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
How To Win BIG BRAG 2027, With A Route Guessing Contest
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
A weeklong supported ride across Georgia already sounds amazing, but predicting the route before anyone else hears it is a whole different kind of fun. We’re joined by the BRAG team Ron, Stephanie, and Franklin to talk Big BRAG 2027, why riders keep coming back year after year, and what makes BRAG stand out in the world of cycling events. If you’ve ever wondered how a Bicycle Ride Across Georgia works for solo riders, families, teams, and first-timers, we break it down in plain language.
Then we get into the main event: our Big BRAG 2027 Route Guessing Contest. We explain exactly how to enter, how the form is set up (start town, overnights, layover day, finish), and how the scoring works: two points for the right town on the right day, one point for the right town on the wrong day. One entry per person, first submission counts, and it’s time-stamped, so choose your guess wisely.
The prizes are not small: the top score earns a free BRAG registration, with more gear and swag for second and third. We also cover the deadline (midnight on December 30, 2026), how we’ll handle ties using total miles guessed (including any optional century mileage), and why 2027 may be tougher than usual because BRAG hints at a corridor change that doesn’t align with past patterns. Listen, make your best prediction, and then subscribe, share this with your favorite route-obsessed friend, and leave a review so more riders can find the contest and join the fun.
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
Special Guest Panel Kickoff
SPEAKER_00Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome to my favorite time, except this is a special edition of Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. As usual, I am Adam. I'm joined with my good friend all the way from Central Time, Mr. Michael Sharp. How are you doing, sir? I am doing well.
SPEAKER_03Good morning, Adam. How are you?
SPEAKER_00You know, this is not our normal recording time. Normally it's dark outside. If you if you're watching us on video, this window actually has something outside of it as opposed to it's got something. Well, we are joined for something I'm extremely excited about. We are going to bring on some what I call wonderful friends. Uh, we have the Brag team, Ron, Stephanie, and of course, Mr. Franklin. How are you guys doing?
SPEAKER_02We're doing fantastic. How about you?
SPEAKER_00Well, I am uh, as Michael likes to tease me, I'm back from a conference, but we'll save that for the next regular uh scheduled episode. This is uh this is extremely exciting. We are talking Brag 2027. Oh my gosh, I can't believe that. Uh and so um we we think that you guys have got the route ready. Are you ready to tell us?
SPEAKER_02Uh catch all that?
SPEAKER_03Maybe not yet.
SPEAKER_02Oh man. We're we're busy, we're busy in the planning stages. Um, but we do have uh we do have all of our overnights and um just working to fill in all of the route uh gaps, and uh we're just honored and excited to be here with you guys on the podcast today. And uh we've got some some great things to talk about and a couple of surprises.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love it. So um we have decided to partner. Actually, you let's be honest, you you have decided to partner with us, and so let's let's make sure we we understand the pecking order there. Uh, you have decided to partner with us, um uh Brag and Cycling Man of Leisure, the Road Adventure Cycling Man of Leisure podcast, working together for a guest the route contest, guests uh for the for the full Brag 2027 contest.
What BRAG Is And Why It Matters
SPEAKER_00Um, and so before we get too far in the weeds of the contest, uh what is Bragg? I mean, what I mean I know what it is, but if you just happen to be a newer listener of ours and you haven't uh haven't had the experience of what is Bragg, was do one of the Bragg team members want to take this one?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so bicycle ride across Georgia uh offers supported bicycle adventures for just about every audience. Teams, cycling teams, families, solo riders, everybody. And we typically begin in early June uh each year for the Big Brag ride. Uh this year in 2027 will be our 47th consecutive Big Brag event. So uh it is uh it's it is an event that has lots of history and tradition, and our riders love it, and we love hosting it and uh taking care of people along the way. We also uh we we host a full calendar of events that start uh the year with our winter ride. Um those are three consecutive weeks, February and March of the year. Spring tuna is in April, and that's a three-day hub and smoke uh camping event in central Georgia. Gives people an opportunity to sort of shake the cobwebs and and get their gear uh all ready for uh Big Brag the next month. Uh and then we also host uh international adventures that typically begin in summer and go through fall. So we've got a lot to offer everyone. We are super excited about Big Brag coming up in June of 2027.
SPEAKER_00Well, um uh here's a uh unpaid review. Um Brag is probably one of my favorite times of doing these week-long cycling rides. I'll never forget the first time I did Brag and I said, Rest day in the middle. I had been used to rag brain. I'm like, rest day? What is this rest day? I don't know. I think you guys thought it was ridiculous, but now we love it. Um but uh we've done your spring tune-up, which has been a wonderful ride and and wonderful uh hub and spoke thing as well. But big brag is something that that uh I'm very proud of the four that I've I've uh been able to be part of. Um so so it started for this is 47th consecutive. Wow, what are you guys gonna do for the 50th? I saw your 40th jersey. That was pretty cool. The 50th, you gotta do something special, right?
SPEAKER_02We've got something special in in mind for the 50th. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00I love it. I love
How The 2027 Route Guess Works
SPEAKER_00it. Okay, so we mentioned there's a contest. So uh last year um we kind of kicked this thing off and we revamped it a little bit. Last year, and for Jeff Williamson, I'm gonna confess, yes, yes, we were late. We we we uh have we I'm gonna fully confess we were one day late. He also left early. I mean, come on, he left a day early. If he would have left on Saturday, we would have got it to him. But uh we did give him the jersey. It was made. Uh we had a a shipping snafu, but this year uh we have vowed to make sure that the the the winners, plural, speaking of the winners, um, we are gonna have three prizes for the contest. Um, and so there is already on on Cycling Men of Leisure, our webpage, there is a 2027 Brag page where you can make your guess. Um from this page, you would make the the starting town. Um, of course, each overnight town. Um, and the way we've got it listed out is we'd have the start town, day one, day two, days three, and four because of the layover day, day five, day six, and end of the road, where it would end. And so you would be guessing um each of those. And how uh Michael, you want to tell take us uh how the scoring works?
Scoring Rules Prizes And Deadline
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the scoring is gonna be as follows. You're gonna get points uh for every correct answer. Uh, you're gonna get two points if you get the correct town on the correct day. Uh, say you get a correct town, but it's not on the correct day. We're gonna give you one point for that. Uh and if you get an incorrect town, period, uh, there's there's no points for that. So um so that's that's how we're gonna be able to uh keep track of away from the buttons. That's how we're gonna be able to keep track of who the winner is. So um now there might be multiple people who guess it. So what are we gonna do there?
SPEAKER_00Well, um, so we're gonna have three prizes. Um I'm gonna let Brag tell tell what they're gonna give away, but you are and I are still gonna give a jersey and some swag and maybe a t-shirt. But uh let's have somebody from from Bragg, which because this is extremely exciting to me. I think this is, I mean, this is an actual, I mean, sure, jersey's nice, don't get me wrong. It's not chump change, right? But but Brag, tell us what you're willing to uh provide for the for the winner who gets the closest and the highest point level.
SPEAKER_02Highest point winner uh will get a free registration.
SPEAKER_00Wow. I think that's amazing. So free registration to to Big Brag 2027 or 28 or something or whatever. I mean, we'll we'll figure it out down the road. But uh that is amazing. Um, so there we go. We've got um, so our first place winner, who the the the he or she uh who gets the most points uh could win, not could win if you are, you will win a free Brag registration. Michael, number two, if the second place winner, what what do you think they should have?
SPEAKER_03The second place winner uh is going to get a brag t-shirt and a cycling men of leisure swag bag full of all sorts of good stuff from our from our uh mystery closet over there.
SPEAKER_00And then uh third place we'll get a cycling men of leisure t-shirt uh with a with a swag. I think the brag has a little more pecking order once again. So and if you're a woman, just to be clear, we will make it cycling women of leisure. So um we can do that both. So um, all right. So now, Michael, how long do they have to guess?
SPEAKER_03We are going to close, they can start guessing now. As soon as they hear this, they can put in their guess. Now they can only enter one, one per person, so you can't like throw in a guess every day. Um, but we are going to close this at down at midnight on December 30th. Now, that as I understand the announcement doesn't come out until midnight of December 31st, but you have to have your guests in by December, midnight by December 30th. So when you check with our lawyers, that's that's good? Yes, it is good.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Okay, perfect. We don't have lawyers, but that's okay.
SPEAKER_01Well, is this like HGTV where I can submit an entry every day? How does this work?
SPEAKER_03No, you just get one entry per person for the whole the the whole period. You can only have one entry.
SPEAKER_00So because of the way that the guesses come in, it is time-stamped. Good question, good question. It is timestamped, just as Mr. Franklin Johnson, who tested out the submission form. I know that Mr. Franklin Johnson, who at 8 48 Eastern time on November 2nd made his guess. I will only take the first guess with that email address and and time stamped and everything, just to be clear. So if you had a another, like, oh, I should have guessed this, or maybe you catch word of something down the road. Maybe something leaks out and you happen to have advanced knowledge. Tough. I'm only going to take the first one, uh, first guess, and and uh so yes, everything is time-stamped. So we'll be able to know that. Good question, Franklin, sir.
SPEAKER_01But have you used Claude to uh bar chart every city that's guessed live along the guessing route?
SPEAKER_00I I could definitely use Claude to do that and kind of have uh we we did talk a little bit about maybe without trying to give things away, if if down the road, maybe a month from now, if we can kind of show where people are guessing just as fun, we'll we'll see what's going on. Now, if everyone guesses the same town, we have a problem.
SPEAKER_01Well, we need some really like polymarket style ads on here to just see you know where the crowd's going.
SPEAKER_00Okay, we can do that. We can do that, yeah. We can definitely
New Corridor Hints And Tie Breaker
SPEAKER_00do that. Um and then uh now I don't want to give any hints away, um, but uh traditionally you're very repetitive and you go like the same place every five or six years. I've heard that for guessing purposes might be a little different this year.
SPEAKER_01It's gonna be difficult. You know, we we changed corridors, so that should be pretty obvious. We're never going south, south, south or north, north, north. So uh this corridor is something I don't know if we've ever done before in our 47-year history. So um Ron's on board and switching things up. So I think it's gonna be a very interesting guessing game. It's not really gonna align with anything we've done before. So hats off to whoever can figure it out.
SPEAKER_00I I think that's amazing. I I was uh I was making sure that people realize that it's not gonna be like, oh, well, uh every six years they do this. I'll put in that guess. I wanted someone to actually have a chance to actually guess and have a chance to win. And so it's uh very exciting to hear. Mr. Sharp, sir, uh anything else you'd like to add?
SPEAKER_03Uh I don't think so. Uh, do we do we figure out how we're gonna break a tie if there's a tie?
SPEAKER_00That's a good question. So uh we are gonna take the total miles, including and up to if there is an optional sentry route. So if you're guessing and and you need a tiebreaker, I would take the total miles from the minute you pedal your first pedal from the starting town to the end. Hypothetically, even if you don't ride the optional sentry, that if you did the optional sentry. So that will be the tiebreaker if we need said tiebreaker. So if you don't mind to put that in the in the forum there, uh we'll we'll be able to be able to get that as
Other BRAG Rides And Global Tours
SPEAKER_00well. So now, from my understanding, Ron, you kind of touched on it. There's all kinds of things all year round. Franklin, um, before we end this, could uh if someone else is looking at brag.org, www.brag.org, uh, what other rides uh can you give us the if someone is just turning? We do have a lot of new listeners, by the way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, as Ron alluded to, for all you snowbirds and other states trying to escape the snow, we've got three amazing weeks of our winter ride, which is on all the coastal islands of Georgia. So you actually get to go to four or five different islands um for these winter rides where you're usually it's nice and warm, much warmer than wherever you are currently sitting, which is great. Uh, we also have our spring tune-up. Ron talked about just a great three-day cycling festival with music bands, food trucks, um, camping, and that's probably one of my favorite events uh of the year that's in the spring. And then also um we brought Ron on here because we were growing so fast uh with all our international tours. So Ron's now heading up all of our stateside operations, and I'm focused on all our international tours. So now we go to many different destinations every year, all across the globe, everywhere from France and Croatia to the Netherlands to Portugal. I'm actually headed out early next year to go scout our South Africa tour. We just got back from Italy. So if you're looking to travel internationally at a leisurely pace and really get some um authenticities of where we're at and what each country offers, you're you're more than welcome to come ride with us. That's awesome. I've actually invited I've invited you two several times to join us overseas. Um and I'm a little emotionally hurt that you guys haven't come with us yet. Now hold on a second.
SPEAKER_03Adam's too busy going to tra uh transportation conferences. That's the problem.
SPEAKER_00Well, actually, his last offer was so palatable that I was in my office, and I literally, that moment where you put your hand on your forehead, I'm like, oh my gosh, that's that's like too good to be true. And then, of course, a week and a half later, I was already going to Europe. I'm like, well, what if I just change my flight and then then I just stay there and wait for everybody else to fly?
SPEAKER_01So uh you have offered some in the vein of Brene Brown. I really am being vulnerable and how hurt I am now because you were already in Europe and didn't come with it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I should have. I made it worse now, Adam. I know worse. You know, can I like the good thing I control this editing? I could back this out. Um all right. Um listen, I uh I'm hearing you uh as they say in in business. I'm hearing you. So loud and clear. So uh we have the contest. We are excited. Uh you have a chance to win a brag entry, some t-shirts, some swags, first, second, and third. We'll have a tiebreaker. Um, different route this year. Um that's exciting. Um, and uh we are we are excited. Thank you guys from and ladies, I understand, and she's a very quiet, silent partner, but can we hear Stephanie's voice just for a second? Hey, all right, ladies and gentlemen, there she was. So it's official. Stephanie has finally made the show. We have to make this a notorious date in history. So uh we appreciate it. So I uh she has politely,
Final Thanks And Sign Off
SPEAKER_00not meanly, but politely rejected me in the past. And this time we have the official hi guys. So we'll take it. Um we uh we we love you all. We appreciate all your time. Um remember, it's a great day for a bike ride.
People on this episode
Podcasts we love
Check out these other fine podcasts recommended by us, not an algorithm.
