Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure
Adam Baranski’s and Michael Sharp's friendship is built on a shared love of cycling. From tough trails to leisurely rides, their adventures are filled with stories, banter, and authentic connection. Their podcast blends entertaining anecdotes, heartfelt conversations, and cycling excitement—welcoming you into their community and the joy of the open road.
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure
What If Leisure Is The Real Engine Of Labor
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Labor Day gets marketed as burgers, sales, and one last summer weekend, but the real story is sharper and a lot more human. We trace how Labor Day history in the United States runs through worker solidarity, the fight for an eight-hour workday, and flashpoints like the Pullman Strike and the Haymarket Affair. It’s not a “fun fact” tour, it’s the chain of events that explains why time off exists at all and why leisure keeps showing up as the point, not the prize.
We also answer the question people quietly wonder about every year: why doesn’t the U.S. celebrate Labor Day on May 1 like so many other countries? We talk about how May Day became politically charged, how states adopted the holiday before it went federal, and how the meaning drifted from speeches and rallies toward picnics, parades, sports, and the unofficial end of summer. If you’ve ever googled “why do we celebrate Labor Day” or “what does Labor Day mean,” this conversation gives you the connective tissue.
Because we’re Cycling Men of Leisure, we bring it back to bikes and freedom. As the weekend grows, recreation grows with it, and cycling culture even shows up in early Labor Day celebrations through community events and racing. Plus, we share a few life updates from the road: using an LLM to scan a massive Italy itinerary for real travel pinch points, listener spotlight fun, and a round of cycling news and safety talk. Subscribe for more laid-back adventure with substance, share this episode with a friend who loves history, and leave a quick review so more riders can find the show.
Support
Adam and Michael’s friendship has grown through years of shared miles, challenges, and laughter on the bike. Their passion for cycling has carried them through life’s twists and turns, creating a bond full of stories, jokes, and unforgettable rides. In their podcast, they bring that same spirit to the mic—sharing adventures, trading banter, and welcoming listeners into their cycling community. Whether tackling steep climbs or cruising open roads, their conversations capture the fun, friendship, and freedom that cycling brings. Tune in for stories that celebrate the ride and the camaraderie that makes it unforgettable.
and Remember,
It's a Great Day for a Bike Ride!
https://www.facebook.com/cyclingmenofleisure
https://cyclingmenofleisure.com/
https://www.cyclingmenofleisurepodcast.com
Leisure Sets The Tone
SPEAKER_06Hey Adam. Yes, sir. Do you realize that leisure, it's like what we like, do you realize that leisure actually drove labor changes?
SPEAKER_03There'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_04Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to Road Adventures
Job Training And Remote Life
SPEAKER_04of Cycling Men of Leisure. My name is Adam as usual, and once again, I am lucky enough to be joined with my good friend all the way from Central Time, Kansas. Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce Mr. Michael Sharp.
SPEAKER_06Thank you very much, Adam. Happy to be here once again with you, uh, broadcasting from the state of Kansas, Central Time.
SPEAKER_04Well, listen, I am happy to have you. Um so uh tell me, I have to know. How have you been? How is the job? I mean, this is what the listeners, the community wants to know. How how is the training going?
SPEAKER_06Uh, training is going the way training normally goes. Uh it's kind of long, it's kind of dry, it's kind of boring. Uh, although it's very important, uh, and the training is pretty good, and they are literally providing me with training, which I've been in jobs before where they're kind of just like, hey, first day, let's get you to do something. By the end of the week, we want to see some output. Nope. This organization is very, they know that I have the ability to do it. I have that proven. Now, what they're just doing is they're just allowing me time to be able to understand how they do it and how my skills fit into their thing. So um, great organization. Uh, it's fantastic. And uh yeah, I'm uh I'm still going. And uh I'm gonna, you know, be moving beyond training here in the next week or two. So it'll be nice.
SPEAKER_04That's wonderful. Uh and and you know, everybody who joins a company um likes the you know, the environment of the company or the and I understand it's you're remote. I get that. I'm I'm I'm very aware.
SPEAKER_06The offer is very nice.
SPEAKER_04Well, yeah, I mean, listen, you turn one way, like in Zoom meetings, you turn the camera that way, and then I I do the same.
SPEAKER_06We we don't show this in Zoom meetings, but yeah.
SPEAKER_04No, I I do this here for those of you watching. I'm like, oh, look at that. All right.
SPEAKER_06Sorry. That side of the room doesn't exist in the Zoom meeting.
SPEAKER_04I've taken transportation meetings at home, and I'm like, okay, turn the camera this way. So they don't need to see that hobby. Well, I mean, I have an announcement. I have not been to a conference. What?
SPEAKER_06So you didn't work this week?
SPEAKER_04Oh, I worked. And what's funny is my my my cohort, my partner in crime, is on vacation with her husband. They she usually takes this week off. And this morning I was walking around the building like with a chick on my head cut off, and I'm like, God, I never realized how much she does until she's gone. I said, Don't none of you tell her that. None of you tell her I said that.
SPEAKER_06So she got a text two minutes later.
SPEAKER_04I'm sure they're like, he just gave you credit. So but no, things are good.
Using AI To Plan Italy
SPEAKER_04Things are good. We um Lauren and I are still working on our our packing uh of our of our big trip coming up and um trying to learn. And I have to tell you, I mean, I know that everyone's scared of AI, or some people love AI, some people say, oh, it does you know things easier or non-easier. What's really neat is the scouring of all the transportation, I mean, excuse me, transportation, all the travel, um, I apologize, my brain's thinking transportation, but um the travel websites and all of the reviews and stuff. And so, like, to give you an example, I'm like, okay, well, I have to take change trains in Rome. It's like, oh yes, well, you have seven minutes to change trains, do not dilly-dally. You're gonna want to go to this track and everything. And that's that's really cool because then it talks about like, you know, watch for this. This is how the trains in Europe are. And so it's pretty I'm not saying it's perfect, but it's giving me a um it's giving me a nice guidance. And then what was really neat is it was a 114-page um PDF. And I know what everyone's thinking, like, 114 pages, but this was like every itinerary of every tour that we're doing, like we're going to the Vatican and and we're going to the Coliseum, and we're going to the Doge's Palace, and all these places. And so I ran the whole thing through um an LLM and I said, please give me the most risque things of my trip that I could really run into problems with. And it took 10, 15 minutes to go through the whole thing, and then it came back and it gave me like 12 pinch points. And sure enough, I I'm gonna I'm gonna raise my right hand. I know the camera sometimes flips it, but this is my right hand. I don't know. I don't, I guess I just thought that the cruise that were going on ends in Rome. Rome is Rome, and I've never been to Rome. I know all roads lead to Rome. Yeah, we're about 87 kilometers from where the port is to the train in Rome. I thought I was gonna take a taxi. Um, so it was really neat. Go ahead. Sorry, go ahead. I was just gonna finish this one point, but it was really neat that that this LLM ran through everything and gave us like the the biggest pinch points. And so I think it's really cool.
SPEAKER_06You don't have like a guide that goes along? Nope. You're just on your own, okay. Well, I'm gonna make a prediction right now. Um, everybody, he is going to miss his seven-minute window in Rome and miss the uh train. Okay, great show. But uh these are big train terminals. There is lots of people. Are you gonna have luggage?
SPEAKER_04Oh, yeah, just one piece of luggage. That's all I'm allowed. One one 62-inch bag.
SPEAKER_06See, that's where you need to take disposable clothes. I am good. Are you yeah? I I used to visit Goodwill before I went on these big trips, and then it's like, you know what? I'm gonna donate it to a goodwill in some other country.
SPEAKER_04Uh I've told you I've done that before. I mean, we've done we've done like jeans at the Goodwill, and then we're like we do excursions somewhere and says, You need a pair of jeans for this, you know, excursion. And then you wear them and then I give them to the guy.
SPEAKER_06So American jeans.
SPEAKER_04Have them how about a size, you know, whatever, whatever, whatever.
SPEAKER_06So um, but yeah, a lot of stuff is uh now if like when you did excursions like you do on some cruises, you know, you have like a guide with you. Um, so I'm assuming these excursions are not supported through the through the cruise ship.
SPEAKER_04I should be more crystal clear. I we are doing uh only of the 18 days, only seven days are on an actual cruise.
SPEAKER_06The rest and then you're doing your own thing.
SPEAKER_04Yes, correct. Oh, okay, okay. That makes sense. So on Royal Caribbean, I've mentioned on this show many times, I am uh I am loyal to Royal. And um, you can trademark that if you want. But um, so I think they already have, but that's okay. Uh but uh but yes, um on Royal, I always believe in going with their excursions because then I won't be one of those people on YouTube that is running down the dock going, wait for me.
SPEAKER_06But um and that's with any cruise ship. If you go with theirs, then you're safe from that. You know, all the people sitting out on their verandas watching those people that are like running down the pier trying to get the ship before it pulls away. Yeah, you don't want to be that guy.
SPEAKER_04No. So beforehand, um we uh are going to Venice, and so we're flying into Rome, taking the train to Venice, spending a few days in Venice, and then getting on the cruise ship, and then going around the boot, and then finishing in what I thought was Rome, which is 87 kilometers northwest of Rome, and then gonna take another shuttle bus. And then that was my point of the AI going, oh yeah, that would be great, but Adam, how are you gonna get it from here to here? I'm like, I don't know. I thought I thought I was gonna take a taxi according to the cruise cruise website. So, but uh then we're gonna go up into Florence and Tuscany, and we're gonna go to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and then back to Rome. Um, and then once we're in Rome, we're gonna do Coliseum uh three days in Rome. I I don't forget everything, and then fly home. So and this is probably the biggest vacation uh that I've been on in a long time. I normally I usually go about stir crazy like day eleven away from my house. So this is 18 days, so but uh all good.
SPEAKER_06I never go stir crazy on vacations. Um, but uh no, you guys are gonna have a good time. Beware of uh small roving bands of children. Okay. Uh gypsy children love to uh you know come up and enamor you with their cuteness while they're uh picking your pockets and things. So just watch out for that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, everything, uh all the tour. So we're we we are using reputable tour companies. Um I say reputable because my as you know, my mother and father are are world travelers of many, many, many, many times. And so I I sat with them a couple nights and said, you know, give me the give me the give me the skinny. And so they said um uh stay away from this tour operator. We had a bad experience with this tour operator. And so these tour operators that we decided to go with, we are paying a little bit more. I don't want to be dishonest, but but it's because it also jumps the line. And so these the part of what you're paying for is these tour guys to help us jump lines. And so, but each one of those heeds a warning of uh keeping your passport close on the body, keeping your stuff in RFID. Um I've ordered stuff I never thought I would order. Um, my passport and wallet now are RFID proof, and I guess it's not only are you mentioning about the pickpockets, but they're saying that even uh card scanners that that are so good that you can just if you had your wallet in your pocket and someone leaned up against you that they could actually scan your credit card, which is kind of you know scary. So um, and then doing things I never thought I would do, like check with my American Express and and then you know uh Visa, and then finding out where I need the Euros, and um, because of course some of the rules side won't take credit cards, but um what my protections are anyways, you get the point. So um, so that a lot of a lot of lot of research that is coming down, and so um it's been it's that a lot of it's great. You've given me some advice as
Tour Choices And Travel Safety
SPEAKER_04well. I think that we need to make sure we give credit where credit is due. You gave me some advice. This trip was supposed to happen two years ago, and Michael knows that, but um we unfortunately Royal Caribbean repositioned the ship and just hammered me. And luckily, I was able with all the protections I had in place. I lost 20 bucks, but I got everything back. Um, and so it was for a very celebratory birthday for my wife. She would kill me if I told you. 29. Um, and then 29. I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_06And so it was it was 27 two years ago.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. Exactly. 27 two years ago. Um, and so what we did is we just kind of put everything in savings, and then now it's coming to fruition, and man, it's getting real. It's getting real, real. So uh you and I have been doing some planning for the show. So if you are a listener and we thank you for that, and we'll get into some of your favorite stuff like listener spotlight, and yeah, Adam's going on vacation. Great, thanks a lot. But just kind of tell you what what we've been up to. So no conferences, regular transportation, but lots of lots of planning for this, for this uh neat, neat uh jaunt across the pond, as they say.
SPEAKER_06Well, I'm I'm excited for you guys. I hope you guys have a fantastic trip. Hope everything goes smoothly. I hope you do not miss your seven-minute window. Uh, I am just joking there, uh, because that's never fun. But um all right, so what do we got in store for today's episode?
SPEAKER_04Oh my gosh, I can't wait to tell you. We've got fan mail. And by the way, last time we had Jeff and Melanie answer. This time we have Matt. You call him Mark, I call him Matt. Um, and we have Dennis Keeler, one of our one of our wonderful subscribers. We've got our good friend Armando has even sent us a digital um digital guest, and Melanie is as a guest for Fan Mill.
SPEAKER_06We've got we've got some lots of community participation.
SPEAKER_04Absolutely. We've got um we've got some updates, we've got some history. Uh, you're gonna want to settle in for this one. We we have worked hard on this show, and I can't wait. So, what about without further ado? I give you the spotlight song here.
SPEAKER_01Do it.
Listener Spotlight Guesses Roll In
SPEAKER_01You ride along with us every spin. It's your volume. Listeners.
SPEAKER_04All right, give us the clues.
SPEAKER_06All right, the clues from last episode's listener spotlight are as follows. This town was not named after a person. The city's influence on food is no malarkey. It continues to contribute to blockbuster movies. Lumber was a driving factor of the economy in the early 1900s, and this city contributed to the moon landing.
SPEAKER_04All right. So I've got fan mail guesses, I've got digital guesses. Um, do you have a pick?
SPEAKER_06Uh give us uh give us the digital first, and then we'll do the all right.
SPEAKER_04You got it. So the first in in chronological order is our good friend Melanie Erickson. Um, but Melanie not only made a guess, but then of course, uh, as you know, Keith and Melanie are friends of ours, and then they texted me a wonderful picture. So as I read the guess, I also am gonna uh you can imagine in your head what I tell you um what it was. So she Melanie says um she is guessing Bend, Oregon. And the reason why she's guessing Ben, it's not named after a person, according to Melanie, a major hub for craft beverage innovation, sustainable culinary practices, and upscale global fusion. Melanie says that it has a history with logging and lumber industry, starting as a small logging town in the early 20th century. Now, this is where I need to make sure that you can kind of visualize what she sent me. She said is the home of the last remaining blockbuster video store. And sure enough, you know how Keith and Melanie made that van?
SPEAKER_07Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_04They sent me a photograph of that van in the parking lot of the very last blockbuster video. Along with the movie, I don't know. I think they were just going by and they're like, This is the last blockbuster, we have to see it. I'm like, and and Keith whipped out his blockbuster membership that he's had for years, and he's like, I'm a member. And they're like, Everybody is. So I'm just kidding. Um Melanie has one last guess here, and she says, served as the key field headquarters and training ground for NASA's Apollo astronauts during the 1960s. So thank you, Melanie. I really appreciate twice two episodes in a row making a guess. I love it. Um, now this is a gentleman I really thought was busy with his new grandson, but has made some time for us and has made a guess. Mr. Armando Rodriguez, and he says Ben Oregon as well. Influence of food, celebrity chef Brian Malarkey continues to contribute to the Blockbuster movies, home of the last blockbuster videotape rental store. Lumber was a driving factor. Ben was a booming lumber mill town in the early 20th century. Contributing to moon landing Apollo astronauts trained in the volcanic terrain near Bend and not named after a person, named after a bend in the Deschutes River where westbound travelers crossed. Okay, so those are our two digital guesses. So now um, you know, actually, I apologize. I have one more fan mail guess, and then I have uh a comment from uh Dennis. So let me give you the let me give you, I call him Matt, you call him Mark.
SPEAKER_06Tomato Tomato.
SPEAKER_02Hello, boys. This is Matt Robinson, sometimes known as Mark. And my answer for listener spotlight is, of course, Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is not named for a person. It is the birth birthplace of something called the wet burrito. Also, Taylor Lautner and a few other people were born there. There's your movie culture piece. Uh, it's lumber, likely contributed to it being the furniture capital of the world. Uh, Grand Rapids native Roger Chaffee died on Apollo 1, which made Apollo 11 possible. So there you go. Here in the city of Andover, Minnesota. It is a great day for a bike ride. Thanks for all you do, fellas. Cheers.
SPEAKER_04Well, thank you, Matt. I mean, you want to go ahead and thank him as Mark or Matt?
SPEAKER_06Thank you, Matt. Thank you, Mark.
SPEAKER_04I love it. I love it. Uh Matt has been killing it, by the way. I don't know if you uh I know you've been doing lots of training. I've been putting our show on social media a lot, and so I decided to take that to help off so you could get trained up and and let me tell you something. Matt is out there riding and riding and riding. So awesome. Um, thank you for his guests. So now we've got two bend oregons. We have Grand Rapids, Michigan. By the way, I'm going to a conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan in October. So uh and it's not about transport. Oh, there's the hook. It's not about transportation. Ah, there you go. Now, uh Dennis uh also sent us a fan mail. It's about the golf, but I'm gonna go ahead and play it now.
SPEAKER_00So hey fellows I just listened to your podcast today. I live in Central Florida. I may be interested in playing golf in January. Um I'm also a uh Disney vacation club member. I ain't listening to you guys.
SPEAKER_04Amazing. I think what we do is you use your points. I'll use some of mine. Dennis used some of his. We'll get one of them three-story, like big ones.
SPEAKER_06Disney, we want the best room in this entire resort. We don't care which resort, we want the best room in Disney World.
SPEAKER_04Dennis, I just spoke up for your DVC points. I hope you don't mind. Uh uh. Well, okay, Mr. Sharp, do we at least have one winner? Uh, sir, we in fact have two winners. Two winners, ladies and gentlemen. All right.
Bend Oregon Revealed As Answer
SPEAKER_06Sorry. Um appreciate the guess. Oh, buddy. The answer is Bend Oregon. All right. Ben is named after a bend in the river. Um contributed to Blockbuster movies. They are correct. It is the last remaining blockbuster video store in the world. Obviously, lumber is a driving or was a driving factor of the economy. It contributed to the moon landing, and they were absolutely correct. In the 1960s, Apollo teams would go there uh in one of the volcanic areas and train for moon landings because it was very desolate and very moon-like uh environment. And uh Melanie, you were a little bit off on the food, but you still got the right answer. Uh, the city's uh influence on food is no Mallarkey. Yes, Brian Mullarkey uh was born there. And if anybody ever watches any of the food competition type stuff, Brian Mallarkey's on uh Guy's Grocery Game and all sorts of other things uh as a competitive chef. Um he was born there and is a big name in the competitive uh cooking world. So there you have it.
SPEAKER_04Well, that's great. I love it. I love the fact that you are uh giving us uh giving us the guesses. I love the fact that the listeners from Bend Oregon, I love all of our community members, but this time Bend Oregon, as usual.
SPEAKER_06So go get yourself a good movie this weekend for Labor Day.
SPEAKER_04I bet you it's closed now.
SPEAKER_06Oh no, it's still open. You know what though? Um they actually make more money off of like t-shirts and stuff like that than they do the movies.
SPEAKER_04So you know, when I moved to the little city I am in now, um, which I've said many times is Brighton, but uh there was a blockbuster here. And then uh I was like, hey, I finally moved to a city with a blockbuster. And it wasn't long after that, out of business.
SPEAKER_06A little bit of city without a blockbuster, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, so but uh all
PodFest Golf Plans And Weather
SPEAKER_04right. Well, let's go back to Dennis's golf. Um, Dennis, Dennis, first of all, thank you for being one of our subscribers. Dennis gives the show 48 hours in advance. I have another announcement about a subscriber, but we'll keep going here. Um Dennis has mentioned that he'd be interested in the golf, which I love, and um obviously kidding about the DVC points you uh you do you, but uh um we also reached out a couple other people were were interested if we could actually narrow down a day. So I'm gonna put the call to action out there for those of you who said if we narrow down a day, uh I wrote a few of you back. Uh what day is better? I I win where we want to go to the one of the reasons we go at that time is PodFest. Yes, the festival about podcasting. Michael and I do like to go like on on the first day because uh we get to see our our platform where we post host the show, it's usually very helpful to us. And then wouldn't you know it always gets us on their show? So it never fails. So um, so we'll we can actually put something together. Of course, we're we're considering January weather. It seems like every other year Michael and I go. One year we are uh hot as blazes, and the next year, yeah, we need gloves for gloves and stocking caps.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, so I'm hoping this year it snowed on the Florida-Georgia border when we were there, so it was it was getting chilly.
SPEAKER_04And what I'm hoping this year is this is the odd year. So maybe this year the weather will be nice and toasty. So I hate going to Florida and just freezing. Yeah, it is seems sacrilegious, like because for me, it's like, you know, hey, guess what? And you too, by the way. But I'm like, hey, couple hour tube ride, uh, up and down, uh, maybe a little bag of peanuts, maybe a bourbon, and I am in like the new oasis, warm weather. And then when you go to Florida and you land, and it's like, welcome to Orlando, where the current temperature is 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Like, no, no, no, no, this should not be happening.
SPEAKER_06So we go out, find an area, balcony or whatever, to uh to smoke a cigar or whatever, and we're out there like okay, we're gonna make this quick.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, exactly. It's like uh it's like hot box hotboxing a cigarette when we were teenagers or whatever. So it's like, oh my gosh. But yes, I remember last year that's exactly what happened. We had the balcony looking right over the golf course. And we for the first day we got there, it was so nice. And then the last day we were outside.
SPEAKER_06So a couple days it's like this ain't even worth it. We're not going out there.
SPEAKER_04I think that's because the FBI came by.
SPEAKER_06So the FBI is always watching us.
SPEAKER_04Come in, come in. Um, all right. So guess what came
Dalmac Ride Memories And Meaning
SPEAKER_04up? You know, I I told you I've been doing some social media sharing. Uh our memory of Doll Mac came up, and I figured we would this is Labor Day weekend. I mean, um can't believe our our families let us get away with Labor Day weekend before, but uh um yeah, the pictures came up. So those individuals were starting Dolmac. We did the five-day West. Um, we found out that every four years they do have uh uh four centuries in a row, which I that wasn't my bag of tricks, but I would like the the five-day west, in my opinion, if you're gonna look at Dalmac, it went up some of the most beautiful tunnel of trees up into Mackinac. Uh we had a it was a really it was a really good trip. So I I highly recommend looking at that one.
SPEAKER_06Why don't you tell us what Dalmac stands for? So if the listeners aren't familiar with it, they can get it.
SPEAKER_04That sounds wonderful. So Dick Allen, uh Lancing to Mackinac is what it stands for. Uh let me uh I I wasn't prepared. I should have been prepared. Let me figure out. I think Dick Allen was a senator.
SPEAKER_06I was thinking he was a uh uh senator for the state of Michigan, if I remember correctly. I think you're right. Um I I think advocate of cycling.
SPEAKER_04Uh yes. Let me see here. Trying to find it for you while we're talking. Oh, I unfortunately he is is no longer with us, but he's got a ride named after him. So yes. Um I'm looking, buddy.
SPEAKER_06Okay. But it's a beautiful ride. It goes up around the top. Like you said, um you uh go to Mackinac, which if you've never been to Mackinac, is just you know beautiful. And uh get to see the beautiful uh Great Lakes, and it's just a fan. It was a it was a great ride. Tunnel of trees, which is always beautiful. My old girlfriend was on Mackinac. She was there is some young lady who who works at least in the summertime on Mackinac Island at a candy store, who is still to this day going.
SPEAKER_05Everybody at work said my old boyfriend showed up from high school. But I I he's in the army. How could he have shown up?
SPEAKER_04So we were on the Mackinac Island. And if you've never been to Mackinac, if you ever heard this, this is an island very historic. There's own the there's no um vehicles allowed. There's a couple on the island, but that'd be very rare for emergency and emergency. They literally transport your luggage with horse and buggy. They literally transport everything by bicycle. Bicycle is the number one way of transportation. Very go back in time kind of thing.
SPEAKER_06And we were in the main strip there, and there's lots of fudge stores, a distillery, uh, small distillery, but um distillery, um antique shops and uh souvenir shops, all the kind of things you you would think you would find at a big vacation-y town.
SPEAKER_04That's right. And we walked into one of the fudge stores, and I looked at a woman and I said, Are you Melanie? And she's like, Oh no, that's my oh no, no, no, no. That's right. We had met the sister in the key bar on the other side.
SPEAKER_06On the other side at Mackinac City, which is separate, it's on mainland, and then you go to Mackinac Island, and she had said, Say hi to my sister.
SPEAKER_04Yes, Melanie or whatever. Um Melanie is not true, but I mean, whatever it was. I for I'm not trying to be, I just don't remember. Um, I bet you we could scour this podcast and find whatever name it was. But um, and so then when we got over there, I said, Are you Melanie by chance? And she said, Yeah. Or no, no, she's off today. And I said, Would you tell her that her old boyfriend from high school stopped by? She's like, I'll tell her. And so I'm sure she came back to work. Jimmy was here.
SPEAKER_05So or Jimmy date anybody in high school. What are you talking about?
SPEAKER_04Or Jimmy got texted the next day and said, You were here? And he's like, I wasn't there. I told you to stop texting me.
SPEAKER_06Or you know, poor poor Jimmy passed away or something, and you know, that's right. Way to go.
SPEAKER_04Dullmac, Dick Allen Lansing and Mackinac. So the name you're reaching is Dick Allen, a former Michigan state representative. It started in 1971 when Allen challenged friends, colleagues, and constitutes to ride all the way oh, constituents, but yeah, it's kind of spelled. I know I know what that word is, but it's not spelled that way. Um, ride all the way to the bridge uh to prove bikes and cars could share the roads safely. Uh, it's run by the Tri-County Bicycle Association Edelansing. Don't want to brag, but for one year, Michael and I were members of the Tri-County. You had to be a member to join.
SPEAKER_06So I still get the emails.
SPEAKER_04Me too. Uh, this year is the 55th, and it's happening right now. Wednesday, September 2nd through the September 6th. All routes finish in Mackinac City High School. You and I have been there. We caught the bus back down south, as they say. Um, none of them cross the Mackinac Bridge anymore. There are two four and five-day options: road, gravel, and trail of the five-day routes rolling out of MSU Pavilion, which you and I and Brian did. And this morning, and then the four-day groups checking in tonight. Uh, podcast material. No, thank you. We are the material. So, anyways, there is Dalmac, uh you and I and Brian. Brian, who, by the way, if you don't know, created our logo.
SPEAKER_06That's right. So there's a little very talented, very talented artist. So in fact, I think we've been to the Mackinac High School on more than one bike ride. We sure have. We uh went over there to be like, hey, we were here. We went uh here before. It's like we know where the high school is. Because not only did we do Dalmack or Dalmac there, we uh did uh Shoreline. Shoreline ended up there too.
SPEAKER_04So right the shoreline. So, anyways, there we go. Uh, so I'm checking my list off here, buddy. Uh Scotty Scheffler, uh, congratulations. What a powerhouse. I mean, Tiger Woods loses his license for five years today, and Scotty Scheffler is on top of the world. So uh I know this is a podcast about leisure, and man, on Sunday I was watching that. That guy's just incredible. He and and I mean he's so young, and I just don't know. I mean, he's just he's just amazing. So I just thought I would mention that. So um, website. Uh I want to mention the cyclingmenofleisure.com. Um, if you haven't heard, we redid the website. A lot of
Website Updates And Subscriber Thanks
SPEAKER_04cool stuff there. We have how many downloads from each state. We have the top ten states, we have the top international places, we have a blog, every episode we've ever done. We've got a description, we've got uh all the guesses of listener spotlight that we've ever done. Yes, yes, yes, yes. So everything there's all kinds of stuff there. So don't waste any time. Cyclingmen of leisure.com. And you can we that's how two of our people put in guesses for the listener spotlight. So um want to mention that. Um, next I'm gonna move to Tyler Carpenter. Tyler Carpenter, man, we are impressed with him. He is gonna ride from San Diego to Savannah. Let
Tyler Carpenter Coast To Coast Ride
SPEAKER_04me get my paperwork here.
SPEAKER_06San Diego to Savannah. So he's going coast to coast. He's not just riding coast to coast, is he?
SPEAKER_04No, he, if you remember, we talked about him uh last episode being in a little bit of a fender bender on a rails to trail. He's back on the bike. I'm proud of you, buddy. Fuller Center for Housing. Uh, he is going to raise money. Every dollar raised helps uh move a family one step closer to a safe, affordable, a life-changing home. He does have a link. We're going to help him with the link. Um, and uh the Fuller Center for Housing is out of Georgia, uh, Americas, Georgia, which you and I, I believe, have been to Americas, Georgia.
SPEAKER_06Uh more than one occasion.
SPEAKER_04Um yes, he's gonna be rowing from San Diego uh across uh across the bottom of uh United States of America, which not diminishing anything he's doing because he's doing a heck of a lot more than you and I, buddy. So uh, but yes, it is the Southern Tier, as they say, celebrating 20 years. So, Tyler, uh, we are proud of you. Uh, we want to express our appreciation for what you're doing, and we are gonna share your donation link on our socials with this show. It'll be included in there. So uh he's looking to ride. Um, he says you can also make a check to the Fuller Center with Bike Ride-Tyler Carpenter in the memo section. You can mail your check to the address provided, and we'll actually provide that address as well. So there we go. I wanted to mention Tyler Carpenter.
SPEAKER_06Fantastic.
SPEAKER_04Appreciate it. I've got some I've got some national cycling news, I've got some state news. I do have a local piece. We're gonna we're gonna forget the local piece, but uh um, but you also have a couple things. So why don't I give you the helm, sir, for a little bit?
SPEAKER_06All right, I'll I'll take control. Thank you, sir. I just wanted to take a moment and talk a little bit about another little bicycle
Vuelta A Espana Crash Update
SPEAKER_06race they're having over in Spain, the Volta España, which is a three-week ride, very similar to the Tour de France. Uh, all the big names are there. Um, a couple of people were saying we should do uh the mini podcast for that one, but uh we just did not have the time to make that happen. Biggest storyline our buddy Toddy, Toddy Pagatra, um, was dominating early. He was winning, uh, he won the opening time trial. Uh he was racking up multiple stage wins. Unfortunately, stage eight, he crashed out. Uh, had a shoulder injury, had some facial injuries. Um basically he was out of the race because he was really seen as the guy who was going to, he just got through winning the Tour de France. Now he's gonna win uh the Volta. Uh unfortunately, he is out of the race. Um, which means uh right now the general it's still going on, but the general classification is uh Enric Maas is currently from MovieStar. Um he's holding the lead with one minute and eighteen seconds um as of this recording. Um Walt Van Art is a comfortable lead in the green jersey, and um so uh a little bit of a shakeup. So I just wanted to bring that to everybody's attention. Um, because pretty much the tour was dominated by Toddy. He was dominating this. Um so that's gonna pretty much take him out, probably for the rest of the season. So kind of a disappointment um because he was riding so well, but um, you know, it gives some of these other guys uh, you know, like Primos Rodlich, uh Enric Moss, people like that gives them an opportunity to maybe uh maybe go on and win this big one. So just wanted to bring that up.
SPEAKER_04Well, I appreciate that. I'm sorry to hear that. I mean, uh started to finally finally got to start to pronounce some of those fancy words like pagacha. And uh actually I saw a couple pieces. Uh now I'm interested in the tour. I gotta tell you, not only I I'm not alone. There's a few people who have listened to the show who have written me and said they can't wait for next year. I'm like, hold your role, we haven't agreed to do it next year.
SPEAKER_05I mean, you're generally the guy saying, We're gonna do it next year. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Well, normally I got Franklin behind me who's giving me like a like a pimento cheese sandwich saying, Hey, if I give you this, will you come back? And I'm like, We're going back. We're going back. That's right. I remember at one of the brags, I think the second brag, we're like, Oh, yeah, we'll be back next year. And Michael was like, We will. I'm like, Yeah, we're coming back.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we're coming back. He's like a little kid in a candy store. It's like, we're coming back tomorrow. It's like, wait a minute. Wait, do we did we discuss this? Did we we did?
SPEAKER_04We just did.
SPEAKER_06Adam made the executive decision. We're coming back.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, well, listen, I mean, uh, we got we we we gotta do something next year, but I don't know what. We don't know what yet. So we're holding we're holding back, we're holding back. So uh we know we're going to Florida in January. That's I know that's for we need to update the website. Look at that, cycling. We gotta update that. So we have events on there. Um, well, thank you for that. Um I am excited for the tour next year. I'm sorry to hear about Toddy Pagaccia. Um, but a lot of people disappointing. Yeah. Um okay, what else?
SPEAKER_06That's all that's all I had. You were gonna give us some news stories. I was gonna give everybody an update on uh on what was going on.
SPEAKER_04So I don't like last show we like brought the show down, but I do have yeah, that's
Cycling Safety Stats And News
SPEAKER_04a death, but not I don't want to mention death, but I do want to mention that overall bicycle accidents in the state of Michigan are down three percent overall. And so um I asked the the the world wide web some interesting facts about cycling, and sure enough, I got some stuff about Michigan has made the major news. Michigan is one of the only states currently that has had a decline. And I think the reason why is all these e-bikes and these motorized bikes are causing a bad a bad name, and so um a lot of kids in my neighborhood are riding those things without helmets and stuff. So I'm always like, oh boy.
SPEAKER_06I hope I hope But you said you said accidents were down.
SPEAKER_04Uh yes, bicycle accidents have decreased three percent.
SPEAKER_06Oh, so you're so you're so I'm trying to figure out the correlation. You're saying more people are riding e-bikes, and that's not counting as a regular bicycle accident if they have an accident on an e-bike. Is that what you're saying?
SPEAKER_04I'm thinking, yes, that's correct. So um uh Belle Isle.
SPEAKER_06Are you familiar with Bell Isle? I well, probably not the Bell Isle you're thinking. I watched Fletch. He inherited Belle Isle.
SPEAKER_04Well, there used to be a zoo there. There used to be big fountains, uh, aquarium casinos back in the day. Um, Belle Isle has been implementing a two-way cycling track as part of a larger multi multimodal project intended to improve traffic flow, accessible, and safety. So the next time you're in Michigan, buddy, we're gonna have to load the bikes up, head on down to Belle Isle, and uh test out that track.
SPEAKER_06Is it is it down or up?
SPEAKER_04For you or for my house?
SPEAKER_06If I come to your house, are we gonna go? You said go down. Are we going to go down or up?
SPEAKER_04Well, if you were at my house, we would have to go south, down.
SPEAKER_06So but if you give me some idea of where it's at in the state.
SPEAKER_04Yep. It's in downtown Detroit. I mean, it is on the river across Belle Isle, you'd see Canada.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_04So cool. And then they usually do boat races there, not at the same time, but you could maybe, but um um, but then they have all kinds of it's beautiful, it's actually very nice. Um team USA, national news here, cycling national news. Team USA announced for the World Championships that they have 34 rider American team in the UCI World Championships in Montreal for September 20th through the 27th. Among the men's headliners is Quinn Simmons, which we've mentioned before. You educated me about Quinn Simmons, uh, Matteo Jorgensen, Brandon McNutley, and there's an interesting Michigan connection. Uh, by the way, this guy, I gotta meet this guy. Cassius Adamski. Yeah. I gotta meet Mr. Adamski. I mean, this guy sounds like the champion of Bloomfield, Michigan. He was selected for both the road and the time trial. If I get a chance to meet Mr. Adamski, I'm gonna tell him, buddy, I love your last name.
SPEAKER_06So we need to get him on the show.
SPEAKER_04Yes, for sure. Uh, Philadelphia's famous professional bike race is back. This is um after 10 years away, professional cycling returned to Philadelphia with the Philadelphia Cycling Classic. The race dates back to the 1980s and was famous for the uh crowds, a party atmosphere, uh, and a return uh grew big city crowds again. So just thought America has struggled to sustain major spectator road races. Why can Europe put thousands of people along the road in the United States? We are very struggling. Is it because of financial? Or is it because lack of participation, lack of interest? Um, these are some uh interesting things. We don't have a bicycle culture in this country.
SPEAKER_06That's that's the difference.
SPEAKER_04I do have a story about bicycle tariffs. We'll keep going. Uh let's see here. Bicycle tariffs.
SPEAKER_06We'll move right along.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, we'll move right along. So uh actually, it just says what part of the bike actually could be affected by the tariff. It usually is going to be the frame components, and it depending if you put e bike parts on it.
SPEAKER_06So that's are the that's wait a minute. So if I buy a new bike, you're Saying that the frame and the components are what's going to be affected.
SPEAKER_04Well, yeah, because the only thing left is the wheel.
SPEAKER_06It's like, okay, so the seat and the wheels, I'll be okay with, but everything else. Okay.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_04Doesn't bode well. Uh, but yes, anyways, I wanted to let you know that. But uh, for some of the reasons and everything, we're gonna move right along. Um, if you don't know on this show, we don't talk politics and and we try to keep it safe for your family. So uh teaching children bicycle safety with miniature cities. People for bikes, which we're very familiar with, um highlighted a growing idea called traffic gardens. Unused pavement transformed into miniature street networks where children can practice cycling, intersections, and traffic rules and safe environment, which is I thought was just really, really cool. That reminds me of your story about the kids and and the bicycles and everything in your area. So um, you told us the story about Tadi Pagaccia. I'm not gonna repeat that. Serious questions about race safety after Finn Tarley's death. And you kind of mentioned this. This is a story I held back from you last night when we were doing, you know, we're doing our show prep. I held this back because I wanted your honest opinion.
SPEAKER_07Okay.
SPEAKER_04Serious question about the race safety after Finn Tarley's death. You mentioned how ridiculous it was that a that a that a car could be waived onto the official uh not, I don't want to use the word track, but route. I'll use the word route. And you were very frustrated that night. And so here it is. Um, it says the Welsh cyclist has Welsh cycling committee has now piped in um after collid after after unfortunately Finn Tarling collided with a non-race vehicle. His death is now casting a shadow over the tour of Britain and raising questions about whether rolling road closures provides sufficient protection of racers. Should the UCI be looking at other ways? And I think the answer was yes. You kind of mentioned that was just basic, basic things. Um, and so uh, and then the question is how much risk is acceptable in professional cycling? And but they are looking, they're looking into safer ways of the broom wagon when the broom wagon goes by, if there would be more security. And so I wanted you to know that based upon your frustration, the Welsh Cycling Committee is looking into more and more and pushing for more uh cycling safety.
SPEAKER_06So yeah, they need to they need to close those routes off, have officials there that open those routes and not just let you know spectators wave on traffic, and that's just yeah, it was frustrating. It is frustrating. So anyway.
SPEAKER_04I have an African women's cycling story. Uh this is the under radar story. Team Amani, A-M-A-N-I, Women's UCI, uh continental team made uh made primary preliminary of writers from East and Central Africa is working towards racing the women's grand tours and reaching the Tour de France Femmes by 2028. The team has developed writers from countries including Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, while dealing with significant fewer resources than established European programs. So I just thought I'd let you know that the African ladies are trying to get to the FEMS, Tour de FEMS, by 2028, which I think is awesome.
SPEAKER_06The African athletes dominate marathon and long distance running. So if they're anything like that on a bicycle, other teams need to be worried.
SPEAKER_04So there we go. Um and now leads us to our main point of this show. So you gave us the hook. We are 48 minutes in. We figured it's Labor Day weekend. We're gonna give you a little extra show
Labor Day History And Turning Points
SPEAKER_04this time because we think it's gonna be worth it. So, sir, give us give us a little bit of what you were talking about about leisure and Labor Day.
SPEAKER_06Well, what we all like Labor Day. It's a Monday, we get takeoff, we get a long weekend, but no one really understands the history of Labor Day. And I mean, it's like, well, it's Labor Day, we're celebrating labor, but I don't think most people understand. There have been several segments, major segments, that's occurred uh within the United States labor movement that has got us to what we are today. And what we are today, you know, everybody thinks of barbecues and parades and you know, just having a party-like atmosphere and that type of thing. And that's really what it started as back in the day, and then it went through a whole bunch of transitions. Um, and then now we've gotten back to that. So leisure has really been what has driven the changes in labor. If we look at the history of Labor Day, uh, and there's some cycling uh aspects to it as well. So I thought it would be fun if we went through and we talked a little bit about the history of Labor Day and how our current Labor Day has kind of manifested out of strikes and workers' deaths and all of this other stuff to kind of give us the holiday that we have today. What do you think?
SPEAKER_04I love it. I love it. I love it. So um how do you want to do this? You want to go back and forth? You and I both have some facts and figures. You want to go first?
SPEAKER_06I'll let you go first.
SPEAKER_04Okay. All right. So um what I've got here is um when do you think the first Labor Day was?
SPEAKER_06Um I know you began first. I would say the first Labor Day, and I really don't know right off the bat, and I'm not gonna look at my notes or anything. Um, I would say it was probably in the 1890s. You're very close.
SPEAKER_04The first Labor Day was September 5th, 1882. Oh, what a year, 1882. I remember I'm just kidding.
SPEAKER_06But um fantastic.
SPEAKER_04America's first Labor Day uh celebration took place on Tuesday, September 5th, 19, I'm sorry, 1882, in New York City. The Central Labor Union organized the event. About 10,000 workers assembled for the parade that traveled from the city hall through the Union Square and toward 42nd Street. After the march, workers and their families gathered at Wendell's Elm Park for a picnic, concert, and speeches. From the beginning, Labor Day combined a public demonstration of worker solidarity and recreational food family celebrations. So the answer to the question is September 5th, 1882.
SPEAKER_06Okay. Now, the bigger question is who came up with this idea? And it's interesting because that is a disputed point. There's two names that have been given credit for originating the idea of Labor Day. Uh, one was uh Peter J. McGurr, um, who was the co-founder of the American Federation of Labor. The other guy was Matthew McGuire, um, a machinist who was the secretary of the Central Labor Union. Um both had very similar names. They were around at you know very similar time frames, and historians still argue about which one deserves credit. Um it's one of those things that there is no documentation to really say this is the individual who came up with the idea. So both of them are kind of credited with coming up with the idea of Labor Day, and basically it was either a co-founder of the American Federation of Labor or a machinist who was a secretary um for his labor union. So interesting. Maguire and Maguire.
SPEAKER_04Spelled different.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I said I think I said McGrurr, but yeah, it is Maguire. Peter J. Maguire.
SPEAKER_04So um the Pullman Strike. Um so you were the one who educated me what a Pullman car was. Um we were at uh Henry Ford uh museum, and you had talked about the Pullman car and the Pullman strike, and you knew that off the top of your head, um, which is probably why you were a history teacher before. But um and I'm gonna take a guess there. I mean, no one knows what a business architect is, but people do know what a history teacher is. So um but the Pullman strike of 1894 actually played a major role in what is now Labor Day. So if you don't know what a Pullman car is, it is a very fancy railroad car that is really decked up. I'm talking like velvet, leather, uh, mahogany, uh oak. I mean, just think of like the most luxurious train car that you can have. Is that a fair statement?
SPEAKER_06That is, yeah, they're very plush. Uh, and they always had what were called pullmans, who were uh basically these kind of concierge type people dressed in uniform who were there to, you know, serve you drinks, serve your meal. Really, that was like the top of customer service and really the top of transportation back in the day.
SPEAKER_04So normally we don't talk politics on this show, but I'm gonna break my own rule for a second. Uh oh. No, no, no. This is his story and and history in from 1894. So we're gonna talk about 1894. Yeah, I mean history. Yeah, I mean uh I mean, you know, I'm sure for a fact that uh everybody who is part of those politics are no longer with us. So um the political backdrop, what is now Labor Day, the federal recognition of Labor Day, included one of the most important labor confrontations in American history, the Pullman Strike. Workers at the Pullman Palace Car Company near Chicago walked out in May of 1894 with wage reductions during the severe economic depression. Many workers also lived in the company town of Pullman, creating an extremely unusual, powerful relationship in which the company was both the employer and the landlord. That's never good. That's never good. Um, the dispute expanded with Eugene Debs, and the American Railway Union supported the Pullman workers, and the union members refused to handle trains carrying the Pullman cars. The boycott disrupted rail traffic across much of the country. Sorry. President Grover Cleveland administration stepped in and intervened. Federal troops were deployed, and the violence followed. The strike became the defining confirmation, oh I'm sorry, confrontation among workers, corporations, unions, and the federal government. And at that moment, on June 28th, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed legislation making the very first making the first Monday in September a legal federal holiday. The timing was during the Pullman Crisis and has made a strike and an enduring part of Labor Day's story. So there you go. I'll let I won't go any further. But yes, the Pullman and Grover Cleveland, um some say maybe he he did that to try to end the strike, making Labor Day a legal, a federal holiday.
SPEAKER_06So cool. Well, the idea of making it a holiday actually caught on from the state level earlier than that. Um, do you know what state was the first one to declare it and acknowledge it from a state level? I I want to say New York. Is that New York, right? Uh no, actually, Oregon was the first state to make Labor Day an official public holiday, and they did that in 1887. The same year, Colorado, New Jersey, and New York, and Massachusetts all followed suit. So you were very, I mean, you were there. Um they were New York was one of the first states, but um they all made it a state uh holiday in 1887. By 1894, which you said was the Pullman strike, and when they made it official, or Grover Cleveland made it official, 30 states had already made it official and were celebrating Labor Day, um even before it was a federal holiday.
SPEAKER_04Well, I that's I didn't realize that, but um one of the pieces that that I think we need to talk about is the Hay Market Affair. Um so uh this is also a piece of it, I'm jumping around just a little bit, but on May 1st, and the reason why I have to mention May 1st is where we're gonna talk about why it's not May Day and why Labor Day and May Day kind of have a connection. But let's go back to May 1st, 1886. Workers around the United States participated in strikes and demonstrations demanding an eight-hour workday. In Chicago, tensions escalated after police fired on demonstrators near the McCormick Reaper works. On May 4th, labor activists gathered near Haymarket Square. As police moved to disperse the meeting, someone threw a bomb. The explosion and engulfing gunfire killed police officers and civilians and wounded many others. The identity of the person who threw the bomb was never conclusively established. Eight men associated with the anarchist movement were convicted in highly controversial proceedings, four were ultimately executed. Another died by suicide in prison. Illinois Governor John Peter Altged, A-L-T-G-E-L-D, Altgeld, uh pardoned the surviving and imprisoned defendants in 1893. But let's make sure we're remembering that that happened in May.
SPEAKER_06That's right. Well, what's interesting to look at is uh most countries, especially European countries, acknowledge some type of labor day. Although most of them do it on May 1st, which ironically we do not. So the big thing is why does America do it not on May 1st? Well, that was actually deliberate. American uh labor organizers and lawmakers deliberately avoided it because May Day, May 1st,
Why Leisure Won The Holiday
SPEAKER_06had become associated with socialism and uh the anarchist movement internationally. So um the September day was tied more to more uh moderate union-backed New York celebrations that had been occurring since 1882, um, which was seen politically a lot safer choice. So basically, May Day associated with anarchism and socialism. So they thought that would not be a good day to have Labor Day on, so um they decided to do it in September.
SPEAKER_04So which leads us to the fight for the eight-hour workday. And um bringing it back to a little more uh what we consider labor day today is is some of these pieces here, the demand for shorter working hours and a long uh uh predated labor day. The National Labor Union called for a federally mandated eight-hour workday as early as 1866. Labor organizers continued the campaign for decades. Railway workers won an important federal eight-hour standard through the Adamson, well, yeah, I mean it's Adam, of course, Adamson Act in 1916. Broader federal wage and hour uh protections arrived with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which established major national rules concerning minimum wages, hours, and overtime. And then in 1926, a little gentleman named Henry Ford, he said you can have a car any color you want as long as it's black. He he decided that he would make the he adopted the five-day 40-hour work week for many employees. The development helped demonstrate that industrial production could lead could coexist with uh more leisure time, which is getting into your hook.
SPEAKER_06There we go.
SPEAKER_04Uh the growth of the weekend would ultimately transform American recreational tourism sports, and I'm not stealing your thunder here, buddy. Consumer culture.
SPEAKER_06So tell us, what did that lead to? Well, let me take a step back before I answer your that exact question. Yes, sir. Union leaders actually wanted to keep Labor Day focused on speeches and solidarity and you know, rah-rah, the company, that kind of thing. But the rank and file workers increasingly just wanted to have that day off for, as you mentioned, leisure. Um basically what started happening is instead of picket line speeches and having these motivational labor, pro-labor rallies, and things like that on Labor Days, those started to get replaced by things like bike races and uh other leisure activities, barbecuing, picnicking, uh that type of stuff. So all of that um really dwelled into the whole idea. And then when you look at the time of the time frame that this was happening in in the 1890s to the 1900s, that was really the golden age of competitive cycling in America with velodromes and uh criterion races and things like that. And that boom in the bicycling and the cycling industry um really at the same time started pushing that labor movement and people looking at, hey, we can do things like go to bicycle races and that type of thing. So bicycles actually played a part in the labor, the changing of the labor environment and really promoting more leisure. Because the other thing you got to look at is up until that time, you were kind of moving from horses. Uh, people in the city couldn't obviously have horses, so they had to rely on some type of uh, you know, bus or public transportation, which is awesome. Um, they really didn't have a lot of freedom, but bicycles, people could just drop on their bicycle anytime they wanted to, and they just had that freedom. So the uh the cycling, the golden age of competitive cycling in the United States actually played a key part into promoting leisure and promoting changes within labor in this country.
SPEAKER_04Well, I appreciate you bringing that hook all the way around. Um, I only have two small pieces about Labor Day, what we think about labor today, or Labor Day Today. Sorry, we don't think about labor, we think about Labor Day today. How about that? Um, and so for most people, this show is coming out on Sunday, which please tomorrow enjoy your Labor Day. But how did it become the unofficial summer? Over generations, Labor Day became increasingly associated with picnics, cookouts, travel, parade, sporting events, sales, and the unofficial end of summer. Yet recreation was not a modern invention attached to the holiday. The first Labor Day celebration in eighteen eighty two itself ended with a large picnic if we remember the first thing that we read. The concert and gathering for workers and their families. But why no white after Labor Day? The fashion custom has little to do with the organized labor. White and light clothing became associated with the summer resorts and warm weather, leisure, there's that leisure word again, among the affluent Americans. Labor Day provided a convenient culture marker for the end of summer social season. Today, the rule is largely treated as old fashioned, uh conventional rather than serious etiquette. I don't know. I've heard people say you're not supposed to wear white after Labor Day. So um closing thought of Labor Day from you and I. Labor Day is not simply a celebration of having a job. It's history. It's also tied to the idea that life should not consist of entirely of work. Generations of workers fought for time away from the job, time for families, communities, recreation, leisure, and life outside the workplace. So there's our little history about Labor Day. You never knew you were going to learn so much about Labor Day.
SPEAKER_06People just probably thought it's like some labor people or some, you know, the populace, the working populace just out there has uh, you know, started demanding it and they passed a bill and boom, it was there. But no, it's uh it's a very in-depth, complicated holiday as far as getting to where it's going.
SPEAKER_04Well, we have really worked a goal. You and I sat back. No one asked us to do this, but we sat back trying to make the shows 50 to 1 hour, 50 minutes to one hour. So this one's a little bit long. Happy Labor
New Listener Spotlight Clues
SPEAKER_04Day. You get a little extra bonus from us. We're trying to keep them a little tight and concise and on track. But we need to end it with a listener spotlight. So I am sure you are gonna grace us after I play this delicious song.
SPEAKER_01Listener.
SPEAKER_04By the way, I am getting my suit on one of these times. And when that song plays, I'm gonna hit the button. I'm gonna hit the button like with a like an eraser on like on a doll rod and like from across the room. And I'm coming in, I'm singing with my suit on. You should.
SPEAKER_07That would be awesome. That would be a great start.
SPEAKER_06Oh, sorry. All right. All right. So tomorrow or on Labor Day, when you're enjoying your leisure, you can also be thinking about these clues for listener spotlight. The town was first settled in the mid-1800s. The city is living on the edge. The name is in part inspired by a silicate mineral. The city was determined that window shopping was overrated. Adam appreciates moving people. He would love this community's claim to fame. You like that? You got in on the clue.
SPEAKER_04I am listening.
SPEAKER_06Any ideas?
SPEAKER_04Well, your guess of moving people has triggered a weird memory for me.
SPEAKER_06Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_04I'm scared. Hold on, let me sit back on the couch here. Dear, dear sir. Wait, let him get his notepad out. Get your notepad out. Um I went to a conference once where the slang or the the terminology or the motto was Edgewater, North Dakota, moving people. You think? I don't know. I'm I'm just saying that I mean because listen, I mean, when I go to these conferences, I mean, most of the time I'm really paying attention because, of course, the idea is to come back to my little agency and be like, we ain't doing it right. Or, hey, yeah, we're all right. Let me hold my let me adjust my tie. We're doing just fine.
SPEAKER_06I can't believe what they're doing over there.
SPEAKER_04Exactly, exactly. And sometimes you come back and you'd be like, I'm not telling anyone because we ain't doing that here. But yes, I remember being in Omaha recently at CTAA, and they're there, I believe Edgewater, North Dakota was their slang was moving people, which I thought. So, anyways, that's my basic to the point.
SPEAKER_06That's what we do. We move people, yeah. All right, well.
SPEAKER_04I don't know. I mean, I hope I'm not sending people down the wrong path, but I hope it's not uh St.
SPEAKER_06Louis.
SPEAKER_04Did I tell you that I I took our last set of guesses just for funsies? Did I tell you this? I mean, I think I told you off the show, but not on the show. And I took the clues and I went to Claude and I said, Tell me what city this is. And it took like 25 minutes and didn't get the answer.
SPEAKER_06So I don't know what you're doing, buddy, but uh and that's I'm going to great extent to try to trick AI and other things out there so that AI can't just immediately go, oh yeah, it's this town. I love it.
SPEAKER_04I love it. Well, as usual, my friend, it is fantastic to be with you. I am I'm glad we got to spend this time together. If you are getting this show on Friday, because you are a subscriber. Oh, we have a new subscriber, by the way. I almost forgot. Uh, Terry, we want to thank you. Uh, if you're listening to the beginning of the show, you'll hear the subscribers.
Final Thanks And Sign Off
SPEAKER_04Terry, we really appreciate uh your uh contribution. So thank you so very much.
SPEAKER_01Thank you.
SPEAKER_04But if you're if you are a subscriber, you are getting this show at 4 p.m. on Friday. If you're not, hey, tomorrow's Labor Day for you, buddy.
SPEAKER_05So enjoy it either way.
SPEAKER_04That's right. That's right. So, well, uh today was very, very hot. You see, I have this color here. I had golf.
SPEAKER_06I noticed that. It looks like you got a little sun on the uh, but you know what?
SPEAKER_04Many a times in Iowa, a day like today would have been a great day for a bike ride.
SPEAKER_03That's right. Thank you for riding along with Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. However, you travel, find the leisure your way. See you next time.
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