Shows
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureHappy Trails Across Georgia with BRAG and Cycling Men Of LeisureSend us a textReady for a ride that blends rail-trails, river views, and real small-town hospitality? We’re unveiling BRAG’s “Happy Trails” route and bringing you along for a southbound journey that starts at LaFette’s Honeybee Festival, rolls past a winery rest stop, settles into a two-night layover in Carrollton, and detours into a behind-the-scenes tour at Trilith Studios. From the Silver Comet to the LaGrange Thread and the Man O’ War Trail, we stitch together protected miles and lively downtowns for a week that feels equal parts adventure and reunion.We map the rout...
2026-01-011h 08
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureCycling, Community, Counterfeits: From Podfest To DisneySend us a textA Bigfoot sweater, a heavy backpack full of mics, and a plane to Orlando—our year closes with the perfect mix of ride stories, travel plans, and one serious warning every cyclist needs to hear. We’re gearing up for Podfest, turning a living room into a studio, and cashing in on a DVC Moonlight Magic night that lets us skip the crowds and snag a few hours of park time. Along the way, we talk about how a smarter packing checklist, a better mic deal, and some SNL-worthy podcast jokes became part of o...
2025-12-211h 09
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureWhere Leisure Meets Grit: Community, Contests, And The Joy Of The JourneySend us a textThe ride is more than the route, and this week we prove it—from a hilariously stubborn bathroom repaint to launching our biggest community challenge yet. We kick things off with the small stuff that somehow becomes big stuff, then shift gears into a listener spotlight reveal that lands in Tucker, Georgia, complete with military roots, postwar industry, and a surprising Kansas connection. It’s a reminder that every town on a cycling tour has layers, and those layers make the journey memorable.From there, we talk honestly about job hunting in a...
2025-12-1048 min
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureWe Reveal A New Ride Director, Launch A Listener Contest, And Give you a chance to win a one of kind JerseySend us a textA new chapter for BRAG starts here. We’re welcoming Domestic Ride Director Ron Ward to the family, spotlighting how he went from rider to crew to the person orchestrating the weeklong road adventure so many of us call summer camp on wheels. Franklin Johnson shares why international tours are accelerating, what growth means for the classic Georgia road experience, and how the team keeps rider joy at the center while scaling up.You’ll hear the stories that make BRAG feel like home: chasing siblings across the state on mismatched bike...
2025-12-0331 min
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureHoliday Gifts For Cyclists And Leisure LoversSend us a textA holiday gift list shouldn’t be hype; it should help. We pulled together a clear, field‑tested guide to the cycling gear that actually gets used, lasts through real weather, and makes every ride safer and more fun. From high‑lumen rechargeable lights that punch through daylight to the rear‑view bike radar that changed how we ride, we break down the smartest upgrades across budgets—under $25, $50, $100, and splurge‑worthy picks when you want to go big.We also talk storage and travel, because clutter and logistics can sink a good ride. Y...
2025-11-231h 45
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureA Ride Director Explains How To Turn A Bike Tour Into A Weeklong Louisiana PartySend us a textWhat if your early-season ride felt more like a festival than a sufferfest? We sit down with Cycle Zydeco’s ride director, Scott, to unpack a Louisiana cycling experience built around live Zydeco music, crawfish boils, dance lessons, and easy, flat miles that leave you grinning instead of gasping. With Breaux Bridge as the new base camp and Lafayette just a quick shuttle away, the logistics finally match the vibe: simple arrivals, secure overnight bike staging, showers on-site, and routes that roll from 40 miles to metric options with almost no climbing.We...
2025-11-091h 42
PerspectivesPerspectives: On IdentityIn our latest Perspectives episode, we dive into how creative practices, from photography to fashion psychology to improvisation, help us understand, express, and experiment with who we are.Meet the Guests:* Adam Isfendiyar, photographer: Explores belonging across cultures and captures human connection through his lens.* Jennifer Heinen, fashion psychologist: Shares how clothing influences mood, confidence, and self-expression.* Piotr Baranski, actor and improviser: Uses improvisation to embrace multiple selves and explore authenticity.We began with Adam, who has spent years exploring identity through photography. From documenting the Ainu people in...
2025-11-011h 10
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureOne Air Traffic Controller, A Haunted Huffy, And Too Much Coffee PropSend us a textFog hangs low, headlights cut thin ribbons through the dark, and somewhere ahead a line of red taillights refuses to be caught. We lean into the season with a Halloween ride that blends ghost stories, travel mishaps, aviation quirks, and a surprising amount of laughter from two cyclists who prize the journey as much as the destination.We kick off with Moonlight Mayhem bourbon, a yard-turned-graveyard, and a Florida trip that delivered 12-mile theme-park days and a front-row view of a Spirit Airlines plane getting impounded. From there, we talk towers...
2025-10-261h 12
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureWe went for a bike ride and somehow came back with Blanton’s, a poker chip, and an Arby’s alibiSend us a textBourbon on the brain, bikes in the rack, and a weekend that kept surprising us. We rolled into Lexington aiming for miles and meaningful pours and came away with a signed nine-millionth barrel at Buffalo Trace, a “unicorn” experimental bottle, and a reminder from Freddie Johnson that whiskey is really about the people you share it with. Between double allocation drops and an upstairs tasting lineup featuring Eagle Rare, Blanton’s, and Weller 12, we dug into where the bourbon market might be headed—and why more shelves seem to be stocked again.The...
2025-10-121h 23
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureAssigned Barstools, Open Mic Night, and the Case of the Hidden SpeakeasySend us a textA bookstore with no checkout, a doorbell with a secret, and a barstool that comes with a story—our Kentucky journey starts where bike culture and bourbon tradition intersect. We kick off in Louisville on Whiskey Row, tracing two different arcs of American whiskey: Bardstown’s modern blending and hospitality machine and Michter’s deep Pennsylvania roots revived in Kentucky. Along the way, we compare tasting philosophies, talk candidly about when flights feel like value versus a money grab, and share what makes a tour memorable for curious riders who buy bottles with their...
2025-10-031h 22
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureFrom Beach Resorts to Horse Country: Two Cycling Men Plan Their Next AdventureSend us a textWhat happens when you combine cycling with ziplining? According to Michael, you get one of the most unique adventure experiences available—bike ziplining through the Mexican jungle. After returning from a week-long resort vacation with his family, Michael shares his discovery of this extraordinary activity that lets you pedal your way through the rainforest canopy, over water, and even through caves on a suspended recumbent-style bike.This episode blends travel tales with cycling plans as the duo prepares for their upcoming Bourbon Country Burn adventure in Kentucky. Michael reveals that despite hi...
2025-09-141h 00
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureNavigating Life's Yellow Standee Lines: Golf, Transit, and Whiskey TalesSend us a textWhat happens when tracking apps meant to keep your children safe become tools for insurance companies to monitor driving habits? This episode kicks off with a startling revelation about Life360 that parents of teen drivers won't want to miss, complete with a crucial tip on disabling the insurance reporting feature while preserving the app's family tracking capabilities.Adam takes us behind the scenes of his recent transit conference at Crystal Mountain, where professional development seamlessly blended with charity golf tournaments and networking. Between playful accusations of tournament cheating and serious discussions...
2025-08-3152 min
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureNavigating Life's Detours: From Bus Rodeos to Bourbon CountrySend us a textSaddle up for an episode that perfectly blends cycling camaraderie with bourbon-infused adventure! Adam kicks things off with a fascinating glimpse into the surprisingly technical world of "bus rodeos" where he recently served as "Officer Obi" with radar gun in hand. These competitions test professional drivers' skills through challenging courses with diminishing clearance, precise backing maneuvers, and speed requirements - all observed by families and fellow transit professionals in Frankenmuth, Michigan.The conversation shifts to their beloved "Listener Spotlight" featuring Atlanta, Illinois - a town with multiple naming attempts a...
2025-08-171h 04
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureConfetti Bears and Cornhole Boards: The Leisure Life ContinuesSend us a textSeventy-five episodes! When we started this podcast, neither of us thought we'd make it past five or seven shows. Yet here we are, celebrating a milestone that represents years of friendship, thousands of miles cycled together, and a community that has grown beyond anything we imagined.Michael kicks things off with an update on his collarbone recovery - the x-rays look good, but he's still not able to raise his arm fully. Despite the injury, we're both confirmed for Bourbon Burn, complete with official tournament-level cornhole boards emblazoned with the Cycling...
2025-08-041h 04
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureThe Road Not Ridden: When Injury Derails Cycling DreamsSend us a textMichael's fractured clavicle changed everything about this summer's cycling plans, but it led to unexpected adventures worth sharing. While nursing his broken collarbone (or "fractured clavicle" as his doctor insists on calling it), Michael took his family to Kentucky's bourbon country, visiting seven distilleries in a single day - though he made sure the kids had plenty of fun too with stops at a candy factory and the Louisville Slugger Museum. He proudly shows off his new mini Louisville Slugger bat engraved with "Cycling Men of Leisure" - the perfect souvenir for a...
2025-07-201h 10
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureThe Hose That Derailed RAIN: A Cycling Mishap StorySend us a textWhen the unexpected strikes, how do you adapt? Michael shares the story of his recent cycling accident where he encountered an almost-invisible brown hose stretched across concrete pavement during a training ride. With just seconds to react, his front tire turned 90 degrees, sending him face-first onto the road, resulting in a fractured clavicle and extensive road rash. This first-ever broken bone in thousands of cycling miles comes with particularly unfortunate timing—just 19 days before the pair's planned Ride Across Indiana (RAIN).As the hosts navigate this setback, they explore options ranging fr...
2025-07-061h 13
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureHills, Thrills, and Go-Kart Racing: Our Georgia Adventure ContinuesSend us a textThe Georgia hills couldn't break us! Picking up where we left off, Adam and Michael complete their wild journey across Georgia with the BRAG cycling event, sharing every triumph, challenge, and laugh along the way.Our layover day in Dawsonville delivers pure adrenaline as we race high-performance go-karts at AMP track, where Michael edges out Adam by just four one-hundredths of a second (a fact Adam graciously acknowledges... eventually). But the adventure doesn't stop there—we hike 475 stairs to witness the majestic Amicalola Falls, proving that cycling men of leisure occasionally en...
2025-06-221h 43
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure43 Cycling Men and Women of Leisure, One Moonshine Distillery, and a Three-Headed Medusa HillSend us a textSaddle up for an exhilarating journey across Georgia with the Cycling Men of Leisure as we lead our largest-ever team of 43 riders through the challenging Appalachian foothills. This episode captures the first half of our fourth consecutive BRAG (Bike Ride Across Georgia) adventure, where the terrain proved anything but flat.From Rome to Jasper to Dawsonville, we navigate the notorious "Three-Headed Medusa Hill" – a punishing 14% grade climb that humbled even the most experienced cyclists in our group. Between the grueling ascents, we discover the rich tapestry of small-town Georgia, including a vi...
2025-06-131h 10
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureWeather Tech for Cyclists, The Art of Full-Service Charters: A New Way for Cycling Men Of Leisure to experience BRAGSend us a textAdventure meets technology in this gear-up episode as Adam and Michael prepare for their upcoming Bicycle Ride Across Georgia (BRAG) journey and explore essential tech tools for cyclists.The duo celebrates a milestone moment when Adam correctly guesses Huntsville, Alabama as the previous Listener Spotlight location—the rocket city that inspired Elton John's iconic song. This rare victory sparks friendly banter as they share how multiple listeners submitted correct answers for the first time in the podcast's history.Weather technology takes center stage as they discuss crucial apps that ha...
2025-05-251h 03
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureCycling Through Dawsonville: Waterfalls, Go-Karts, and Mother's Day AdventuresSend us a textMother's Day meets cycling adventures in this spirited episode where we dive into the exciting plans for Big Brag 2025 with Executive Director Franklin Johnson. Before our special interview, we share some cycling-related Mother's Day facts and celebrate that our upcoming Big Brag adventure coincides with World Bicycle Day on June 3rd!Michael regales us with tales from the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, complete with plentiful Dairy Queen ice cream and Warren Buffett's retirement announcement. We also crown a winner in our Listener Spotlight segment, revealing Naples, Florida—the golf capital of th...
2025-05-1158 min
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureTariffs, Training, and Theme Songs from BonanzaSend us a textBalancing indoor training with ambitious road adventures takes center stage as Michael shares his surprisingly successful Peloton strategy—hiding the time and distance metrics that once dominated his attention. While Adam admits to having fancy indoor training equipment that rarely sees use, both hosts recognize the value of winter preparation as they gear up for their most ambitious challenge yet.July will find our Cycling Men of Leisure tackling the RAIN Ride—an epic 165-mile single-day journey across Indiana from Terre Haute to Richmond. With a 14-hour window to complete the cour...
2025-04-271h 02
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureTwo Wheels and Fire Water: The Guys Who Never Train But Always RideSend us a textThe unique balance of practical cycling wisdom and lighthearted camaraderie takes center stage as Adam and Michael reunite to share their latest adventures. After catching up on life updates, they dive into preparations for their upcoming summer cycling challenge featuring nearly 20,000 feet of climbing. With characteristic humor, they laugh about the recurring question they face: "Have you been training?" – always asked with a knowing smirk.The conversation takes a fascinating detour as Michael recounts his recent Comic-Con experience. His vivid descriptions of elaborate Star Wars cosplayers, complete with movie-quality costumes and pr...
2025-04-131h 00
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureThe bicycle industry faces dramatic shifts as traditional tours struggle to survive.Send us a textShane Cusick takes us on a fascinating journey through the transforming landscape of cycling, drawing from his rich experiences as both the former tour director of Bike Virginia and founder of Pello Bikes, a children's bicycle company focused on quality and performance.The cycling world stands at a crossroads. Traditional multi-day cycling tours that once drew thousands of participants are now struggling to survive. Shane reveals how Bike Virginia, which previously attracted 2,000 cyclists annually, saw attendance plummet to just 450 riders in its most recent edition. This trend extends beyond Virginia's borders...
2025-03-301h 36
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureLet’s Make It Leisurely: How Cycling Adventures Can Transform Your ExperienceSend us a textDive into a new episode of Cycling Men of Leisure where the joy of cycling truly takes center stage! We're excited to share stories, updates, and insights from our community of cycling enthusiasts. The journey is as rewarding as the ride itself, and in this episode, we showcase memorable experiences and playful anecdotes—from planning new jersey designs to tackling the upcoming RAIN Ride adventure.We feel a strong connection with our audience as we explore leisure cycling’s lighter side, while creating an engaging dialogue on how to approach our ride...
2025-03-161h 09
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureFrom Florida Sunshine to Frosty Returns, and Cycling Adventures: A Journey of Laughter and Leisure with Adam, Michael, Jimmy and DaveSend us a textReturning from the sunshine of Florida to the frosty embrace of home brought a mix of joy and challenges, a journey Adam and I, Michael, recount with warmth and humor. Ever wondered about the true fashion crime of bucket hats? We tackle this hard-hitting issue, fueled by listener feedback, while also sharing heartwarming stories from our leisure community, like Rob Menser’s update on the RAIN event and Armando’s inspiring comeback story. We keep the laughs going with a spirited debate about whether you "call in sick" or "call out sick," driven by y...
2025-03-021h 20
Road Adventures of Cycling Men of LeisureScenic Spins, Dining Disasters, and Cycling Surprises: A Journey of Friendship and Fun in Florida with the Men of LeisureSend us a textEver tried scoring discounted wood using purple paint or faced assumptions about your friendship with a dining buddy at Disney? Join us on "Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure" as Adam and Michael take a light-hearted journey through the sunny realms of Florida. We explore the amusing clash of Michael's work commitments with Adam's leisurely golf outings, and the surprising creation of our makeshift studio. Our listener community is also buzzing with divided opinions on ketchup and enjoys playful sound effects, especially when Michael gets hilariously censored.But that's not...
2025-02-161h 10