Cycle Jerks Podcast

This episode we are joined by Alex Gee of World Bicycle Relief (WBR). Alex is a Community Marketing Associate for this great organization. WBR has provided hundreds of thousands of bikes to people in need in 6 different countries. 779,000 to be exact with a goal of 1Mill by 2025! These are not just any bike, they have been specifically designed to be ultra simple and durable. They call them Buffal...

Kendra Ramsey joins us from the California Bicycle Coalition.  If you are not familiar with the organization they work on transportation infrastructure and focus improving safety and access for all to navigate cities more comfortably by bike, foot, or mass transit. Kendra knows these needs all too well as she frequently relied on all of them growing up in the city. As you can imagine this had a bi...

Monica has created a wonderful life thanks to Cycling. She believes Cycling saved her life as she was working her own PR firm in Hollywood and working 90 hours a week. Crushing it but the work and stress was overwhelming, and it landed her in the hospital with a massive tumor. Thankfully they were able to catch it in time and she has recovered but an event like that made her take a hard look at he...

This was a heavy one! Mike Rafter has lived a very interesting life and had so much success first as a pro skater travelling the world doing demos and contests, and later even worked for Thrasher Mag! After the skate career he tried his hand at owning a couple of skate shops but that is a tough market and had pursue taking a job. Ended up Working at Apple for 10 years and is now working at Vimeo....

The son of immigrants Massimo grew up in New York City. As a child he convinced his parents to buy him a bike and he learned to ride on the busy streets of New York. As challenging as that may have been he was hooked and the bike has been a significant part of his life ever since. From high school to college and beyond. Speaking of college Massimo holds a Masters Degree from Columbia University in...

We first learned of Willie Stewart from our previous guest and Author Matt Fitzgerald. Matt's book "How bad do you want it" featured several stories of athletes that have overcome obstacles to achieve amazing success athletically and in life, but Willis's story really stood out in a book full of amazing stories. Willie lost part of his left arm while at work and found an inner...

Lorri has been a fixture in the cycling community here in Northern California since she founded Savvy bike in 2001. Savvy Bike specializes in Bike Fit, Hosting Skills Clinics, and personalized Coaching but there is so much more to the story; beyond Savvy Bike Lorri also founded Velo Girls. Velo Girls mission is simple get more women riding bikes. They regularly host dedicated women's rides fo...

Chris Padavana former owner of Eden Bicycles is back for his third appearance on the show. We talk about the factors that led up to his decision to sell the shop right as the covid  pandemic was coming to a close and how he got out at the best possible time as the market has really taken a turn since he has been out of the industry.  Bicycle Retail is challenging for many reasons staffing, long ho...

Steve Potts like one of our recent guests Charlie Kelly was there at the very beginning of Mountain Biking. Steve has lived a very interesting life. Growing up with a creative father that literally made everything.  Steve shares a similar gift for making things and has focused much of his attention these past 44 years on making bicycles. So much has changed over the last 40 plus years in the bike...

Tom and Chris are both industry veteran's with lots of experience. Tom is currently working for the Modus Sports Group which is the supplier of Shimano to bike shops in the Bay Area and Chris Padavana recently sold his shop and is in retirement mode. Chris has been on the Podcast before and so he was co hosting today as Dave was out on business.  We cover a bunch of topics including Tom'...

This was a special one, getting the chance to chat with one of the original creators of what would eventually turn into the first mountain bike.  Charlie grew up in Marin County and started riding dirt trails on old beach cruisers with some of his friends, Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Alan Bonds, and Tom Ritchey to name a few. The beach cruisers would go thru some heavy modifications to make them work...

In this episode we check in with Robb Dorr of Ebikes.org At Ebikes.org they do product testing on Ebikes. This episode was very informative about the world of online product testing and how they run things on Robb's site. Robb started as a cyclist and is still one to this day he also supplements his regular Non E riding with Ebike rides.  This is a trend that we are seeing more and more of th...

In this episode we meet up with Power Mom Nicole Nicolay. She is the founder of the Real Estate company Love Livermore and also an active Agent, additionally she is a top level Triathlete. How does she do it? So much responsibility and so much training that needs to be done. Nicole is a great example of someone that sets goals and works hard to achieve them. She set a goal of racing at the Kona Ir...

Well ok sometimes scheduled guests have situations that require a reschedule and that was the case with todays podcast so Dave and I break down how last weeks guest Matt Fitzgerald books have impacted us and our approach to riding, racing, and training in general. We nerd out a little on individual performance and this podcast was a complete wing it scenario.. Hope you enjoy it but more than anyth...

We really hope you enjoy this one as much as we did! Matt is an incredible story teller and Author! Dave and I were only recently made aware of Matt and his book "How Bad do You want it" We both consumed it very quickly and it has had a huge impact on both of us. Please do yourself a favor and check this book out as well as some of Matt's other books while you are at it. Matt is the...

Well we had a last minute guest cancellation so Dave and I got a chance to cover the Mt Diablo Challenge from this past weekend and it also gave us a chance to catch up on some World Tour talk. We've had such a great run of guests we haven't had the chance to catch up on some of the things going on with our favorite sport at the highest level. So we nerd out a bit on Racing and bid farew...

Vanessa Hauswald is the Executive Director of the Northern California High School MTB Racing League aka Nica, she is also a Cancer Survivor, Wife to newly inducted Gravel Hall of Famer Yuri Hauswald, and just a very fun and interesting human. We learn where her love of all things bicycle was born and what got her into mountain biking as well as what lead her to ultimately running the Nica organiza...

In this episode we are joined by Mark and Raghu from the Mt Diablo Challenge. They are two key principles in putting on this event along with more than 150 volunteers. This is the 40th installment of this Northern California Bay Area Classic event and will take place October 1st. They are expecting to hit max capacity this year with 1000 riders so if you are interested in doing the event you shoul...

In this episode we welcome back Makesi Duncan of Dadbodcyclinginc. Makesi just completed his first ever Gravel race and did so courtesy of Ride for Racial Justice a program that helps bring greater diversity to cycling. The race was SBT gravel in Steamboat Springs Colorado. For Makesi who is relatively new to cycling this was his first gravel ride, first ride at elevation, his longest ride, and by...

This episode we introduce you to Chuck Davis he is a very creative guy and has a passion for bikes! Chuck grew up as a foster kid bouncing around from 7 different families and some very tough situations, but he was able to pull himself out of it. Thanks to some advice from a very unlikely person, a staggering .03 GPA, and a new Bicycle.  Chuck admits the bicycle saved his life! When Chuck was youn...

Sorry the first 4 mins of this podcast was pretty choppy, but we got it sorted out and didn't encounter any issues for the remainder of the podcast. Please listen thru that as Anna is a very compelling guests in many ways. Not only has she quickly ascended to signing a pro contract in the sport of cycling but we learn so much more about what makes this overachiever tic. I think we can all lea...

We catch up with the Dutch Diesel and one of his success stories Erin Foy. Dutch Diesel has built a great brand thru Coaching and the Zwift platform. They have regular group rides in real life and also virtually. Find out more about his coaching philosophy and all of the different opportunities there are to interact with Dutch Diesel Cycling.  We touch on diet, training schedules, appropriate reco...

Last minute guest cancellation so Dave and I wanted to talk about the Netflix Special TDF Unchained and all the different dynamics in play with this excellent Docu Series. We also covered the Mark Cavendish Doc that is currently playing in Netflix as well. We cant talk Cycling on tv without also talking about The Least Expected Day so that also makes its way into the conversation. If you havent se...

Nicky is a local cyclist and entrepreneur that has recently started his own Podcast. We touch on his early days growing up in Kool California and riding BMX to then transitioning to road bikes, we take some turns along the way including fixies, metal bands, parenting, and moto but quickly return to our passion for cycling and how it has helped us and so many others. We talk about his podcast, some...

Good time talking with Pro Cyclist Ben Frederick. Ben has had a wild ride as a professional cyclist including racing at the highest level of Cyclocross both before and after suffering a traumatic brain injury (TBI). TBI and the associated Physical and Mental health issues that can come with it can be devastating. We do a bit of a deep dive into eating disorders with cyclists and his own personal b...