKER_04 25:31

Uh the only thing I would add to that is like you made a joke one time, and I what what what I say here today is 1000% true. You made a joke, Michael. You said, wouldn't it be cool one day if someone was like wearing our after we had designed the logo, the original logo, the one with just the Otis and the Cycling Metapleisure.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Mary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 25:51

And and you said, wouldn't it be cool one day if someone was wearing our t-shirt? And I remember the first time that somebody besides you and I, because you and I had made many and we would travel with them for family friends and stuff. The first time that a non-family member wore one of the t-shirts, I'm like, it was uh it just it just brought a smile to my face because it that's where to me, piggybacking off of your story is that's where I knew it was a community, a community where someone would actually you don't wear, I don't think you wear a shirt of somebody that you wouldn't support or or something. And so I think that was definitely for me um where that's the only thing I really have to add to your story. So your your answer. So yep.

SPEAKER_02 26:38

Okay. Um a little bit of a fun one. If your bicycles could talk, what would they complain about the most?

SPEAKER_04 26:45

Mine would be that I let let it fall over so many times.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

Wow, that's a good question. Um, well, I think honestly, your bike would be like, man, this guy takes far too many pictures of me. Um but he's got an unhealthy relationship with his bike and photography. But um, what would my bike complain about? Um I think well, that's the bike's fault, not mine. I think the biggest thing my bike would complain about is that I blame my bicycle sometimes. Man, this would be better if this bicycle was faster. Um, so I think my bicycle would be a little ticked off at me that I put the blame for me being out of shape or me not being conditioned or me not being able to get up a hill quick enough. Um, me blaming it.

SPEAKER_02 27:39

So your lack of self-accountability.

SPEAKER_03 27:42

Well, now this is not a show about psychology or anything. Where where is that where's that beeper button when do we need it? Come on. Oh, I can I can give her the well, too late now.

SPEAKER_04 28:03

I mean, guys.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

This is what I deal with. She's like psychoanalyzing me now. So interesting. But no, I would say that's what my bike would say.

SPEAKER_07 28:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 28:11

And if anyone doesn't know the bike fallover story, I swear we'd like to lay the bikes or lean the bikes up towards fences or walls or brick walls that shouldn't move. And I come back over and I'm like, how is my bike laying over?

SPEAKER_03 28:24

So Adam hasn't figured out angles. You got to have it at a certain angle for it to work, but uh, we'll work with him.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Okay. Which story gets funny every time it's told?

SPEAKER_04 28:35

Central time. Eastern time, central time. And in the beginning, I don't think people ever, I mean, that's my my answer. I don't know what your answer would be, but the Eastern Central Time, because even even the community jumps in and like when they answer listener spotlight, they'll be like, hey, it's Scott Garwick from Central Time here, and I'm I'm blah, blah, blah. Or um, you know, or if I see someone in public, they're like, Well, yeah, they're from Central Time. And I think I think that that for me is one that just kind of just keeps adding every the longer it goes on.

SPEAKER_03 29:08

So um, I'm gonna have to say this the stupid de Brim.

SPEAKER_04 29:15

That that the sensor button does work. I'm just kidding.

SPEAKER_03 29:21

Uh, that has become not just you and I's joke. I mean, we run into other people who've ridden on our team and friends of ours who actually do wear the de brems and things like that. And and you guys will all just gang up on me going, oh, there's three de brim wearers. What's wrong with Michael here? Which one of these is not like the other type thing? So I think the de Brim joke um certainly has gone on for a long time and is certainly uh more people have partaked.

SPEAKER_04 29:51

Well, in honor of you, I can get you some de Brim post-it notes. I'm I'm quite fine. Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 30:00

Wow.

SPEAKER_04 30:02

Okay, what about a de Brem pen? I'm good. I'm good. Okay moving on.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

I think you like a like the Brems. Um is the weirdest thing you have encountered on a ride.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

Weirdest thing. Weirdest thing. Um, I'm do you have you have an answer for this? No, I'm I'm I'm I'm I don't know. I uh I'm thinking. I've got a couple things that pop into my mind immediately. The uh Adam rode over a snake once.

SPEAKER_04 30:42

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:43

That was pretty crazy. But the weirdest thing I think that I've encountered, and you weren't there, is when uh years ago I was riding with my dad and others at the bike ride across Nebraska, and literally in the morning a deer came out on the road, and there were six of us riders, and he got right in the middle of us, and he didn't, I mean, he was like, Whoa, what's going on? And he's like literally galloping, running, whatever deer do down the middle between three on this side, three on that side, and everybody riding is just praying that he's not gonna decide to go left or right and just make a bolt for it. But he he kept his lane, and we gradually just all slowed down and he picked up the speed and then went out. So that's that was a weird thing. Um, and then the ball pin hammer thing was on you. But but when you rode over that snake, remember that?

SPEAKER_04 31:41

Oh god, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

Big old long snake came pop that zipped right in front of him. He got right between both your tires, and you went over him with the back tire. Yeah, and he was strong enough, it didn't hurt him. He kept going, but if he would have like angled or something, he could have he could have toppled you.

SPEAKER_04 31:58

Almost like I mean, no, and I I don't mean this to be funny, but like your hose.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

Yeah, exactly. You know, I knew you were going with it.

SPEAKER_04 32:06

I think maybe one of the weirdest things is is maybe that woman in Iowa that thought that we were gonna hurt her horses. Oh yeah. That that I so the backstory is is in Ragbury, uh anyone's never done a long state-line ride ride or something like that. We were with a charter and the and and you know, we learned from Katie um uh from from Carson. No, what what city was Katie from? Carol. Carol. Carol. Katie from Carroll, Iowa. Carol, Iowa. That there's a big, massive book, like literally like a binder of how to rag brai, like how the how it comes into town and how how the host and the host city's responsibilities and how it works. Thank you. Yeah, exactly. And one of it is is where they're gonna put all the charters. And so to give you an idea, the charter that we were with was out on a golf course or next to a golf course, in like this green space area. And um the sidebar is I had just been began dating Lauren, and of course I was on the phone the whole week, you know, like, oh, I'm okay. I rode today and I'm fine. Then 10 years later we're married, so that's good. So I'm willing to admit that before your dad tries to throw me under the bus, I figure I'll just go ahead and step in front of the bumper first. But um, while we were in this property, across the road, I mean, we weren't even going over there, were these horses that were fenced in, and this lady came out and said, You all stay away from our horses and don't touch our horses. It's it would be like your neighbor, like across the road from you at your house there, came coming outside and saying, Don't pet my dog, and you're like, I wasn't even gonna come near your dog.

SPEAKER_03 33:54

So she and it was the other side of the road and on down just a little bit. So it wasn't like you know, I mean it would have taken effort for people to walk over there, fine because their horses weren't even out front, they were in the back. And I'm just like, why would this lady think we want anything to do with her horses? But she was very insistent and very upset. I think she was just angry that that Ragbry was in her town or whatever, but no one messed with her horses, it was all fine. Yeah, that was she was she was an odd one.

SPEAKER_04 34:28

I think that might be Maya, that might be one of the weirdest things that I can think of right now, at least.

SPEAKER_02 34:34

So okay. Um, what is the exact moment cycling men of leisure was born?

SPEAKER_04 34:42

Oh I think your dad and I are 100% agreeable on this. We were we were in Hazlehurst, Georgia, and we went to uh Brag has a concert. Uh Franklin Johnson, who is now a friend of the show, and I have an announcement. He is now a subscriber of the show. We'll get to that a little bit later, but um, but he is a friend of the show, and this was before we had been podcasting with Bragg. We went to Brag on our own.

SPEAKER_03 35:20

First year.

SPEAKER_04 35:20

First year. We we went we we went to Iowa and we saw the big red tent, and we wanted to we wanted to expand on another ride, and so Georgia became the list, and so we we went to Brag. One of the things that Franklin used to do in his career is he put on music festivals, and so he had a band, and from my memory, that band was really good that night.

SPEAKER_03 35:41

They were.

SPEAKER_04 35:42

And and we sat, we actually got to ride on the Bragg bus, and they took us. We weren't even gonna go. If you remember, we were gonna, to be honest, we had cigars in bourbon, and we were just gonna go somewhere and have a cigar in a bourbon because we were staying out of school, and we knew that the laws are you can't have it, you can't have tobacco product on a or or or be or alcohol for that matter on school property. So we were gonna we were gonna take a walk about somewhere, be respectful, and when we were there, the Brag bus was there. They're like, come on, jump on the bus, come with us. And so we're like, okay, well why not? We'll we'll jump on the we'll go in somewhere. So we jump on the bus and we go to this golf course, and the back of this golf course, there's like picnic tables, a country club. Let's not oh I'm I'm sorry. Yes, correct. You're right. So we sit down and we we're at a picnic table. We open up your dad's Milwaukee pack-out box that he has converted into a whiskey carrier. Uh for those of you who don't know, Maya probably knows more about whiskey than than most people that I know, so I appreciate that about you. Um don't let your teacher hear that. I know it's summertime, but uh uh don't use that as extra credit for class. Uh, but um, but uh yes, she's been to many distilleries with her father and and even has come to him and said, Well, dad, that actually distillery was born in this year, and everything, and I love it, so thank you. But so we were in the back of this country club and we were at a picnic table. We opened up the Milwaukee pack out, uh, and we have whiskey. We brought cups and we brought a little mini decanter. We cut off the ends of the cigars, and there we were enjoying a cigar. And I have the photograph, which is on the website to prove it. Um, and some people walk by, and the answer to your question is they said, You guys are living the life of leisure. And we said, Well, yeah, isn't that the point? That's where the seed was planted into the pot, so to speak. But where the fertilizer came about is almost the exact same thing happened to us one month or maybe six weeks later in Iowa. So there we had kind of said, Well, we got something here. Maybe we should do a Facebook page, maybe we should do something. We weren't a hundred percent sure. We get to Iowa for ragbri that year. We had been lucky enough to do Bragg and Ragbri that year. We were at the same thing, we're at a campout, we're sitting at this park, and I remember that somebody had some stag and they brought the stag uh out, and then we had some Woodford, and we had some, we were all kind of sharing some stuff, and once again, the phrase was man, you guys are really having a life of leisure. Within an hour and a half, Maya, I want to believe that we had a website, we had an we had the paperwork filing for an LLC. I think that we had the Facebook page, we were going.

SPEAKER_03 38:49

I mean, we just had the creative spark, and I want to say within a couple hours, well, we didn't have a website, but we had we had reserved uh the URL, the domain and and uh all that, yeah, because we sit there and it's like, oh, this is good, this is really good. We don't want anybody to steal this idea, and so literally, I mean, there's a half a dozen people here doing the same thing we are, and we literally from that campsite got everything buttoned up, so yeah, and this was in uh what 2016?

SPEAKER_04 39:27

2016, yeah. Uh no, 2018. Yeah. Yeah, later on. But if you remember that that couch that was on the back of that tractor when you and I were trying to get all the stuff together, and the couch was spinning with people on it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:45

Cheap carnival rides in Georgia or I think.

SPEAKER_04 39:49

So then the only thing I'd like to add to that story, just to make sure that if anyone is not sure of the origin, is Michael was on, he alluded to it earlier. So we had cycling men of leisure, the website's growing, everything's going, and and some of our close friends and family were really frustrated that it wasn't having anything to do with women. Now, we were not both of us were married men, obviously. You have a family over there. Um, my wife and I have cats, and and um, and and so we weren't ever anti-women, ever. As a matter of fact, if anyone's ever met us, they would know that that's just that's just the opposite. We actually go above and beyond to to be you know a community. But at the time, there were some very disparaging comments being made. And so we made the difficult decision of how to move forward, and we then hired the guy who did the logo to do the ladies' logo. And once the logo was done, we wanted to be prepared, then we introduced cycling women of leisure, and so and then we also kind of put some spin on our on our mail logo. Of course, the original idea was our stories from the road, our the uh us us we are. We do actually have M on our licenses for mail. Um, it was supposed to be our ours. But then I'm actually what's funny is as you go a few years into it, I know that that having both has definitely been a welcoming, um, you know, it's definitely it was definitely a good move to do, uh, but at the time we were both very hurt that people didn't I mean they were insulting us without even getting to meet us, and that was that was something difficult. So yeah. Um but that's that is the origin of the of the cycling men of leisure and how it all started. And um and it's just it's a fun story to tell because it's I mean that's the part of what the podcast is about. So telling the telling our road stories.

SPEAKER_02 41:41

Okay, what was your favorite episode?

SPEAKER_03 41:45

Oh boy. I I can take I can take this while you think. Okay. I don't know if I have one episode that's my favorite episode. Uh there's been some there's been many segments that I've thought those are really good. I like those. Um, but I would say that our annual um leisure cycling

Favorite Stories And Speakeasy Origins

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Christmas wish list is a big favorite of mine. Um, and that seems to be a fan favorite. And I also like our Halloween episodes. We tend to try to do like last year, we we try to do a special episode for Halloween. Last year we did uh bicycle ghost stories. Remember the story about what Carl the Ghost or whatever, and uh yeah, out in the woods or whatever with his Red Huffy. And so um, those those are good episodes that I really enjoy doing. Um, like I said, we've had some other other good episodes. I think uh a lot of our episodes after rides have been really, really some of my favorites. How about you? Season two, episode six.

SPEAKER_04 42:58

He just totally made that up. No, no, no, no. Actually, I had to I cheated while while we were looking, I had to, while you were talking, I cheated.

SPEAKER_03 43:08

So what is it?

SPEAKER_04 43:09

It was the first time that we it was the first time that we had the executive director of bicycle ride across Georgia, Franklin Johnson. That was, I think was a was a fun episode. Um only because I have my phone here and I am definitely cheating. I want to say the first time I felt like a mini celebrity or like I had um credentials, if you will, was when we did Matt Phippen interview. We he had he had who what she's since left, but Annie was there, and she's she's moved on from the Ragbri family. But she came over to us and she gave us like this okay, this is what you do, and this is where you go, and you got to be here at this time. And I think we were must have been on cloud nine. We thought, oh my gosh, we're getting the director of ragbury. Brian, this is gonna be so cool. So I think from a go ahead. Sorry. I think from a perspective of of having um like like a big memory, that was definitely one of them for sure.

SPEAKER_03 44:12

Yeah, because we had gone down for the route announcement party in January and we had been talking to him and said, Hey, we'd like to get him on the show. And then she tracked us down, and yeah, uh, they invited us over to like their offices. Yep. And we recorded it right there on the premises with them, which was uh it was uh that was a good, yeah, that was a good show.

SPEAKER_02 44:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 44:37

What about the confetti experience?

SPEAKER_03 44:41

That was that was a good show too. Yes. I did like that show. Um, and you know, that was the first show that Maya was on there, and I thought she did a great job, but uh you know, I didn't want to use that one because that made me sound kind of like I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 44:56

No, I hope you know I was just about to say, wow, I noticed how nobody even mentioned mine.

SPEAKER_03 45:02

Betty was a really good one.

SPEAKER_04 45:04

Yeah, no, actually, um, I was really impressed. I mean, I I I remember even getting on the plane because I was at your place and I'm not driving home. I I uh I actually did drive out to your place once, just to be clear. But um that time I know I flew home, and I remember saying to my wife, I said, She's a natural. So yes, it was actually uh can you believe that was three years ago?

SPEAKER_03 45:32

No, not really, but it's it's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 45:36

Yeah. Uh the last episode I'd like to mention was the one with Maria Parker. The I don't can't tell, I can't find what number it is, but Maria Parker, her and her her uh husband are our own cruise bike CEO, maybe do a partnership. But Maria Parker was more than just an an um a bike owner interview. It was, you know, all the records that she has broken, um and and the type of cycling that she does, the kind of athlete that she was, it was a wonderful interview. So I think that was one of my one of my favorite as well. So that's a good one. All right.

SPEAKER_02 46:16

Nice. Um how did the speech easy tradition begin?

SPEAKER_03 46:22

Well, oh, I know this one.

SPEAKER_04 46:25

I'm gonna I'm gonna I'm gonna take this one. I I'm gonna start it off and then I'll hand it over to you. So your dad and your mom used to really enjoy Cooper's Hawk winery. And I had visited your your house, and your dad said, I've got a couple errands to run, if you don't mind. And I said, No, I'm let's I'd love to explore, let's go see some things. And I saw that big shuttlecock in the uh in the in the lawn of the museum. And and um, and anyways, we were driving there, and and he said, Yeah, I have to run in here real quick. And and I, okay. And we walk into this winery, and I was kind of impressed. I'd never been to a Cooper Shawk before. Um, and I said, Wow, this place is beautiful. And and your dad kept looking at me, he's like, You you you don't have one of these by you? I'm like, We might. I don't know. I mean, there could be one. Turns out there is, but I've never been to it. But um, and I said, Um, I said, No, but this place is not he goes, Yeah, you go, they have dinner here, and you know, we have a we we're part of the membership, and and I said, Well, okay, and then the whole time in my head, I'm thinking to myself, Well, have you ever had any whiskey? And your dad goes, and I'm not insulting him by any means, but he goes, Do you mean like the stuff that'll cause you to have like fire water and stuff? And I said, Oh man, I said, You're you used to be a history teacher, you would love some of the history, and I think for me that's how the the seed was planted.

SPEAKER_03 47:57

Would you would you that's how the seed was planted, how I got into bourbon and whiskey. But if we're look at the speakeasy itself, the history of that started when we were in Iowa. I had brought my Milwaukee pack out that we previously mentioned with a bottle of Woodford's in. I think it was day three or four. And the cork broke. And the cork broke. So when I opened it up, it's like I smelled whiskey because whiskey was leaking out, and I was like, oh, this isn't good. And so it's like, well, we could either just let this like slowly dribble out, or we could go find some people to share it with. And so we were we used a charter, so we went over to the general charter area, and we were like, we we had some glasses, we had some ice, we sat down and we started drinking, and there were some other people there. It's like, anybody want a little whiskey? And a couple people were like, yeah, and other people were like, no, and we started pouring, and then other people came, and I don't know, we probably had a dozen people there that we were sitting around sharing uh the bottle with, and um that's how the speakeasy really got going.

SPEAKER_04 49:14

True.

SPEAKER_03 49:15

So to answer the. Well, there's certain people that would really, really appreciate that, I believe. Armando is a is a big guy.

SPEAKER_04 49:28

Armando would like that, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_03 49:30

So but uh yeah, so that's how I got into the whiskey thing, and the whiskey um the speakeasy idea came out of we didn't want to waste a bottle of whiskey, so we went and shared it, and then we it just got to be the thing that's like, well, let's just bring some to share with everybody because that helps build community and friendship and camaraderie, and so that's how it got going.

SPEAKER_04 49:52

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

Nice. Um, what has been the biggest travel disaster?

SPEAKER_04 50:02

Uh your dad almost didn't make it home for his anniversary with his wife, and we really thought he was not gonna get home for like a couple of days. That's the first thing that comes to mind.

SPEAKER_03 50:13

Yeah, first thing, and that was in, I believe, Savannah, Georgia.

SPEAKER_04 50:16

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 50:17

We were uh finished up the ride. We had stayed at like a Hilton or holiday or something, you know, whatever. I think it was a Hilton, uh, and they had a ride to the to the airport. Great. They were gonna leave, get us there in plenty of time. Well, apparently the guy that drives the shuttle, his darn transportation people, was moonlighting as a taxicab driver because he was like 45 minutes late. He drives up in a taxicab, parks it to the side, and then steps out and walks over there and goes, All right, I'm ready to take you guys to the airport. What was funny is we had the flight crew was with us, and they were like, Oh, yeah, it shouldn't be a problem, it shouldn't be a problem. We wound up getting to the airport at like 29 minutes till. So we were under like the 30-minute mark, which apparently is a rule that you can't put anybody on a plane within 30 minutes of its departure. And so we were both stuck because this driver guy from the airport was working two jobs. Um, Adam, of course, he's Adam Baransky, so he just goes, excuse me, I'm Adam Baransky. And they're like, Oh, we're sorry. Let's get you in first class right away, sir. And so they got him on the plane immediately. And then I was like, Well, I'm Michael Sharp. And they're like, uh, yeah, go sit over there. We'll see if we can get you out sometime today. And so then I'm going, oh gosh. And I'm looking at car rentals. Could I could I drive from Savannah to Atlanta and then hit a plane in Atlanta? And just there was no good options coming up that was not going that was going to get me home that day. And I was like, oh boy, this is not going to be good. Um, right at the last minute before they close the gate, they called me up and they said, We've found you a seat uh all the way in the back. And uh I walk in, and of course, there's Adam in first class uh having a uh a whiskey. And uh as they shuffle me past and say, Sir, keep moving, you're back there in the uh in the cow car. But uh at that point in time I didn't care. I was happy to be on an airplane, but uh it looked pretty bleak there for for both of us for like a second, and then once they found out who you were, it was just looking really bleak for me.

SPEAKER_04 52:30

Oh, Mr. Boranski, please sit here. Uh, can we get you anything out and rub your feet? Um I I actually really felt bad um because at first we were looking at connections, and by the way, you did not make the second connection. I think you got home like at midnight. It was late that night, if I remember correctly. And um we were like, okay, but luckily we made the ride, the ride was good, and um we were sold a uh you know a fake set of goods, if you will, because the the pilot said, Don't worry, the plane's not leaving without me, it's not gonna leave without you. And so we're like, okay, we're okay. And then we got over there, and the TSA agent is like tearing apart our bikes, it just it just became worse, became worse, became worse. We knew they weren't putting the bikes back together in the boxes, and then we were like, Oh my gosh, this is getting worse. And then um we were in the in the gate area, and I really felt bad for your dad because it was like, you know, the year before we had been like, happy anniversary, chess, from a restaurant and sent her videos, and this time it was like he's gonna have to do the same thing, so it's gonna sound like this happy anniversary, chess. I'm in a hotel somewhere in the middle of America. So but you made it home, and uh I think that's the worst that I think that we've had travel.

SPEAKER_03 53:56

Yeah, I think that that uh is probably uh the worst. I mean, we've had some bus problems, um, you know, getting us to the ride, things like that. But that yeah, that was definitely the worst one.

SPEAKER_04 54:09

The nine-hour bus brought us good friends.

SPEAKER_03 54:12

So it did, it did, it worked out well.

SPEAKER_04 54:14

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 54:16

What one word would describe the podcast?

SPEAKER_04 54:24

Chaos. No, I'm just kidding. Um, one word.

SPEAKER_03 54:31

Wow, one word, one word, one word. I think I would say there's a lot of one words that could describe this. Um, some of them are good or some of them are bad. Um I think the one word that I would describe the podcast, uh, it may be great sometimes, it may be awful sometimes, but the one thing that it is always consistently, and we have worked

Disasters, Honesty, And Best Moments

SPEAKER_03 54:54

very hard to keep it that way, is honest. You know, um we don't put on facades, we don't put on like our acting hats, and it's like, oh, I'm this different personality or whatever. Um, the discussions that we have are very honest. Um, there's only a couple subjects that that we've agreed to that we we never go down those lines. Other than that, I think we have very honest conversations. We don't really sugarch things if it doesn't need it. And so I'm gonna go with honest.

SPEAKER_04 55:26

I don't think I can beat that. I think I'm just gonna I'm gonna agree with you. I mean, that's the one thing where somebody does talk about the show and and and you know, and says, Did you does Michael really tell you the listener spotlights ahead of time? Nope. Um I have put in guesses and then said, Am I anywhere close? And you've said, no, you're not close. Or you're close, but I'm not telling you until we record. Um there have been um, you know, you can't be friends with someone for as long as we've been friends. There's been a few frustrating moments, but but uh, you know, I think this also gives us a chance to to hang out and then um and and and see each other. But yeah, even when we were done, um just to be honest, I'm just gonna be very truthful, when we did Shoreline, you know, we were very concerned because because we were torn between an honest review, because there were some things that didn't go well in that ride. It could have gone better, per se. And we were very torn because, you know, we we had we we had received um some things uh because we were the cycling men of leisure to go on the ride, and and we would sit back at camp and go, gosh, I mean, how are we gonna be on the show? Uh we we know we can we can't we can't not do what we've always done, which is being truthful and honest. And so I think I I don't think I have anything else to say besides I think you're absolutely right. That's a great word. Yep.

SPEAKER_02 56:59

What is the greatest cycling minute of leisure moment ever?

SPEAKER_03 57:03

Oh boy. Oh, this is easy. I totally got this one. Do you want to go first?

SPEAKER_04 57:11

Um ever? Ever. I mean can I talk out loud without like because like that guy who came up to us during the Ragbry announcement party and and said, I love your show, it means the world to me, and and it really helped me like pack my bike. That kind of stuff is really great, but I don't think that's the best thing ever.

SPEAKER_03 57:31

No, I know what the best thing ever is. Um undisputably the best uh the best cycling man of leisure moment ever was when I crushed you on the go-kart ring. Crushed you. That was truly a cycling man of leisure moment. Crushed it. I crushed him on there. You did you disagree? Okay, so maybe it was my greatest moment, not not ours.

SPEAKER_04 58:04

I thought I thought the question was cycling man of leisure moment, but okay. I thought you enjoyed it as much as you did. Uh yeah. Um I'm going to say 43 members. Go ahead. Okay, you go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 58:30

I'm going to say uh and I think it's going along the same uh line that you're going is when we got off the bus two years ago at Bragg.

SPEAKER_04 58:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 58:46

I mean, we it it was like rock star moment, literally. We got off the bus and everybody's like, hey, it's Adam and Michael and all this stuff. And I mean, you know, it was it was just a crazy moment that so many people were like pointing us out and saying, hey, and they were coming up and they were talking to us and shaking our hands and saying, Hey, good to see you. And and and that, um, which was the year that we, I think we had the maybe the year that we had the 43 members, but yeah, uh, I think that was a huge, a huge moment when we got off the bus and everybody's like, hey, they're coming up, and it's like, hey, how's it going? And they knew who we were and all that kind of thing. That was it was pretty surreal, actually.

SPEAKER_04 59:28

At Oglethorpe University. That was awesome.

SPEAKER_03 59:32

So yeah. Perfect. And and me crushing a Mongo Kart.

SPEAKER_02 59:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 59:43

She just shakes her head at me.

SPEAKER_02 59:46

Adam, if it makes you feel any better.

SPEAKER_03 59:51

Say what?

SPEAKER_02 59:52

I said if it makes you feel any better, he constantly loses to me and Clue. Oh, I don't cheat.

SPEAKER_03 59:59

Next question. It was Colonel Mustard with the conservatory with the wrench.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:08

Which episode went completely off the rails?

SPEAKER_03 1:00:13

Uh, I think the list would be shorter if we said which episode did not go off the rails.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:20

What was really I could give a weird answer to that. I mean, uh, Maya, we have done episodes where I sit here and I go, Well, that was a dog turd. And then they had like the most amazing outreach. I mean, just we threw it together because we were running out of time, and and we're like, oh my gosh. And then people would, I mean, in our both of us in our personalized, oh, that's great. You guys must have done, oh, how did you work so hard on that? We were like, well, actually, we just kind of threw it together. And then we've had episodes where we put a lot of time into a lot of research. As a matter of fact, we were we recorded one episode 12 times.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:06

Yeah, in the early days, trying to get it 100% right, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:12

Which episode went off the rails? What about the 50th episode?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:17

50th, I mean, um you have to be more specific than that.

SPEAKER_04 1:01:24

The the the the the one that celebrated 50 episodes, 50.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:30

What went off the rails?

SPEAKER_04 1:01:34

Uh I think we had a debacle and we thought it recorded, and then we had to spend a lot of time editing to get it to go because of a technical issue.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:44

Well, we've had a lot of I wouldn't say a lot, but we've had a few technical issues that have really um really messed us up. As far as off the rails, if you're talking like we were going down one way and it completely took a right turn uh and went another way. Um I really because we keep everything so loose, um I don't think we've really had one as far as from topic. No, we've had segments where the topic has gone completely out into left field. I mean, you know, Adam was telling us about, you know, alien UFOs that he'd seen in his backyard. Not in his backyard, from from his backyard. I don't want to make you sound like a complete nutcase or anything. Um But we, you know, we've got into some weird discussions, but I don't think any of them have ever, I mean, we've never had like uh interviewed somebody, and it's like, yeah, we brought you on to interview this, and then it just like they start talking about something else and and that kind of thing, I don't think.

SPEAKER_04 1:02:49

There was that one guy, uh all kidding aside, we we wanted to talk about cycling, and he wanted to talk about movies that he had.

SPEAKER_03 1:02:57

Oh yes, he wanted to talk about movies that were one of them was cycling movie that was shot near him and stuff. It's like uh we're talking about cycling, and and he just kept going down this movie rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_04 1:03:09

And maybe that's maybe that would be one, yeah. I'll give your dad credit, it's not off the rails, but I'd like to I'll I'll officially give your dad some some kudos here. Your dad's idea was was um, you know, leisure, I mean spotlight. Um your dad's idea was to not have all the episodes. Like my idea would be as I'd be at work or I'd be driving down the road or or and I'd be like, okay, all right, so why don't we talk about packing? And I would call him and I would say, okay, or or Zoom. We use Zoom for for um for like pre-show and and kind of like think tank, and then we use this this service that we use now for recording. And I would call and I'd be like, Okay, listen, I've been thinking, and um, and we could talk about using Ziploc bags, and we could talk about you know to get your stuff dry and how to pack it and everything, and I'd go on, and he'd be like, very, very polite, by the way. And he would go, Well, we could do that. But what if you don't care about packing your bike at all? Now we've just listened, we've lost the listener, and I'd go like mo, okay, and then he'd go, here's what I'm thinking. Why don't we talk about a little about packing and then add in other things? And so I really think some of the best uh decisions have definitely been made where we both have ideas that come together. I'm not so much off the rails as your question, but like my idea would be like, Well, listen, why don't we talk about the best way to tune up your bike? You know, you take it apart and you and he goes, and what if you don't care about that? I'm like, man, you're just like bursting my bubble here. So maybe falling off the rails would be my idea of in the original, like some of the ideas of doing the show, but definitely uh with the listener spotlights, back and you know, bookending the listener spotlights. A lot of people enjoy that. And when I see them, they like to guess on that. So maybe off the rail was the idea of having one subject for the entire show. Um took them all, took a little bit to get there, but off the rail would be like in the beginning, we would definitely talk about, you know, oh we went to Rag Brian and we went to the listeners, uh, we went to the route announcement, and we were there, there was the beer bus, and then they had some bands on the stage, and then we had this, and then your dad would have the the idea of going, what if you don't care about Ragbri at all?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:39

So it was about segmenting it, making you know, multiple segments in one episode versus just one episode dedicated to everything. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:50

Okay. What do you think listeners would be most surprised to learn about you guys?

SPEAKER_03 1:05:58

Uh that Adam wears a Brim to bed every night. We promised that you would never tell anyone that. That was one of those things that we said we were never gonna. I we'll we'll cut this out. Don't worry. I'll I'll cut it out. It'll be fine.

unknown 1:06:13

I'm not cutting it out.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:14

Um I'm going to guess that listeners might be surprised to know that at one time in my life I spent a night in jail. We'll leave it at that.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:34

Wow. Not surprised. Um I don't know what what listeners might be surprised to know about us is I mean, I I think the big thing would be is that we've been friends for a long time, but we haven't been like lifelong friends. And I think that might uh listeners who don't know us that well might think, man, these guys have just been friends for like ever. But we I mean we haven't. I mean, we've been friends for I think a little over ten years now. Yeah. Um but I think a lot of times people would assume that, you know, we've been friends for 20 years or 25 years, and we haven't um we haven't been, you know, uh like lifelong friends, like from high school and things like that. So I think that's one. Um that's the only one I can really think of that kind of just popped in.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:40

Okay. What moment made you realize that the podcast is becoming something bigger than just two friends talking?

SPEAKER_04 1:07:48

Alex Bell. When when we would get for me, it would definitely be Alex Bell. I mean, getting emails from him, getting um, this was even after the first brag where he would write us and and he would take pictures from his porch, and um, you know, it would it would be a regular um contributor to the show from one aspect or the other. I think that's where um I would say my cousin Mark, um who was always texting me as soon as the episode came out, and then would conversate with me about things in the episode, uh knowing, and based upon knowing that I had just recorded it a few days before, or sometimes a week before, and and knowing every word that we said in the show, um that guy in and at the route announcement party who came up to you and you had your cycling metal leisure sweatshirt on since it was like cold and the uh furnace couldn't even keep up in our hotel room. But um, he said, Do you do you know him? Do you know the cycling metal leisure? And we're like, We we we actually are at the cycling. So um, I think for me it was those those interactions with individuals. Armando would be another one who constantly you know watches on YouTube or reads, you know, or pipes into the show. For me, it's those regular people that are that are communicating um and and listening and then meeting back up with those people. I think that's what I realized. For me, I don't know, that's just my opinion.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:23

I I think it was a couple things, you know. When when people send us in pictures of them wearing our, you know, our swag, uh whether it be a jersey or t-shirt or a hat or something like that. I mean, that's like, wow, that's that's kind of cool that people are like back home cycling, wearing our stuff. And I think the other part that really hits home for me that this was more than just, you know, Adam and I sitting around um chit-chatting about whatever, uh, is when people actually started financially supporting the show. I was like, I was really floored because I never we never got into this to make money, we never got into this to solicit money and all that kind of thing, because that wasn't a priority. We we're not into this to monetize it. Um, but when people uh wanted to start giving us a little bit of money to support us doing the show and us doing the swag bags for the teams and things like that, I think that's when it really hit home that it's like some people are seeing this more than just Adam and I. I mean, they want to be part of it. Um, they want to financially support it, they want to participate in the listener spotlights, they want to wear the swag. Um, even when they're not on a ride where we're there, you know, when they're back home doing a weekend ride or something, they're yeah, like Adam. Um so I think that's when it really kind of hit home that this is something a little bit more. Uh, and then the community aspect of it. Like I said earlier, we never got into this to build a community. That was it was but a community has grown out of it. And um that that I don't think is something you could really have planned for. I don't think that's something you could have developed saying, you know what, we're gonna build a community. Um, that just naturally grew out of what we were doing, and I think that's the a really really cool thing um that was not intended, that's happened, um, that really makes us more than just uh Adam and Michael sitting around uh talking into the can, as they say in the movies.

SPEAKER_04 1:11:37

For sure. Um and I tried to set you up with my jail comment because we've been to lots, I don't know what it is about Iowa, but they have lots of jails in Ragbury. And in Georgia, we went to a jails, but uh I figured I would make sure to bring that back around.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:53

So I wasn't even gonna touch there were so many ways I could have gone with that, and I just decided, nope, not gonna do it.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:01

Well, one of my favorite jokes, Maya, when we're on the road is is when you're in a dry sense of humor and and people are listening to you, and you can tell that someone's listening to you because I'm a people watcher, and your dad and I could just have a random conversation, like the bucket hat guy or whatever that we met along the way. That's there's what went off the rails there. But uh, but um and and you know someone's listening, and then I always like to say to your dad, Well, that time you did in prison, and then the people like raise their eyebrows, like, whoa.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:33

So and then I'll generally say, Well, which time, or I'll say, Well, you know, I got out of those charges, so they don't really count. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:45

That's how we met.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:47

Yeah, we met in prison. We met in Luxe, yeah. That's right.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:52

Okay, the final question.

SPEAKER_04 1:12:54

Uh like the final countdown. Ready.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:59

Will you ever have another episode around confetti?

SPEAKER_04 1:13:04

Oh.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:08

I'd say yes. Or as they say, south of the border.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:15

Did you we could have an episode right now? Did you ever tell your daughter you lost confetti? I yes. I did tell her that. Did you tell your daughter you had to pedal back 20 miles to go get them?

SPEAKER_03 1:13:27

It wasn't 20 miles, but uh, let me tell you, I had to pedal back up a hill, and that was the

Confetti Part Two And A Wrap

SPEAKER_03 1:13:32

fastest hill I did all week. Let me tell I was like, oh God, must have fallen out up there, and I was just like cranking back up that hill. Yeah. I I've I've given full disclosure of everything that's happened.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:44

But um And you told her that you lost confetti and you had to go to eBay and buy a new confetti.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:50

I think it's funny that he thought he could have gotten away with that.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:54

She would have she would have smelled that one coming and routed me out. But um no, we should we should uh we should do something else with confetti. We should uh, you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:05

I already have the title.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:07

What's that?

SPEAKER_04 1:14:08

The confetti experience part two. You know, like like you know, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:15

The confetti experience squared.

SPEAKER_04 1:14:17

Oh, I like that. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:18

Uh you know, we we could do a segment about like all the places and the things that confetti's got his picture taken with. Like the under some interesting ones. Well, there have been like like uh barrels of tanks. Barrels of yes, barrels of tanks because all these city parks have that. Uh he got his picture taken on the uh the wing of an airplane once, not while it was flying, but uh hang on, hang on. Uh numerous mailboxes that have weird, weird things on it. There was a place in uh Iowa, or I think it was it Georgia. Remember that one place that had all those weird yard creatures that the guy had made out of like propane tanks? I think it was Iowa.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:01

Um like like lawn decorations, lots of those like mini bicycles. You know, people have those mini bicycles that are flower pots. I mean, lots of those.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:13

Um he rode the donkey, like the little uh ceramic, or not ceramic, but concrete donkey that's got the planners on the saddlebags in somebody's yard. Um, yeah. Yoga. Uh there's there's been a lot. We should we should do like the top 10 places uh that confetti has gotten his picture taken.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:32

I think Maya, the answer is maybe sooner than later. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:15:37

Absolutely. We don't want to leave Confetti, who, if you're watching, is right here on my shelf, ready to go.

SPEAKER_04 1:15:45

So Maya, will you will you stick around for the rest of the show? We're almost done here. Just got a few things. I've uh your dad is a big tour to France, and I've got a couple stories for him that I've I've done some research. I used AI, member of truthfulness and honesty. That's right. Okay. Do you have a few minutes to stick around? Yeah. Excellent. Perfect. All right. Well, thank you for the questions. Um I like, I think, I think you did a much better job than we were gonna do. We I I do have my my notes here, but I will save those for another day. But uh except nowadays with YouTube, someone just probably paused my notes right there. Uh 250 or 100. Let's get to that first.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:34

And you're curious what that meant. Well, the 100, I'm going to assume, is the 100th anniversary.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:41

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:44

America's.

SPEAKER_04 1:16:46

Absolutely. I I thought in honor of America's 250th, we would jump on the bandwagon. And uh, I can't wait. I've been working on a special graphic for social media uh for right around July 4th. So be looking out for that. So I just wanted to, that's why I figured uh we would uh we would start the show with that. But is it

Tour De France Talk And Cycling News

SPEAKER_04 1:17:09

the American flag? No. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Uh if you're looking for current cycling stories, I want you to know about the Tour de France ramp up. Thought about you when I saw this. The cycling world is focused on the upcoming Tour de France and Pujacar. Am I saying that correct?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:29

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:30

Pujakar?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:32

No.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:32

Well, how about telling me how to say it?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:35

I just like hearing you say it and mess it all up.

SPEAKER_04 1:17:41

Ladies and gentlemen, this is my friend. Continue. All right, is making a final preparation for Tour de France, and is uh he is the favorite. And uh also uh let me see here. Primos R-O-G-L-I-C is racing with a uh Tour de Swiss. Oh gosh. I mean, how do you know all these names?

SPEAKER_03 1:18:13

Well, because I I watched the race, and when the races are three weeks long, they say, you know, Teddy Pagaca, not Bull Guitar, uh multiple times. And these guys are the guys that are in the lead a lot of times, so you know.

SPEAKER_04 1:18:30

So you like study their names, but uh you just hear them enough that it's like Pagatcha. Really, what I wanted to tell you about is the big investment in North American cycling. Now, did you know that there is something called the Pedal Mafia? I don't believe so. So Zwift, which you're familiar with, Canyon Bicycles, and Petal Mafia have announced a U19 development team. Now, I thought you might like this because you told me that that, you know, after the Lance Armstrong, which is not your favorite, I'd love to tease you about him being your favorite, but he's not your your favorite. Um, right? That is correct. Okay. But now the goal is for America to produce a Tour de France winner in the next decade. So Zwift Canyon Bicycles and the Petal Mafia have come together to develop what they call U19. And I wanted to tell you about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:19:30

That's that's good because uh Americans professional cycling is greatly underdeveloped. I mean, we have a few riders from America who are at that level, um, but they don't seem to like be able to like win like the tour, that kind of thing. Um, but so that's good. I'm glad to see that people are investing some money and they're really looking at building it up because we do get kind of put to shame by a lot of uh a lot of other countries. And dang it, we're 250 years old. We should start making a bigger splash at these cycling, especially the grand tour cycling events.

SPEAKER_04 1:20:09

In honor of Maya being here and being a lady, Irish writer Laura Golepsey became the first Irish woman to complete all three grand tours. Um depth and visibility at women's professional cycling. So that's awesome. And I have a wildest story of the week. A junior race in Germany saw a spectator on a mobile scooter accidentally enter the race course, causing a spectacular pileup and quickly went viral online. No riders suffered serious injuries. So I wanted to know if you had seen that.

SPEAKER_03 1:20:44

Had not seen that. Um, but it happens every year. Uh, not necessarily an electric scooter or something, but every year. The beautiful thing about cycling, uh professional racing and cycling is that you literally are like right there. I mean, you are literally a foot, foot and a half, two feet away from the athletes. I mean, it's the only sporting event that you can really get that close to. And you're right there, and there's nothing keeping you. It's it's uh it's I guess if you had like courtside seats at the basketball game, you could, you know, I mean, literally, you just jump up and you're on the court. Um that's always exciting.

SPEAKER_04 1:21:22

I saw they want to give Spike Lee a a ring for the Knicks.

SPEAKER_03 1:21:28

Anyway, um, you know, so that's always the problem. Every year is there's somebody that's like trying to take a selfie and they step out a little too far and they like knock somebody off of a bike, or they're like holding a sign out um so that like the camera people can get it and they hold it right in front of as somebody comes, or streamers, or uh flags, things like that. So uh it's really cool that you can get that close to the racers, but there's a lot of people that do not take the responsibility of like, okay, I I need to stay a little bit away and give these guys some space. And it they there, I mean, there's been leaders in races taken out because some fan tried to get a selfie or you know, whatever, and knock somebody off their bike. So not surprised.

SPEAKER_04 1:22:20

I have one final question for you, and what if we bookend this with a meta listener spotlight? I think we should. All right. What cycling story from the last 100 episodes would have sounded completely unbelievable when we started? And that would be my my question. I of the only one I really want to get in for this episode. The others I want I don't want to steal the thunder from your favorite daughter. Oh, I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:44

No, what was the question?

SPEAKER_04 1:22:45

What cycling event cycling story from the last 100 episodes would have sounded completely unbelievable when we started.

SPEAKER_03 1:22:55

Um well, I mean,

Meta Spotlight Clues And Next Season

SPEAKER_03 1:22:58

besides the fact that we've had a hundred episodes, um, as far as a story. So that's like looking at a story that we've talked about that we've did that when we started this whole thing, it would have been like there's no way. Um do you have one right off the bat?

SPEAKER_04 1:23:20

I don't. No.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:20

I was just I was thinking I think I think a lot of it um a lot of stories. I think the story that we talked about, here's one. I don't think, and I don't remember what episode this is, and I don't think I would have ever believed this if you've had told me when we started this whole thing, is one of the episodes, it was in Georgia, and we talked about it. Some guy passed me while listening to our podcast. I remember that. He was like literally listening to it. I was wearing my jersey, and he's like, cycling men of leisure, I'm listening to the podcast right now, and came flying by me. And I think when we started this whole thing, if you said, you know what, you're gonna go on a ride, and there's gonna be a guy past you who's listening to your podcast as he rides by you, I would have said, There's that's not even within reason. And in fact, we talked to him later, and he was listening to all of them at that time, just like Jen's listening while he was riding Bragg.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:32

Yeah, he showed us he he held up his phone and showed us. We're like, we believe you, we believe you.

SPEAKER_03 1:24:37

So I would that that would have been the most unbelievable because I said that would have never, never happened. I mean, it just so that's perfect.

SPEAKER_04 1:24:45

That's perfect. We're gonna leave it at that. I'm gonna give you the the new clip, uh so you can have it twice in one episode. Here we go.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:58

You ride along with us every spin. It's your moment now.

SPEAKER_05 1:25:07

Listener spotlight take a boy.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:14

That is getting catchier and catchier.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:16

What do you think?

SPEAKER_02 1:25:17

I like it. I haven't gotten through here yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:18

Oh, I think this is our first episode we've used it. Um all right. The listener spotlight hints are as follows. Would you like to read these?

SPEAKER_02 1:25:30

You can.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:31

Okay. It began as a stop for early settlers. Uh one of the early settlers included a presidential relation. The town's name is derived from a transportation stop.

SPEAKER_04 1:25:48

Oh, I love transportation stops.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:51

Yeah. Uh it is surprising that this town did not get the nickname of Mud Town. Uh, from the 1930s through the 1960s, travelers might have been confused when they went to fuel up. And this city has an ESPN connection.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:14

Maya, what's what's the city written down there?

SPEAKER_02 1:26:17

It's a city.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:19

It's a city. Okay, well, great. Well done.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:22

Well done. See, she's not gonna give it away.

SPEAKER_04 1:26:25

Oh man, I thought I thought by just by just like asking her quick that she'd be like, oh, Omaha. All right. Well, listen, buddy. I am I am proud to to have been here with you. One 100 actual episodes. Yep. Um, to be fair, we did have a special little thing we threw together for brag, and of course, our software was like, hey, you did 100. We're like, no, we didn't. We just threw something together for brag. So um it's been it's been an amazing five seasons. Uh, you and I made the decision to to continue. Uh so you're hearing here first. If you're wondering, we we have no plans at this time of of stopping. And so um, we'll see what the next uh next next season brings us.

SPEAKER_03 1:27:13

Absolutely. Sounds good.

SPEAKER_04 1:27:15

That being said, not by you because the weather's been horrible, but uh by me, it's a great day for a bike ride. Thank you, Maya, for being here.

SPEAKER_02 1:27:27

Thank you so much for having me.