Bike Shop Life

Milo or Ethan, rather goes to college... That's right. On year 30 of his bike shop life Ethan is forced to search out another craft to hone. He finds GIS as his next passion and goes back to complete a long abandoned undergrad degree at UB. Come lend your ear while he walks you through the multi-year journey that has led to this transition. Will the Bike Shop Life continue, tune in to find ou...

So... It's been over 2 years since my last episode. I've been busy riding the roller coaster of the Bike Shop Life... Boom. Bust. We. Are. Still. Here. The show must go on. So much has happened. I run through some of it and get you-all caught up on what we've been up to. Expansion. Closing a store. It's been a wild ride. Most of which I did not want to re-live through podcastin...

Cross in the Park is our (Campus WheelWorks/Campus Cycling Collective, Inc.) biggest event of the year. Cross in the Park 2021 is this coming Sunday September 19th. I had been fielding many questions regarding our race, cross races in general, and USA Cycling / Bikereg.com related questions. I decided to answer as many of them as I could in one place... here. This is also my annual ringing of the...

Part three of this saga is the event solely from my perspective. This episode includes all the live audio I recorded while on the route. It captures a bit of the emotion and sounds of walking riding or flying down dirt roads, moments of clarity, moments of insanity. I hope you enjoy this third and final part from our adventures on the Catskill Bike Packing Route. From the New York State Adventure...

We went, we saw, some of us conquered and some of us were conquered... Welcome to the aftermath interview of our attempt of the Catskill Bikepacking Route. Please enjoy our stories of triumph and tribulation. From their website: “This self supported bikepacking route is not a race.  There is no entry fee, no starting gun, and no cheering finish line.  The 250+ mile route circumnavigates the Catski...

5 guys from Buffalo are traveling to the Catskill Mountians this Friday (June 11th) to attempt the Catskill Bikepacking Route. I gathered them around a table and had a little before interview. I hope you enjoy it. We will be following up a week after the event for part 2 The Aftermath... From their website: “This self supported bikepacking route is not a race.  There is no entry fee, no starting g...

So you want to be a bike mechanic? Welcome to part three of my conversation with Patrick Meszler. It took an entire episode for Pat to tell us how he got into the bike industry. AN ENTIRE EPISODE.  From walking into a barn-basement-bike-shop near Utica, NY at 15 to working at Campus, not once but thrice. Now we will move onto what his life has been like working in Campus and find out what makes hi...

So you want to be a bike mechanic? Welcome to part two of my conversation with Patrick Meszler. Today we move onto the question of how Pat got into the bike industry.  From walking into a barn-basement-bike-shop near Utica, NY at 15 to working at Campus, not once but thrice, he has followed a unique path. I hope you enjoy hearing about it. Thanks for tuning in!  Intro/Outro: Original music by Art...

Welcome to the beginning of my conversation with Patrick Meszler. Pat has a deep bike racing history all the way back to starting out as a junior road racer. He has been in, out and about of the bike industry since around the same time. His relatively recent love has become bike touring and bike packing. Last year he completed the Great Diving Mountain Bike Route from Banff, Canada to (New) Mexico...

Part 2 of my second interview in a series of conversations with folks who embody adventure by bike. Ryan is a lifelong cyclist, adventurer, mountaineer, bike racer and now bikepacker. He recently completed the TATR a 585 mile self supported bikepacking race in the Adirondacks. We will cover that event in depth as well as touch on several other epic adventures he has completed, for your enjoyment.....

My second interview in a series of conversations with folks who embody adventure by bike is with Ryan Sarka. Ryan is a lifelong cyclist, adventurer, mountaineer, bike racer and now bikepacker. He recently completed the TATR a 585 mile self supported bikepacking race in the Adirondacks. We will cover that event in depth as well as touch on several other epic adventures he has completed, for your en...

Part 2 of my converstion with Joe & Emmalee Olgin, my first official Local Legend interview. They have a legendary amount of bike touring experience having ridden their bikes to and from 49 states of our great nation. One of these trips was over a year, yes over a year living on their bikes. With that kind of adventure comes many adventures and stories. Join me as I do my best to harvest a few...

Joe & Emmalee are my first official Local Legend interview. They have a legendary amount of bike touring experience having ridden their bikes to and from 49 states of our great nation. One of these trips was over a year, yes over a year living on their bikes. With that kind of adventure comes many adventures and stories. Join me as I do my best to harvest a few for you.  Tune in to learn how t...

Part two of my staff interview/exit interview with Vanessa Elder on her way out of town. Vanessa is a 5 summer seasonal employee of Campus WheelWorks. For 5 summers Vanessa has brought her own style and touch to our sales floor adding to the Campus culture as our Cycling Style Maven (official title). Vanessa and I sat down for a few hours and documented her non-stereotypical bike shop employee exp...

I snagged a staff interview/exit interview from Vanessa Elder on her way out of town. Vanessa is a 5 summer seasonal employee of Campus WheelWorks. For 5 summers Vanessa has brought her own style and touch to our sales floor adding to the Campus culture as our Cycling Style Maven (official title). Vanessa and I sat down for a few hours and documented her non-stereotypical bike shop employee experi...

Part two of my coast to coast episode with Justin Plinz of Ascent Cycles in Ballard, Washington. Justin manages Ascent Cycles and began his career right here at Campus WheelWorks way back in 2007. Old Lucky Justy and I sat down for a few hours and shared our love and frustration of this career we have dedicated our lives to. Some pure #bikeshoplife action right here. Join us on our journey as we d...

A coast to coast episode as Justin Plinz of Ascent Cycles in Ballard, Washington is my next guest. Justin manages Ascent Cycles and began his career right here at Campus WheelWorks way back in 2007. Old Lucky Justy and I sat down for a few hours and shared our love and frustration of this career we have dedicated our lives to. Some pure #bikeshoplife action right here. Join us on our journey as we...

Our story goes back, way back to 1999 at T&L Cycles... Join me as I introduce to you my best friend, my business partner,  my partner in crime, the yin to my yang... Alex Davies. My first guest on Bike Shop Life. So begins my quest to find the answer to how we all got here, we as in those who chose the bike shop life. He and I basically did it together... Here is our story. Let's have som...

What I hope is my last episode centered on our experiences during the Corona Virus Quarantine. Every week is a new business plan. I touch on some personal challenges as well as those we face at work. Through it all we continue on...  Intro/Outro: Original Music from Usurp my very first punk band in Buffalo from 2001 or thereabouts. Featuring Josef Bellucci my Head Mechanic on drums as well. The in...

A continuation of documenting our experience during the Covid-19 Quarantine. Life on the front lines... Daily challenges and ever changing policies. What we have done to stay safe and stay open. Our story even made WBFO our local NPR affiliate! Enjoy it from my perspective. Intro: Original Music from Trystero a band I played in 8 years ago. The intro track is Circles to Circuts off of The Cold Mac...

Covid times at the bike shop. Welcome to the new norm, I hope you like it here. Uncertainty, survival, unemployment, pandemic... These are the feels going into this one. And unfortunately this isn't an April fools joke. Intro/Outro: Original Music from Trystero a band I played in 8 years ago. The intro track is Hateful Rain, Outro is Dirty Dirty Deception both off of The Cold Machines EP Rele...

This is a fairy tale of Campus WheelWorks & Ethan Johnson and how the two came upon their life long relationship together. This is my first podcast episode ever. It may not be perfect but it will give you a glimpse into what I hope to cover in the following episodes. Sit back and take in a bit of the history of my shop and my bike shop life. Intro/Outro: Original music by Do your F*cking Dishe...