Unknown Speaker 0:03
Go. So what's gone?
Unknown Speaker 0:06
What? What are we talking about?
Unknown Speaker 0:10
Those Those like my question?
Unknown Speaker 0:13
Is there a theme I should follow? Should I stay on? Stay on topic on something? Or are we riffing? Um, yeah, I mean, Kara, I think I'm gonna let you
Unknown Speaker 0:26
I'm gonna let you kind of lead this one Kara. So because you I think you have some ideas of topics you want to cover, right? Yeah. Like I was just telling him
Unknown Speaker 0:36
the biggest reasons I had reached out to him was, especially his. So I mean, now, Turbo has been five years, but I feel even again, in the past year, you've really leaned into growing community cycling through the pandemic. And I think that that part is huge and pulling in your background with mental health. That's a super unique topic. Yeah, for sure. But also talking about cyclocross and gravel and yeah, tell you
Unknown Speaker 1:05
it's so funny because it goes hand in hand so much that a lot of the conversation we were just having with Aaron about the gym,
Unknown Speaker 1:13
the community that you have joy machine, where it's just a super welcoming environment, and everybody just they're having fun, and you're you're gonna run pot, you're gonna run the podcast care.
Unknown Speaker 1:31
We're talking to out in the lobby, I was like, I don't know how much I should save for the podcast, or
Unknown Speaker 1:36
I don't want to watch all the good stuff.
Unknown Speaker 1:41
So I'll just,
Unknown Speaker 1:43
I'll just kind of introduce Well, actually,
Unknown Speaker 1:48
maybe, I don't know. How do you want to do the introduction piece? I think we just just start talking about yourself. Sure. All the beginning stuff will be edited.
Unknown Speaker 1:58
I'll do yeah, I'll do like an intro and afterwards, I'll make up something
Unknown Speaker 2:07
and let me make sure
Unknown Speaker 2:12
Alex pronounce your last name for me. Ricotta rigged R IG da. All right. All right, guys. Ready? Yep. All right, guys. I'm here today with Kara Barton of fit for function and biscuit nutrition. And Alex rig though, Cara and Alex know each other through the cycling community. And he's got a lot of cool things that are happening and they've done some cool things are COVID So
Unknown Speaker 2:38
we just want to chat and Cara's gonna introduce everybody and see what to get into. I'm gonna I'm gonna put that right on Alex, I started talking about his background. My background, he did a lot better than I can. Sure. Yeah, I can start talking a little bit about that. Um, so I started getting involved with trim sheets. Well, my name is Alex last name rigged and not to be confused with Alex,
Unknown Speaker 3:03
the shop owner, which happens quite a bit so people say Alex enjoy machines and oftentimes they think I'm the shop owner, which the team is affiliated with. So but suddenly be like, Oh, Alex and drum machines and it's you never know which one you're getting. This is the team organizer, coordinator, de facto captain, some folks call that was not self appointed. There was also no vote or anything like that. People just started calling me to train machines, captain, and I'm not gonna lie. I just assumed you were
Unknown Speaker 3:34
telling me I tell everybody you are. It's like
Unknown Speaker 3:39
red.
Unknown Speaker 3:41
I think somebody recently said teammate Scott's like, you're the most vocal. So you were awarded captain.
Unknown Speaker 3:49
Okay, it's an assumed role. They get you a C for your jersey. That's all
Unknown Speaker 3:55
I should
Unknown Speaker 3:58
have been secretly secretly going around the Cleveland cycling. Like yeah, he's totally
Unknown Speaker 4:04
awesome. He owns the shop.
Unknown Speaker 4:08
So much. Yeah. Hopefully now that clears things.
Unknown Speaker 4:13
But it's like what the hell are we making?
Unknown Speaker 4:18
So yeah, no, they they, they pushed me in the spotlight from time to time because I ended up doing a little bit the organizing really the team is made up by a lot of unique individuals who really helped I think spread the word joy machines.
Unknown Speaker 4:33
I end up doing a lot more of like the boring work I do like kit ordering like our jerseys and like filling out paperwork to get city permits and things like that and you know, organize and come up with like a lot of ideas. But the team is really actually made up with a lot of really unique people who are who support my crazy ideas and kind of take that in run wild with it. So they do a really good job of supporting things, you know, around the community and things like that, but I've been involved
Unknown Speaker 5:00
Since kinda like the earlier days of the team, since C probably
Unknown Speaker 5:07
ended 2016, I would say, when I started as kind of a small team, we were, you know, affiliate with the shops, a handful of folks who were
Unknown Speaker 5:17
actually first responders who work at couple different fire departments in the area. And on their breaks. We've just kind of get out and ride and stuff. So they kind of started it. And I was a frequent face in the shop. So Alex, no sudden was like, Hey, you want to come join on the team? And that's I think, usually, I guess, I guess kind of where it starts from there. So how much were you riding at the time?
Unknown Speaker 5:43
At the time, so I've always kind of had Cycling is a I guess, hobby. I started off I have a pretty long background of rugby. Which I guess you said, Yeah. Played for a few years or Yeah, I played in high school in college. Okay, and actually felt played in high school as well. Oh, okay. We found that you guys rugby players like yeah, I have no idea
Unknown Speaker 6:08
of X rugby players. So if you're, you're wondering what the team looks like you've never seen it is a it's a good diverse mix, mash of people and abilities and skill levels and things like that. For people that don't know and myself included that what is the team? Who is the shop, like painting a picture? Of course. Yeah, yeah. So drum machines is a shop located in the Cleveland area and Ohio city. They've been around for a little over 10 years, um, they support kind of like,
Unknown Speaker 6:40
I guess more of the urban community, a lot of folks who commute via bike, people who are interested in bike touring, like cross country touring and things like that. The team kind of was, again, an eclectic group of folks who kind of hung around the shop a little bit. And back in the early days of the Cleveland scene of biking, we're involved in what are called alley cats, which are kind of like in city, kind of like
Unknown Speaker 7:08
little punk rock, racy kind of things, like kind of underground fliers and stuff like that. So that's kind of like where it started. And, and then seeing really connected to the cyclocross community as well. So kind of came came up from there. Did you get started in cyclocross is that typically an area where people start racing in that was where I started.
Unknown Speaker 7:30
And I think that purely had to do with like the rugby background. Um, I had stopped playing rugby after about 10 years. So I started playing in undergrad. And I played four years in undergrad. And then I played in a couple of different men's teams in Chicago, and then here in Cleveland, and it was just like, time being it up.
Unknown Speaker 7:51
In 10 years, I was like, you know, just kind of worn out from from long seasons. You know, rugby goes like, basically year round. Yeah. So it's like, not a lot of breaks, you know, you get a few, I guess, weeks over the winter, you get some lifting in and then it's spring season again, you get your summer stuff. So I've always had that, like anchor in my life, like, rugby was it, it was like, that's what you do on the weekends, you go to the rugby game in practice during the week. And like, I stopped playing is like i What do I do with my time like I just like didn't know where, what to do or where to go. And it's actually kind of segues to like how I started. As I was on a bike ride, I saw people with like team jerseys and stuff was hanging on the shop. My now my fiancee, but my girlfriend at the time, we're in the same career. And we were thinking about moving across state like, you know, let's figure something else out now because I do want to join the team and I was like, how obviously Cleveland
Unknown Speaker 8:50
I totally derailed the plan. So like us moving because we were just like gonna try something new and different. How's like actually these folks kind of cool. Like, let's maybe stick around Cleveland, like it's Cleveland school. So, um, so then I jumped right into cyclocross, honestly.
Unknown Speaker 9:06
I had friends that were doing it in Chicago, they would talk about it, there was like, cyclocross, like bubble to like those kind of like early teens like 2010 26 to 2016 like cyclocross was really having its moments kinda like how gravels kind of has its moment now.
Unknown Speaker 9:23
So it was kind of like where the scene was at and just knew that there were some races around town. There were practices to go to, there was a schedule just like rugby has, like, I'm plugging myself right into this because it seemed in there's kind of like a rowdy mentality to it.
Unknown Speaker 9:38
It's not a clean cut kind of sport. You know, there it's kind of it's muddy, it's dirty. You know, there's people partying on the sidelines.
Unknown Speaker 9:47
Mirrors rugby really well. So anybody who
Unknown Speaker 9:51
did my beer handout,
Unknown Speaker 9:53
like probably
Unknown Speaker 9:56
I think you run the tandem right? Yeah, video
Unknown Speaker 10:00
Have the tandem hand up, which is pretty epic.
Unknown Speaker 10:05
It's really special. So I'm so proud of this video. They simultaneously we Phil and I both grabbed the beer and chugged it while racing the
Unknown Speaker 10:19
encyclopedia.
Unknown Speaker 10:21
Simple a cyclocross is yes, there's probably people are listening that never heard of that. cyclocross is a
Unknown Speaker 10:29
it's a pretty popular and you're, again, similar to rugby. Um, but basically what it is, is yours, the set course usually are kind of an off road type, of course, a lot of like parks, grassy areas, fields, anything that has kind of like unique kind of features to ride over. That's not like pavement. So usually, the courses are about a mile and a half long on you put kind of Nivea tires on your road bike or ride, whatever you got show up. And now the cool thing about it too, is, you know, reduce barriers into like getting it like, what do you got in the garage, just bring it out, come ride around this thing. So there's various ranges of competitiveness, you ride in different categories. So category one, being kind of more of a competitive side, Category Five being entry level, anybody come up, show up, come ride. It's a 30 minute race. It's based off of the leader of the course. So who's ever I guess in first place, you kind of that person sets the pace and how many laps that you're going to do within that set amount of time.
Unknown Speaker 11:33
That says we are going to be cat five next year. Yeah, yeah.
Unknown Speaker 11:39
I had on the sidelines. So taped course. You have a lot of spectators. It's an easy spectator sport to
Unknown Speaker 11:47
people. Every minute answer, yeah. But the 30 Minute cap, whoever's in the first place of your category, how many laps they get done in 30 minutes. That's how many everybody else is going to do. Is that the bet? That's correct. Okay. Yeah. Unless you get lapped unless you get lapped, then you might finish like minus one. So
Unknown Speaker 12:05
you got a handful of people finishing like minus one or two, if it's their first, you know, season out maybe or whatever. Yeah, for me. I mean, I've been racing for a few seasons, I'll show up minus one no shame.
Unknown Speaker 12:16
Sometimes you hope you get let go we just done yet.
Unknown Speaker 12:20
It's like, it'll redline you. It's like, you're full. It's like full gas. It's like, you know, you're pretty drained at that. Like, after that 30 or 45 minutes. You're pretty toast. Yeah, that's interesting. And so anybody can show up with any kind of bike at the lowest category? Is there like a specific bike for the people that are doing it competitively? Like are there cyclocross bikes? There are there are cyclocross bikes? So, um, yeah. So, what's the quality of those? Like, where does that fit from mountain bike to road bike? Or? Yeah, um, so that's kind of like fits, I guess. Now, there's so many different kinds of variations and flavors of bicycles these days. But I guess to like, make it simple. It's like, if you put really small mountain bike tires on a road bike, that usually clears bigger tires, the geometry tweaks are nuanced, and not that important. But people who are maybe spending a little bit more time made vest in one, but really any bike that can, you know, take tires, that maybe have some knobs to grip some of that offroad stuff, you can bring that and that's totally fine. These courses, like they have like hills on like, are they hills? Are they random? what's the, what's the course like? So the courses are designed and created by whoever hosting the race for that weekend. In our area, a lot of the bike teams will pick a date. It's all under the schedule of any OCXO Northeast Ohio, cyclocross puts on a series you get points based off of your placing for each week to week.
Unknown Speaker 14:02
And the course is designed by what team or individual's hosting, so a lot of the local parks will have it.
Unknown Speaker 14:11
You might be riding up the side of a hill, riding through a small segment of woods, you know, as tricky and hard and difficult as possible, is, you know, usually people like to kind of torture each other. So the point of it is to make it not super easy, you know, but not impossible. And so, usually they're pretty, you know, can technically challenged, but it's okay to get off your bike and run up a hill, like basically carrying your bike and that's completely acceptable. Get back on when you get at the top of the hill and keep riding. Interesting. I can see how this culture is evolving. To pick people to get the makeup the course that you can see. Yeah, yeah. So yeah. Did you kind of circling back to that? How did you pick cyclocross as you're like, what made you say hey, I'm gonna go do this. Yeah. So the
Unknown Speaker 15:00
Having a place to be on the weeknights to definitely was a big part of that there's local practices. So it was an opportunity to meet new people who were also interested in bikes, it was a different style of riding. So I was used to, you know, commuting on the roads, doing road rides, this kind of got me off the roads, I mean, sometimes it's just nice to get away from cars, you know, get off of the, you know, roadways and go ride, you know, completely different. So it was, it brought in a lot of new difficult challenges, in terms of learning a different type of skill, it was an opportunity to meet people, it's a place to kind of, you know, hang out. But the sport itself is just a blast, I guess, is really the only thing, it is a pretty high fun factor. Just like knowing that you got to show up to 45 minutes, you know, you get through it, you push yourself. And the fun part is is is week to week, when you get the same people showing up who are part of this series, you may have a season where you're battling back and forth with like a handful of folks are kind of in a similar skill set. So you know, somebody may show up, they may get your one week, and it might be your goal to try to get them the next week. And when you have somebody that you're riding next year and competing, and you see those points being tallied throughout the season, and you're like, oh, gosh, I'm actually not doing too bad. And I'm only, you know, 20 points behind so and so. And they, you know, they've been, I thought they were way ahead of me, and it gets actually, you know, rather competitive to an offender in a friendly way, you know, to just kind of maintain that competitive spirit a little bit. Yeah, we're just
Unknown Speaker 16:35
being on the sidelines, just kind of experiencing it through through Karen, Phil, you can tell us a tight knit community, like it's, it seems like everybody knows everybody type of thing.
Unknown Speaker 16:46
Yeah, and that's the cool thing, you know, you meet, you see a lot of the same familiar faces, again, you know, people who you may not have been raised in the same category with, but you know, you may learn a lot from them, you'd like, you know, watching somebody who's a category, how do you take a turn or learn how to dismount and remount efficiently, you know, pick a line and make some really fast you like watching their lap times? And like, how is this person doing it, you know, what's, you know, what's made them, you know, advance through the series as well as they have. So you do get a chance to kind of meet people ask questions, talk to them a little bit. But really, you know, it's awesome, when you see new people showing up to like, somebody who's showing up, who's clearly you know, not on a dedicated true cyclocross bike, but just decided, whatever, I'm gonna go see what this is all about, and show in, like, show up, like, that's just as awesome. And if they show up, and they take a hand up, and you know, what I mean? Or, or whatever, and they just get through it, you know, that's, that's all like it, like get to, like, hyped up to, you know, just to see, like, new people trying to see, you know, them trying to get through the mud or, you know, the bike breaks, flat tire now, the run in the last lap, you know, it's like, you know, it's all laugh too, but it's
Unknown Speaker 18:03
interesting, because,
Unknown Speaker 18:05
you know, hindsight would have been fun to have you. And we just filmed one with Aaron, the gym owner at sea town there and the whole, the whole episode, the whole podcast was basically revolving around community and how important the community is. And that I think that is what makes things special. So it's interesting where
Unknown Speaker 18:27
well, it's not the relic, Cara, you had mentioned that, that.
Unknown Speaker 18:31
That's it done something over COVID. from a community standpoint, what exactly what exactly were you guys referencing in regards to the
Unknown Speaker 18:41
turbo gravel?
Unknown Speaker 18:44
Gravel race. So let me preface this by saying when COVID hit that, it was, I think, was just one year that I was CX. Cancelled. Oh, the Cleveland area cyclocross schedule completely dissipated last year of 2020,
Unknown Speaker 19:05
which caused a lot I mean,
Unknown Speaker 19:08
there was a lot of different emotions with that.
Unknown Speaker 19:11
People who still wanted to race would go to either Pittsburgh or Columbus or Cincinnati or so.
Unknown Speaker 19:18
But from that, I mean, I think that that's kind of how I you were already running turbo gravel for the past five years. But I think especially as, as some of the races were starting to get canceled from COVID. Ones like turbo Gravel was really able to, yes, take up some speed. So that so it was actually started at the beginning of COVID. So it's there's been five events, events, events over the past, I guess, now a couple years. So I guess I realized how much people had kind of depended on having these events to look forward to and work towards. And it wasn't even just the cyclocross that was shutting down. It was all the big gravel events and
Unknown Speaker 20:01
You know, I think that's Aardman people like looking at the months in, you know, the remainder the years a lot of uncertainty, there's like a certain sense of familiarity, you know, just kind of gone. And
Unknown Speaker 20:13
I could tell, you know, people who maybe not necessarily connected to the team specifically, but I know a lot of other people on the fringes of the bike community to who I could see, were just, you know, didn't have that anchor, I guess. And so I talked a little bit about it with the teammates and kicked around the idea of coming up with a virtual event series. Basically, using a plan route, you can use a GPS file, which people can load up to their like garments, or buy computers and use a 30 mile route on, you know, different back roads that probably are unfamiliar to a lot of folks in the area, get people out and then upload their times to a virtual platform called Strava, which allows us to kind of track the times where they started and finish the course. And then had the admission to entry to enter into it be receipts of local small businesses. If you you know, support a local business, buy a cup of coffee donut from so and so who's got a, you know, a shutdown, you know, dining space, send me the receipt, and that's your entry into the race.
Unknown Speaker 21:29
And then we set up categories, just like there would be for other race events. And then people really, you know, look forward to having that. Honestly, the first few are pretty well attended. People had been mentioned, like seeing folks, you know, passing by like doing doing the turbo course, which was really cool to hear. And it got competitive to which we crushed the
Unknown Speaker 21:56
more in the tandem division, you know, and I
Unknown Speaker 22:01
added the tandem justice
Unknown Speaker 22:05
I screenshot it. I feel like we're being caught out now. We had to do this.
Unknown Speaker 22:10
Yeah, well, you created this course. And everybody can download the course basically. So you had to go do it at the same spot. Same spot you Strava does that anyway, correct. But get
Unknown Speaker 22:21
ranking marks like a segment so there's like a start point and point. Yeah, and we would use basically the course is one log segment. So locally, if people are using Strava you can run down like you know, Main Street from this light to that light if you can get it you know, fast you get a medal it's all through this virtual platform called Strava. So basically, we did the whole you know, 30 or 40 mile route is like one long segment and when people finished the segment, it gave them a rank time and then we separated organized it based off the category that they entered and then
Unknown Speaker 22:55
mailed out a lot of prizes.
Unknown Speaker 22:58
The shop was really great in helping us put together some prize packages. We had some nice sponsors who were involved as well. So people got a lot of care packages just nice getting some in the mail Yeah, I got super excited yeah, that's the American gloves.
Unknown Speaker 23:13
You gave Karen Philip prize for winning
Unknown Speaker 23:18
we got destroyed the
Unknown Speaker 23:22
conclusion that Cara and Phil do tandem just because they like winning and they
Unknown Speaker 23:28
like coming in second.
Unknown Speaker 23:30
I only come in second because I'm in the back of the tank
Unknown Speaker 23:35
so it's pretty epic to show up to the cross race on the tandem which is pretty awesome there's no there's no tandem division in any OCXO but you show up you did it in the first one we signed because there was no Tanner division signed up as a fat bike we're not that we're just
Unknown Speaker 23:56
the funniest moments on a bike I think I've ever had there was so much mud that day and that tandem got so gosh darn heavy so we at one point we stopped to try and kick some of the mud off the bike and you remember all the walnuts are on the court
Unknown Speaker 24:12
Phil thought if you could have on the bike it would take the mud and like shoot it out
Unknown Speaker 24:18
I just got stuck in the tandem
Unknown Speaker 24:21
I felt the damage
Unknown Speaker 24:24
so bad
Unknown Speaker 24:29
we just happen to run into each other at the very Ruby yeah
Unknown Speaker 24:35
oh
Unknown Speaker 24:38
like this I think you said like oh you
Unknown Speaker 24:41
know
Unknown Speaker 24:44
the same race you are. That race is called the psycho killer so it's 100 mile gravel course it's not easy, like 30 miles of its I can sand
Unknown Speaker 24:56
even gravel like It's like ankle deep sand. I don't even know how
Unknown Speaker 25:00
Do you love that thing through the woods of Michigan in the sand?
Unknown Speaker 25:05
Well, unfortunately, we did 107 miles off course for a little while.
Unknown Speaker 25:11
I'll loop back around.
Unknown Speaker 25:14
Impressive.
Unknown Speaker 25:16
Impressive, for sure.
Unknown Speaker 25:18
I was I was happy. There were some beer at the end of
Unknown Speaker 25:21
some beer sponsors for that race.
Unknown Speaker 25:26
So anyway, about turbo, but yes, the TAM that you cleaned up in the tandem category.
Unknown Speaker 25:32
Turbo was a lot of help from a lot of different people. I'm the Ohio gravel grinders community, Ray, George, he was really helpful in promoting the event, some of the local event coordinators to black for gravel grinder, the funk bottom folks,
Unknown Speaker 25:49
the Facebook groups who all ride gravel in the Ohio area, they all kind of passed it around the Strava group, you know, grew it to a decent size. So yeah, I mean, there's been a lot of different versions of that, I think it was hopefully helpful for some of those folks, we knew now that even gravel races are back on. We've had, you know, requests to do more through the winter. So that was the most recent one was gravel five, charity drive, which was we took donations to the Cleveland Food Bank, as entry into the race. And so there was a decent turnout to it, which was cool. That was I really liked the fact that the entry was to a local charity, I thought that was very unique. I haven't seen something like that before. Yeah, you know, to think about a way of like, get people to, like, commit to doing it, and what was would be a good trade off for for a decent, you know, prize package. And, you know, if it was supporting the small business there for a while, I think we did like a charity of our choice. And then yeah, through this last month, we did the Cleveland Food Bank, which was cool. It was really cool. So you've been able to continue this.
Unknown Speaker 26:59
The people ask for another turbo, even though the events were back on. So we did we did another one. Um, the goal would be, you know, to hopefully transition turbo and says, I guess my vision, doing something in person at some point, you know, when it's safe to do so.
Unknown Speaker 27:17
And bring it to a, I guess, wider audience. My goal is my mindset is that racing has become the default to my guess, getting involved with organized cycling, it's like if you're gonna do something, or you're gonna start riding, it's always around, I guess, like the aspect of signing up for a race and like, how do we broaden the perspective a loop bit and consider something more about like a gravel event where people who may be aren't interested because the other side of it's like you pay for there's a lot of people who show up to gravel events and races who are paying to race who aren't racing, you know? So how in what way can we reach like a wider audience that? Sure, let's, you know, give an opportunity for people who want to be competitive to go out and race. But how about all these other folks who are maybe working out or exercising for the first time? Or to know what it's like to ride your bike off? Like, in gravel roads? What is it? What does that mean? You know what I mean? Or maybe you know, you've never rode in cold weather before, you know what I mean, if you have a group of people to go do that with and the barriers are low, you know, how can we get more people involved, and help them feel included? So there isn't just this, like, spotlight on the people who are standing up on the podium, you know, a race, like where we met.
Unknown Speaker 28:40
We cross paths bear Bay, there's 3500 people. Yeah, they go to that, you know, and absolutely, the people on the podiums deserve recognition. They're very talented, very talented people work extremely hard. I been passed by the front couple packs of like, the 65 mile race, which is like the more competitive one. I mean, those people put in a ton of work and yeah, totally deserve a lot of recognition but there's like, there's still a couple 1000 people
Unknown Speaker 29:08
who maybe you know, how do we kind of include those people as well in some other type of way or give them a type of experiences for a while or at least they're you know, worth the the entrance of admission? You know, so that's kind of like where I'd like to take it. Yeah. And there's there's on the other side of things kind of
Unknown Speaker 29:25
labeled we were saying earlier I mean, there's also something very special about you know, being having how was that five hours from your house don't remember how far that drive was but being you know it up in Michigan and still running into your Cleveland cycling community like hey
Unknown Speaker 29:44
decisions
Unknown Speaker 29:47
I met people from your team I didn't even know were on your team. So like, we would be on the course like machine kids would be popping up or like oh
Unknown Speaker 29:57
man with about Yeah. 10 or 11.
Unknown Speaker 30:00
Folks, we actually had a couple of people who technically aren't on the team, but got in on the kit purchase. They're friends of mine rugby.
Unknown Speaker 30:09
Husband wife. Yeah, they're a couple. We've read in one of the rest our aid stations. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 30:16
So he's, he's a rugby friend from Chicago, who I got, I got him in on the the kid ordering because I knew he'd be going, I was like, Well, you might as well with the part.
Unknown Speaker 30:26
Jersey, we're gonna meet up in Michigan, so. So he got involved, which was cool. But yeah, that's pretty cool. So we, again, it's kind of front of mine and something that I'm interested in, but this idea of, of training or exercising for performance versus health. Yeah, it kind of when you were mentioning that you're trying to get more people involved. That's kind of what came to mind for me. You know, you get these people that are super competitive. But I think you're also gonna have, you're gonna have a mass of people that are getting off of their home exercise bikes and the peloton bikes that are looking to
Unknown Speaker 31:03
continue the fitness journey. But maybe don't have a community or a place to go do that, right. Like,
Unknown Speaker 31:11
I don't know, I'm not super excited about going to do road road cycling, right? Cuz you gotta buy, just, I have a decent bike, but you got 1500 bucks just to play the, you know, to kind of sort of play the game, right? And then you're not really playing.
Unknown Speaker 31:26
So how do you get the average person that is just looking to looking for something besides a 5k? To go do? Yeah, that's a good question. Um, and I got to, I don't know if he's gonna end up listening, but I got to bring up the, one of our teammates. Bill's an example, who I have been sharing his story so much, because it's super awesome. But he's somebody decided to get a peloton, beginning, I'm sure quarantine maybe even beginning of 2021.
Unknown Speaker 31:57
And just decide, like, you know, let's get a real bike and get outside and see what that's about extra talking about going from exercising for the first time to winning the turbo five men's open caddy, oh, my god and dropping 70 pounds. Wow. And that's exercising first first time in his mid 30s. You know, I want like that type of stuff gets me pretty excited. Like, because not only that was like, now you got like a couple of dozen built in friends by like coming to just join this team.
Unknown Speaker 32:29
So like, where do you make your, your, your group in your community, like, what's your home base, and it can be like an event you sign up for. And there's tons of community events that don't have that kind of like $1,500 price tag where like, You got to get like the new bike that came out, and then drop, you know, the entry fee, the cost of lodging, you know, the gas mileage to get there, you know. But in the in our area, we have what's called the Cleveland slow roll, which is a great group of people that meet out on the east side, talking like a couple 100 people rolling out on their bikes on a Monday night. And it is, you know, tons of people from the community show up the location can change from time to time, but it's a pretty standard group, that if you're looking to just like get up, it's like outside of prossies and you're looking for a place to go ride. Those types of things are awesome, and also advocating for the local bike shop.
Unknown Speaker 33:26
A lot of times, those places are great hubs for people, you know, asking the questions like where do I go to ride my bike?
Unknown Speaker 33:35
So we do the Alex and
Unknown Speaker 33:39
organizes, um, you know, maybe every other week or once a month, he at least tries to organize a coffee outside, right, which is I'm sure you probably if you you know are following the the shop or the team on Instagram or whatever, um, that's a community event that's posted usually like the week out of just being like, we're gonna go ride a bike and the now there's like usually a disclaimer, it's like Makino moderate pace, you know, we're not gonna hammer it down, you know, you put Avenue or anything like that, but it'll be you know, it's a good workout. 2530 miles, you know, you have a place to stop, grab a cup of coffee, meet some new people and then ride your bike home, you know, and show what you got. There's a saying in cycling, right ride what you brought, you know, I mean, you don't have to have the new fancy equipment, like ride whatever's in the garage. If you got to put you know, pump up the tires, grease up the chain, like, you know, get that done, and then just type it out. Right. And there's a lot of places I think that could use that promotion. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm almost thinking like, if you sign up for running road race, there's the competitive 10k 5k And then there's the one mile fun run.
Unknown Speaker 34:51
Could you somehow create, you know, an event that people could train for? That was? Yeah, I
Unknown Speaker 35:00
I just signed up for with that first race in March or April, blah, blah, blah for you. And I did notice on the registration like there, you know, there was the woman's open event, but then there was also just a 34 mile drive. I thought that was pretty interesting, you'll typically see something like that. And there was about 100 entries or something it was there was a lot of people signed up for it. Yeah, the cycling world needs like more of that. Yeah. And, you know, the people who are going to be competitive are going to show up and be competitive, like, no matter the event, or where it's at those people are, you know, they're kind of driven by something else, something different than maybe what's driving somebody else to like, come out and like, try a fun ride for the first time. I know, just like on a national stage to mid south gravel, which is a big kind of national stage event. They're also kind of promoting that, and I think a lot of smaller, grassroots races are kind of look to these bigger kind of national stages to like, what are they doing? And like? How do we kind of emulate that? And how do we do it? Because it's so like, what we call grassroots gravels, like, you know, close to home, like these are people that we pull from are generally more of like our state, we're not, you know, maybe neighboring states, but mostly, you know, kind of nearby counties and communities and stuff like that. So like, what are they doing? And like, how do we reach the kind of people nearby? I think mid south did a really good job of offering like a family ride 12 miles? Well, there's while somebody else, maybe from the families out competing on the 40, or whatever, you know, maybe other folks from you know, can get a get a flavor of what this looks like, on the family about, you know, maybe maybe the progress towards the competitive side, maybe not. But I think they're, you know, broadening the space is important. Yeah, I think that's because then it opens up. I because I know you with, with my husband, we have ever heard of the race, Grace down and more southern West Virginia, there's
Unknown Speaker 36:57
a couple different distances on the competitive side than they also do more of a
Unknown Speaker 37:04
friendlier, non competitive ride. So when I, you know, I can, if I want to travel down to West Virginia, it's a lot more fun if you're going with people. But then I can also, you know, offer it up to my husband, I'm like, Well, you can still even do if you want to participate just so you're not. Here's a graph of Scrabble, you might be out on your bike for 910 hours. So they're not sitting with their hands in their lap for 910 hours while you're out racing.
Unknown Speaker 37:30
an avenue to still get out and be active and enjoy themselves, right? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's not a great spectator sports like No, honey, come watch me ride this race. You won't see me for hours. I'll be back, you know, waiting for beer, whatever. So yeah, get the start line. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 37:50
So yeah, I think that there's opportunities for definitely for for growth and a lot of different, you know, different aspects of cycling, for sure. But I think cyclocross gravel mountain, I'll do a very, very good job of keeping that community.
Unknown Speaker 38:05
Yeah, I think it kind of really encouraged the camaraderie of it. The kind of lightheartedness of it too, you know, where people are just kind of like having fun with it. Where, you know, it's just can be in, people get goofy you know, in cyclocross, they show up in costumes or whatever, you know. So, I think there's a, there's a way of just kind of like being fun with it, too, that draws people to it as well. After hack of the North, which is the joy machines racing cyclocross event
Unknown Speaker 38:36
that one's hosted at Whiskey Island, Wendy Park here in Cleveland, pretty close to the shops and nice venues at brand the lake.
Unknown Speaker 38:44
But, you know, some other race promoters asked, like, how did you have like a successful event. And really, it's like, you put the focus on people who were, you know, showing up for the first time and like, entertaining people who were there to spectate. And that just drew in a lot of people. Yeah, you know, um, you know, we promoted it with, you know, on social media a bit. But really, it was about kind of creating an environment that was really just fun, you know, and that, and then again, the teammates do an awesome job of like, making it their own, everybody kind of then brings their own creativity to it as well. So I know I get like credit for organizing, but really, there's so many people and kept
Unknown Speaker 39:27
the shop owner.
Unknown Speaker 39:29
But so many people on the team bring in their own like creativity to it. So I think when you create like an event or a space, you know what I mean that people like, feel connected to, it's like, well, I'm gonna show up with my waffle maker and like, waffle handoffs, you know what I mean? Like, that wasn't my idea. That's somebody else on the team. So I mean, there's a lot of different things that people bring that's like funny or weird.
Unknown Speaker 39:52
Somebody else on the team made like little trophies and like stuff doughnuts in it, you know? Again, I'm not taking credit for these ideas, but you have the space and the
Unknown Speaker 40:00
And like I think it just kind of promotes and develops like into its own thing too, you know? Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 40:05
I think it's like Whiskey Island is a very prime example of
Unknown Speaker 40:12
a good race for a first timer. Yeah, for sure. I mean, like I said, like one of my good weightlifting friends. You want it he didn't really know how to get into bikes, like, go meet machines, and you're gonna have a body and he's still riding with you guys. So that's been it's been months is very scary cyclocross races at your at your cross race. Yeah. And that's, that's what, like you want to see is like, welcoming new people in you know, and that's totally a rugby mindset that I feel like, I brought to cycling. There was rugby was like, you know that the game was sticks. That was always the thing. I'm sure you guys. What are you doing in this is that the game was sticks. That was always what people said to me about rugby. So there's like, against like a knowledge thing. Same thing like what cyclocross. So there was always this, like, always be recruiting mentality that rugby had, we were a club team. We're not a varsity team. You know, we got very minimal funding from the universities, the club's men teams were all kind of again, that's like scrappy, grassroots like raising your own funds. You need like a hotel money, you know, to pass around or whatever. That's like you're raising all that money on yourself. So that always be recruiting mentality has, like stayed with me, that was like, you see somebody at the gym at the Rec Center, when we were an undergrad? Like, that person looks like they're listening alone, hey, do you want to play rugby? Have you heard of it come to practice on Tuesday, you know, I didn't get to roll.
Unknown Speaker 41:35
Explain it 1000 times, it doesn't matter. Somebody hearing it for the first time. That's the same thing with cross. I'm sure I've explained the rules, I maybe know the 60% of cross rules or regulations. I know enough to get by and I know enough to teach a new person. That's all you need. So if you ask me about like techniques, mood changes over the years, I don't know, you know, I have no idea. But I know enough to, like, put the front wheel on the cert line, you know,
Unknown Speaker 42:02
Sunday morning. And that's like enough, you know, and so I think that's something like, for joy machines, what I at least want to bring to the table on my on my part, what I bring to the table is like, Are you somebody who's like, looking for a place to be, are you trying to plug in somewhere. So for us, you know, practices are a great place, like show up, this is the time this is where we're gonna be, here's the schedule and
Unknown Speaker 42:27
shop rides, community rides, coffee rides, slow rolls, it's a place to be show up here, there's going to be a familiar face there, I'll be there. That's always like the one thing to come find me. You know, I'm the person, whatever, if you're unsure or feel a little uneasy, and I think that kind of always be recruiting mentality brings in, you know, new people. Because we want to have an open door, we want to bring, you know, anybody who's just willing to ride a bike, you know, to the team, or at least front, there's friends of joy machines to I would say that everybody has to put on the kid, you know what I mean? Not everybody has to show up in rates to I mean, it's okay to have friends at the team. Like, if you like us enough, where you want to show up now and then arrive, like, that's cool, too. You don't have to, like join the team. And like, you're there's no contracts, there's no obligations or whatever, you know what I mean? Just like, you know, if you want to show up, when you can do that, that's okay. As long as somebody gets started, like, they decide they want to look into this, how does that happen? What are the
Unknown Speaker 43:26
what's that look like?
Unknown Speaker 43:29
Again, show up to your local bike shops, they usually are pretty informative on kind of what's going on in the area, they serve the public, they're kind of a gateway to the cycling community of wherever you're at, you know, wherever you're listening to this, you know, if you're just outside the Cleveland area to you know, find your local bike shop, see what's going on near you, they usually have some pretty good insight into what's going on there. The other side of that, um, you know, if you see a group of people who are out, send them a message on social media, I see all the time of, you know, direct messages on Instagram with people who ask questions, hey, even down to like, hey, where do you post your routes of the rides? You know, we don't, but
Unknown Speaker 44:12
but I'm happy to answer those questions, too.
Unknown Speaker 44:16
But I think reaching out sometimes to you know, and just kind of, you know, asking around a little bit. I know, it's, it's kind of ambiguous, but it is, you know, there are some starting points, at least, you know, there's, there's tons of groups to, you know, that, again, can be places to, you know, just ask around and, you know, you're going to find your way. Yeah. And in terms of like the the route question, want to pretty much the only reason I have a Strava is I like being able to go on and see what other people around me are doing. And that's a good way of finding new roads. Absolutely. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 44:54
Yeah, I think that you can like you know, there's a way of like, finding some new paths, you know, getting out changing things.
Unknown Speaker 45:00
up a little bit, you know, looking at follow people on Strava. You know, see where they're going and see where they're riding. You know, try those things out, too. Yeah. How does the again going back to that newbie the new person? How do they? Why would somebody decide to do cyclocross over road racing over gravel over mountain bike? One of the personality types that you
Unknown Speaker 45:24
got, it's like the jocks and like the nerds, like the punk rock kids at high school, it's kind of like the, I guess the the categories of cycling disciplines.
Unknown Speaker 45:36
At least that's how it feels like maybe at least social media or whatever. Yeah. Um, that's a good question. I think you end up kind of gravitating to what kind of speak see a little bit. I like, you know, the kind of dirty grimy kind of like, you know, put yourself into extreme weather kind of stuff, which I think is more like the gravel cyclocross type of environment. Um, I think in quite honestly, living in our area, we don't have a ton of like, great day. So opening up your idea of what cycling is like, cross disciplines. You know what I mean? Like, if you can pick up
Unknown Speaker 46:14
a used mountain bike, you know, on Facebook marketplace, there's a dozen or more, you know, local Mike, mountain bike trails that are well maintained. They're put together by the Cleveland Metroparks system. We're one of the only areas that has the mountain bike trail in a national park system,
Unknown Speaker 46:33
and show up to the trailhead. You know, try things out. You never know. I mean, you may feel a little uneasy or uncomfortable for your first time on the mountain bike show, but you might grow to love it. Yeah. I remember my first cyclocross practice I showed up to again, it looked like a rowdy time. I think that's what I think that's what initially drew me to it was just like these people, like they're having a ton of fun. But I showed him the practice, and it was quiet. And there was people like, you know, work, okay. I don't know anyone. And what's the plan here, and everybody starts bombing down the side grass Hill, I haven't rode down a hill like that, since I was probably like, 12th grade BMX. And, like, now I'm like, 30.
Unknown Speaker 47:16
So, like, a little uneasy about it, and I'm looking down there and like, some riding like my back break, I'm sure have my foot like, like, hovering above the ground a little bit, you know, like, oh, okay, I'll try to make my way down here. Um, then like, okay, made it you know, safe enough.
Unknown Speaker 47:35
Okay, still up, right. And so I think you end up kind of gravitating towards the things that kind of just speak to you and call your name a little bit. And I think that for me, that was just the mountain bike gravel cyclocross area, I still dabble in the road stuff, but far less than maybe when I first started writing. Cleveland doesn't have a great road scenes. I think that's another big thing. If you, depending where you live, like if you live in Pittsburgh, they have a massive oval season where they're at, which is like a small criterium. So there's a huge road scene out in Pittsburgh, but we don't really have much of that out in Cleveland. Yeah. So I know personally, like I only raised the road. And Chris, when I was in college, and then when I moved up to Cleveland,
Unknown Speaker 48:21
I didn't know anybody did. There wasn't any sort of road racing unless I traveled. And there was nobody to travel with. I didn't know anyone. And so I started dabbling, like trying out some other disciplines and see what I liked. Didn't like mountain biking, that was terrifying. But I felt like cyclocross and Gravel was a very good middle ground. Yeah, unfortunately, our criteriums series folded maybe a couple of weeks, a couple of years ago, at least before the pandemic. Yeah, I just don't think it was well attended for some reason or see the one down in here. Hudson is back it up this year. Oh,
Unknown Speaker 49:01
I can't think of the name of it is that?
Unknown Speaker 49:04
We, yes, you've raised. I've never raised them. But I know. They're very similar to cyclocross, which is kind of what got me more interested in cyclocross at first because I used to just I used to predominantly like to do crits, where it's same thing. It's a smaller, closed off course. But it's on your on road bikes, and you're on pavement. And same thing. It's time there's laps, and you're.
Unknown Speaker 49:31
I mean, the best way of describing is it kind of looks like NASCAR on bikes.
Unknown Speaker 49:37
Yeah. So it wasn't, you know, what, when I got my first cross bike, the most terrifying part was like, my wheels are not supposed to be going over this stuff. And I go like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna crash. He's like you when you're on a road bike, like you hit this tiny little piece of gravel on your slide now.
Unknown Speaker 49:56
I've been there.
Unknown Speaker 49:58
Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 50:00
Actually, I think the first time I met you, it was when I first moved to Cleveland. And I was trying to figure out like, how to ride on grass and dirt, just not on pavement. And I ran into a you guys practice, like, I don't know, if you were trying to figure out a course for your cross race or
Unknown Speaker 50:18
because it was just your team.
Unknown Speaker 50:21
And I just rode around with you guys for the remainder of the night.
Unknown Speaker 50:25
Like, no idea what I'm doing.
Unknown Speaker 50:28
When I guess,
Unknown Speaker 50:30
as we kind of, like, figured out the templates, I guess a little bit, we've been kind of operating still under the cloud of COVID. So I would love to open it up more so people know where to find and I just accidentally running.
Unknown Speaker 50:44
But that is Yeah, I think that is probably what happened. I believe we were just practicing at Windy parking, Erskine, and he showed up. I was like four years ago, I think, wow. That's yeah.
Unknown Speaker 50:58
What's that? You've mentioned it a couple of times what's what's the practice consistent? Like you practicing techniques? Or you just is it literally just going for a group ride? Um, so yeah, I guess again, kind of depends on the the discipline area for for cyclocross
Unknown Speaker 51:13
practice consists of and follow the any sex, Instagram account and Facebook page, I help now organize the series. So we do, we did actually have standing and scheduled practices at Kirtland Park in Cleveland. But basically, we start off, warm up a little bit, just get a few kind of practice laps in, we do some starts from the start line. And like some Sprint's out we'll kind of do some repeats of that maybe, you know, few times, maybe, you know, five to eight times or so
Unknown Speaker 51:45
then we'll do what's called hot laps, which are like basically like live laps, I'm trying to pick a partner, it's like at your pace, and just kind of duke it out for 15 minutes, and then take a break.
Unknown Speaker 51:58
And then you're like ready to go home, usually, to talk himself into doing usually another round of that, and usually try to go a little bit more maybe, like 20 minutes. And then by the end of that, we'd like to just kind of stop and say like, what was tricky, you know, where did you find it to be kind of hard on the course. And then we might just do kind of practice turns on, like taking a weird, awkward turn. How do you pedal out of something that feels like you're gonna fall over? You know, when you're taking this turn? Like, how do you how do you handle your bike? How do you break through something? How do you learn how to not ride your brakes, and just trust yourself? You know, so we may just kind of take some turns doing that. And if there's one thing that kind of stands out to me, I'll give a shout out to Jay ganzer on this one. And I said this to him. And I told him this to my first set of press practice that I was talking about where as you know, writing down that grass Hill, I was like, Oh my gosh, what am I what am I doing? It was at the end of the practice. And there was this uphill switchback. So that means like, you're taking, you're going uphill, and as you're going uphill, you're like turning left, which feels very awkward, because you're like, working against gravity, right? It's like you're kind of like feels like you're falling backwards while you're turning. So I could not, I couldn't come close to writing that at all. And I just was like, Ah, I got my bike. I walked it. And then I just kind of got that con and at the end a couple people. Yeah, that's kind of tricky. And we were going over there taking turns, and I was hanging in the back. And I was just like, let people go through and I'm just like, given thumbs up to
Unknown Speaker 53:28
the waffle maker.
Unknown Speaker 53:33
I started the car I got Yeah, drinks in the car going on. So I'm like, I'm just hanging back. And I'm, again, I don't know anyone I don't wanna look like an idiot falling over. I'm like, nervous. And, James, if I email, it's just like a cold call basically is just like, Hey, I heard you are involved with this in some way. You know, where do I go? What do I do? And sitting back, he's like, I'll give it a shot. And I was just saying, I'm just watching for today. He's like, try it out. And I was like, It's, uh, I was really hesitant. And he said, like, really simple sense. To me, it's just like, you belong here. Go ahead and give it a try. And it was just like, I had never not really felt like I apologue somewhere. I had been part of rugby for so long. It was like my, that was my home, you know, now isn't something that was like, I'm like, twice the size of these guys. You know, for if you haven't seen me in person, I'm 220 pounds like it. The last thing you would call me is probably a cyclist. You know, um, so, you know, he's just like, he's like, you belong. And I was just like, alright, you know, and it was latte. Yeah, yeah, it was just like, totally like, it was just like, it was like the very kind of like, pushed me and just kind of like go and do it. And I'm sure it was sloppy. But you know, I, I did it and I did it with like, you know, you know, 10 people watching me. You know, I didn't think anything of it or anything that obviously it was all you know, all me internalizing everything, but that was like, That has been my platform. Since that hearing those words you know,
Unknown Speaker 55:00
I was just like, and if if I feel like people are a little bit uneasy, I may pull that out, I steal that from jail.
Unknown Speaker 55:06
If I see somebody who's a little uneasy, have a coupon, you're you're good. Like, you've got you showed up, you know what I mean? Like, this is this is what's important, be awkward, you know, fall over, you know, whatever, figure it out. And, and that that really changed my perspective on trying something new for the first time is like, we're adults now to you know,
Unknown Speaker 55:27
that that kind of like, trying new things stuff is, is I think, awkward for people. Maybe you haven't been in that situation, you know, before in a while. So that's just something for me. And I think that's a that's a place practice is a great time to just kind of bring people in, I guess, kind of share those types of statements with them. A better, better way to meet them too. Right? Yeah. That's an awesome story. I mean, I think we're talking cyclocross with pick your pick your activity, pick your, whether it's career going to meet a new person or relate, like, figuring out how to get over that obstacles, learning new things, and whatever it ends up being. Let's figure out how to overcome that challenge is cool. So yeah, we want people to step outside of that comfort zone just a little bit. Right and ready to try new things. That's, yeah, the extension is awesome. Can I share so I'm a I'm a counselor, that's my nine to five. I'm a mental health counselor. And one of the things that you said is something that I share with people a lot, um, I guess would be Think about it like, what stretching your comfort zone looks like I was talking about it is like, kneading the edges of dough for pizza ball. I give her like make pizza at home, you got to like pizza dough ball, Papa John's
Unknown Speaker 56:43
go too fat too hard, too fast, the dough rips, right? The gluten in the dough doesn't like stand up to the elasticity. It's like a shock. Right? So it's like I I kind of picture that as like putting people like overloading people, it's like, just take it a little bit at a time. Try it out just a little bit. But recognize that you're gonna be uncomfortable, like just push the edges of what it feels like to be uncomfortable just a little bit at a time. And then before you know it, you've covered this, like real estate of like things that are now. Now I'm on a podcast talking about life. And like,
Unknown Speaker 57:15
four, four years ago, I was falling down a grass Hill. So I mean, like, somewhere somehow, you know, I've gotten to this place. I'm only speaking from myself, but I think that can be something I just I like pizza. I like
Unknown Speaker 57:29
a little bit. And that is one of that's like one of my favorite ones that I think if you just kind of think free, you know, you've kind of you know, span through expand your space a little bit. Yeah, I fully agree with that. I remember when I was I was actually I was talking to Nick about this the other day, like the reason I got into bikes was because I had one too many rugby injuries. And athletic trainers told me I wasn't allowed to do any contact sports for the rest of the semester. So he was like my second concussion and I had some nerve damage and they're like, no contact sports. I was like Oh, who ride bikes and just start crashing my bikes
Unknown Speaker 58:05
immediately.
Unknown Speaker 58:08
I remember like my first started riding news, you know, a 20 mile ride was like, oh my god, I just did a 20 mile ride like I am in impeccable shape. Now like that's my Monday like it's yeah, it becomes
Unknown Speaker 58:22
it's kind of it's nice to see how quickly that transforms and what used to be so intimidating and such an achievement becomes part of your daily routine. Yeah, yeah, I agree. My first road bike I don't know if I've ever told you this car my first road bike I you know first time using clip in pedals right?
Unknown Speaker 58:43
In my parents driveway and I'm like how do these things even work? I'm watching YouTube videos and I got one clip Dan I got to put my other foot on and I can't get it to click and it clicks and I was all excited but I wasn't pedaling
Unknown Speaker 58:56
and I start following and I can't there's nothing I can do about it just slow motion
Unknown Speaker 59:02
there's a learning curve to this
Unknown Speaker 59:06
my very first road race I there were some friends surrounding me and they showed I had same thing maybe I had a strict they're helping me they like to do the guys were holding my road bike having me come in
Unknown Speaker 59:22
literally like kind of push me forward like I just remember one screaming at me going I just don't I
Unknown Speaker 59:30
really I wouldn't be able to get back on the bike.
Unknown Speaker 59:34
And I can somehow I luckily never stopped during this race and
Unknown Speaker 59:41
I crossed the finish line and it was like I understand everything I remember a clip out
Unknown Speaker 59:51
yeah, we've I might as well share mine.
Unknown Speaker 59:54
So my first race is we're taking my dad's like 50 pound hybrid bikes.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:00
basketball shorts coming in last place, whatever didn't care, then transitions like I'm putting in now. I've worked my way up to clipping in and we make a sudden stop. Of course I'm with a group of riders. My first time flipping in what I do, I grabbed my friend next to me. It just pulled him straight down with me. And he's just like, the look on his face of just like that blank stare into my eyes as we both go down and hit the pavement like what are you doing?
Unknown Speaker 1:00:35
Just like slowly apologizing, fall to the ground.
Unknown Speaker 1:00:41
I'm sure it was like a nice
Unknown Speaker 1:00:44
motion fall to sound like real life following it's like
Unknown Speaker 1:00:50
I remember being on campus at WVU coming to an intersection at a stoplight and just I don't even I don't even know if I just didn't think about like clipping but just falling over and it was just like, so like all these cars around me like
Unknown Speaker 1:01:04
everyone just saw that
Unknown Speaker 1:01:09
yeah, everyone's been there. Everyone has and that's why it's important to just show up and just try it. Yeah, we all have this story. So yeah, people like sharing
Unknown Speaker 1:01:20
like my friend that did your races his first process? I think it might tomorrow was the following weekend a couple weeks after was when the
Unknown Speaker 1:01:31
my say my team's race was out in Pittsburgh and I was like, I gotta come out to Pittsburgh down to our race. I don't know if I'm quite ready to drive up to Pittsburgh come in last.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:40
No, yes. You are like that. You bro.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:44
Sir traveling to come in last place. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:01:49
That's like a famous thing to say. If you're been at the back of a racist, like everyone always says remember that you paid for this?
Unknown Speaker 1:01:57
You want to you decided to?
Unknown Speaker 1:02:01
Well, I'm glad that to like the the culture kind of being like a little, I guess uncomfortable or weird in those spaces had been adopted under that idea of party pays for that. Party case is like the new thing to kind of like, say your quote, I guess, made, I guess, popularized by pathless. peddled so cool YouTube channel, I guess the non competitive side of cycling, this is what he kind of talks a little bit about, but the idea of party pays. I think more people are kind of like embracing that a little bit, which is just like, Whatever, I'm awkward. Maybe not fit or this as hard as heck, you know, whatever. You know. I think it kind of gives people like permission, just kind of like goof up a little bit. Yeah, I think it's definitely very important to have as much fun as possible while you're out there because it at the end of the day, it's going to feel miserable.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:50
As long as you have a lot of fun. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:02:54
The very first hand raised film I ever did was hillbilly down in West Virginia. Have you ever got to experience that right now? Yeah, but I've heard I've heard a lot about I we put I put a bunch of candy in his backpack. Just the most because I'm so close. I can reach it and like eat candy
Unknown Speaker 1:03:11
during the race, and we fell into the biggest mud puddle, probably about 10 miles in and all of our candy just got destroyed.
Unknown Speaker 1:03:21
Oh
Unknown Speaker 1:03:23
there we go. You ever find me? I'm a gravel race. I'm the one that always has way too many bags on the bike because my bags are full of snacks
Unknown Speaker 1:03:37
I have what are the frozen? Like, across the bowls? Oh, you got like a stack of uncrustables find me I got I got enough for like many many people
Unknown Speaker 1:03:49
I was on a race they're one of the everyone's so I show up with my own bike and and race slightly more competitively. And I was down in a girl race in North Carolina. And this kid comes up next to me in a Case Western kid and I'm like, oh shit like Cleveland. Like he just dead to the world. He looks over me. Is there any chance you have any food? Oh, you're obviously not from play even if you have no food on you here
Unknown Speaker 1:04:21
Yeah, find a cleaning person. I guess.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:24
You're on the race.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:27
We got our snacks to join machines kit. Yeah, gotcha.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:31
I do for sure.
Unknown Speaker 1:04:35
Oh, man. Well, this was fun. I'm gonna have to wrap it up soon. Is there any kind of last? I wish we got more into the mental health side. We should do that again. Yeah, part two, part two. Good. Whether it's goal setting or attitude changes that would be fun to talk about. Yeah. It'd be it'd be a different different podcast. But yeah, it would be an interesting one for sure. Is there anything you want to you know as we wrap up
Unknown Speaker 1:05:00
Obviously, we'll share your contact information where people can find find you in the shop and, but we won't share.
Unknown Speaker 1:05:08
I guess I'll just kind of end on the statement that I share and that I steal from Jay all the time is like you belong here. You know, no matter where you're at, where you're trying out what you're doing, if it's like rock climbing at the gym for the first time, like, just, you know, find your space, find your people, you know, there's always going to be somewhere some corner that I think are where you're going to find people who are going to welcome you in and bring in a little bit and I think, you know, the biggest thing you can do, I guess, to kind of give people a, I guess, a teaser for the mental health side of it. I really believe that sense of community is one of the most important things when it comes to you know, being a part of groups organizations, just having like an anchor home base, you know, I think could be really valuable, folks. So think a little bit about I guess, maybe what that looks like, folks. Yeah.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:00
Well, hey, thanks for coming. We're gonna do it again. I appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:05
You see your room get darker and darker Nick. I know I didn't I didn't plan the lighting correctly.
Unknown Speaker 1:06:12
Sounds gonna know really, my wife has a girl's dinner. And if I if I disrupt that, it'll be probably
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
