Sunshine, Seafood, and Two-Wheeled Adventures

Ever wondered how a simple family vacation can turn into a splendid adventure filled with laughter, relaxation, and even a bit of financial pondering? Join us as Michael recounts his delightful trip to Disney's Vero Beach Resort. From the joys of lounging on the beach to indulging in mouthwatering seafood, Michael's stories will whisk you away to his sunny getaway. Plus, hear about the strategic perks of staying at the airport hotel and a humorous dive into his spending habits, including a playful chat about Disney stock. Spoiler alert: no-see-ums were blissfully absent!

Our community connection shines through with heartfelt messages and updates. Margaret sends her best wishes to Armando as he recovers from an accident, and we bring you the latest news on his condition. Get ready to reminisce about past cycling adventures and gear up for what’s coming next. Listener Matt Robinson’s town guess leads us to an intriguing discovery—Haymarket, Virginia. This segment is brimming with personal updates, listener interactions, and the buzzing excitement for future cycling events in Iowa and Wisconsin.

We circle back to our enlightening conversation with Bruce White from the National 9-11 Memorial Trail. Bruce shares the latest progress of the 740-mile bike tour, along with plans for a grand 25th-anniversary event in 2026. Listen to the captivating tales of long-distance cycling, the unsung heroes of support teams, and the quirky yet heartwarming moments that define such tours. Plus, hear about our new jersey store partnership with Jakroo, featuring high-quality apparel with our beloved mascot, Otis and Mary. We reflect on balancing our passion for cycling with our full-time jobs, ensuring our community has the best adventure gear possible.

Link to 9/11 show https://www.buzzsprout.com/2054444/14845646

We will be back

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:10

Well, it's time for Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure, the podcast for cyclists who understand that riding is not just about getting to the destination, but the experience along the way. Now here are the original Cycling Men of Leisure Adam and Michael.

Speaker 2: 1:25

Welcome to Road Adventures of Cycling Men of Leisure. As usual, I am Adam, and with me, once again, lucky for me, is a man who just tried to put a bunch of money in my pocket, a man who drinks beer from a can, a man who was so frustrated he was going to change airlines, but, ladies and gentlemen, he's keeping the same airline, mr Michael Sharp.

Speaker 3: 1:48

Oh, thank you, Adam. Welcome. Happy to be here again. How are you doing?

Speaker 2: 1:52

I'm doing good. I didn't get to enjoy what you got to enjoy, but I got my own projects here trying to get my accommodation set up for your visit.

Speaker 3: 2:06

Well, I expect no less when I come to town. I expect a red carpet, and I hope you've hired that valet so all my clothes will be laid out for me nice and neat in the morning, and things like that.

Speaker 2: 2:17

Well, I've been going to Olive Garden a bunch and I've been saving the chocolates so I can put them on your pillows. I'm just kidding. Nice. Tell us, Mr Michael, from the man who was in the Eastern time zone, how was your vacation?

Speaker 3: 2:36

Vacation was good. We took the family to the Disney Resort in Vero Beach. Yes, there is other Disney resorts other than just the amusement park resorts. So we went to Vero Beach for I don't know seven days, hung out on the beach, the pool, just very relaxing, ate, a lot of seafood. It was a good time. Then we went back to Orlando and spent a couple days at the Boardwalk at Disney. Didn't go to any amusement parks, but we were just hanging out, exploring, having a good time, did you?

Speaker 3: 3:14

spend money at the resort. Yes, thank you. Yes, the resort. Yes, thank you. Yes, I did. Yeah, you've got something going with my wife because, let me tell you, she was reaching for that credit card. You better purpose that. You have some conspiracy theory going with my wife. How about that?

Speaker 2: 3:34

Oh yeah, you have some conspiracy theory going with my wife.

Speaker 3: 3:35

How about that?

Speaker 2: 3:36

Oh yeah, she literally had my credit card in hand at any given moment and was cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching, but it's okay, well, listen, I mean we want to make sure we Okay, just kidding, but actually as a Disney stock owner, I should probably put my tailweeds in my legs and back away in the closet, like that Homer Simpson, where he goes in the bush. I mean, stock is in the tank, but I appreciate that?

Speaker 3: 4:04

Well, it depends. The stock is in the tank, depending on where you bought it. I myself am making money off of Disney stock.

Speaker 2: 4:13

Well, you're doing much better than me making money off of disney stock.

Speaker 3: 4:18

Well, you're doing much better than me. Well see, I didn't buy it 10 years ago, when it was really really super high or whatever.

Speaker 2: 4:22

I guess I have some shares that are making me money, but I'm you know me, I'm the most transparent person you meet. I unfortunately have many shares that I bought at a high rate that are now very low. Anyways, yeah, moving on, moving on. Um, hey did you um, you and I both like to do this thing when we go into florida. Did you stay at the airport? Again at the hotel?

Speaker 3: 4:46

I did stay at. I believe it's a hyatt, yeah, hyatt, world of hyatt, yeah, and I stay there. Uh, it's a little more expensive, okay, it's a bit pricey, but it's just so convenient because it's literally in the airport. You could look out my window onto the security lines and that kind of thing. It's just so much easier because I've turned in the car, we're all right there. We generally have an early flight. We just walk downstairs. Literally you just get on the elevator, boom, you're right there, ready to go through security.

Speaker 2: 5:18

So definitely worth the time, energy, effort and money that I spend on it I find with that place is if you do it early you can definitely get a decent deal. I'm talking 300 bones. I mean if you but you got to book it early and you have to be like oh okay, we're taking this trip and you know we're going to do this. But you know, I just want to say thank you for telling me about Vero beach, place I've yet to be with with Disney.

Speaker 3: 5:51

I'm sure if you listen to the show, you know that both of us own timeshares where the mice are there, so um I just want to say this is probably a one and only thing that I have actually done something at disney that you have not, my friend, because I mean you and your wife, you know you've got a lot of uh um, disney. You know well, you've got that too and you go there a lot. I mean you go there a lot, I mean you go a couple of times a year and you guys have been doing that for many years. So you guys have done pretty much everything with Disney. But this is, you'd never been to Vero beach. So I kind of felt good, it's like I've actually done something at Disney that he has not.

Speaker 2: 6:27

So and probably told you this before. I mean, I actually had Vero Beach booked, but a friend of mine scared me with the no-see-ums.

Speaker 3: 6:40

But you, guys didn't have an issue at all. We didn't have an issue at all. And, like I said, one time we went out to this campfire s'more thing, the activity they had, and another time we were down on the beach doing this watching the sea turtles thing, and so we were not just like right at the resort, we were literally down on the beach and out and about thing. And so we were not just like right at the resort, we were literally down on the beach and out and about, didn't have any problem. We did get. The kids did get eaten up by bugs when they got out to back to Orlando, but not when we were at the resort. But again, I think a lot depends on the amount of moisture that they've had and different stuff like that. So we may have just gotten lucky.

Speaker 2: 7:12

Did you ever see the musical Book of Mormon? I have not. Oh man, you got to. If that comes in your area, take your wife, have a nice date. Okay, and for those who are Mormon it's not offensive, it's very funny. But let's see here. Hey, we got some messages and stuff, so I'd like to read some of those let's hear.

Speaker 3: 7:43

If they're good, read them oh they're good.

Speaker 2: 7:45

They're good, makes us look good, I mean maybe they were written by AI our team member, scott, said listen to the two podcasts.

Speaker 2: 7:58

So, um, we just put out part one and part two of brag, although side note. Uh, franklin, you are correct, I should have done a cliffhanger. And for all of you who listened, franklin wrote me behind the scenes and said I should have done like a cliffhanger. And said and armando went to the hospital and to hear that, wait till the next episode, and he's right, but you and I were trying to get everything done before you left and so, but he's right, we should have done that. Um, but scott says listen to the two podcasts, really enjoyed them. Thanks for the kind words about cricket and me, and this is what I love. Y'all are part of the family when you're in our area. Uh, hope you both are great and have a have a great ride on your next adventure.

Speaker 2: 8:43

And margaret, who is what was on the no hurries? Uh, no hurries, no worries. Team um said hey, adam, give my best wishes to armando for a speedy recovery. If you have contact with him, if I have contact with him, yeah, come on, I'm just kidding. I had heard on Brag about the crash, but I had no idea it was Armando until I listened to your podcast recently. I met him a few years ago on Brag. I always enjoyed chatting with him, especially given the small world connection that he and my dad both live in a certain area, and I'll leave that out, so but hope you enjoy your next cycling adventure on Shoreline. I'm heading to Iowa in a few weeks. Cool Good luck on that, margaret. And then Wisconsin for Sagbra, which you've done right.

Speaker 3: 9:30

Which is interesting. Yes, I have done Sagbra. Many years ago I did Sagbra and Sagbra was a great ride. So I hadn't heard much about it, didn't even know if it was still out there. So that's cool. Good luck, Margaret.

Speaker 2: 9:44

Absolutely One. I don't want to give away yet, but I will say that the aunt of Phoenix, you know Phoenix, right.

Speaker 3: 9:53

I do know Phoenix. Yes, I know his aunt. So yeah, you know Phoenix.

Speaker 2: 9:55

Right, I do know Phoenix yes, I know his aunt, so yeah, on YouTube she says hey guys just listened to this and sent the link to Phoenix. I'm sure he'll want to be on your team next year, but we really really like our jersey so well. Doesn't that look like we met a leisure on it?

Speaker 3: 10:13

It doesn't. But you know what? Hey, you know, join the team, you can wear, wear whatever you want. I mean, we're not. We're not like that team, that's like, you must wear this Jersey.

Speaker 2: 10:23

So absolutely, and so I don't steal the thunder. I do have one more here. You remember Steven Witts who guessed oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 10:34

Got your Seattle Correctly guessed Seattleattle washington he says thank you so much, guys, I'm gonna do a ride with you next year. This week's listener spotlight is tough, he says. He says gonna let someone else take the reins although he's very funny because he said not that I have any choice, he says. He says have to think long and hard about the Mickey Mouse clue Great two shows. So I do have one more comment, but I'm going to wait just a little bit until you give some clues here and some stuff. So getting a lot of messages and working hard behind the scenes, and so I appreciate everybody's time that you took to give us some messages. It means the world and thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 11:23

Speaking of Armando, we've mentioned him twice there, margaret, and so we reached out for an update. And Stephen Witt I mean Stephen, here is your Armando update here, just for everybody, obviously. But armando says update walking much better, but left leg still hurts while putting weight on it, not sure if it's due to the pelvis injury or contusions to the thigh. I still get a little lightheaded when getting up from a sitting or lying position, but the biggest bother is the double vision. I'm going to an optometrist Tuesday who specializes in this area and may have to get special glasses. But and true Armando spirit. More importantly, the bike only has some minor nicks, so all good. Well, the bike's safe. Yeah, that's right. So that is the official Armando update, nice. So, I think, without further ado, I think a lot of people are highly enjoying this. So let me get out my music toys here. Ladies and gentlemen, it is now time for Listener Spotlight Awesome.

Speaker 3: 12:42

Well, let me give you the hints that I provided last episode. Okay, all right, this community was formally founded in the late 1700s. Okay, its early growth revolved around the commerce of the district court. There was a district court located there and it created a lot of commerce and that was like its first major growth engine financially. During the Civil War, the town was set on fire and burned, except for four buildings. Four buildings survived. Uh, it remained uninhabitable for the rest of the civil war. Uh, mickey mouse and co had a vest, had a vet, they had a vested interest in this town. And this town has over 38 golf courses within 20 miles.

Speaker 2: 13:43

Again, I'm listening.

Speaker 3: 13:46

No guesses.

Speaker 2: 13:47

Well, listen, I being an avid golfer golf today. But I was thinking and looking. But I don't want to steal anyone's thunder, because Mr Matt Robinson has taken the time to write us. And Matt says my vote is Lexington Virginia. And, in true humor, he says I'm not sure how Disney is connected, but I'm relatively sure Disney connects to everything in some way. So the guest on the table is Lexington Virginia.

Speaker 3: 14:31

Lexington Virginia. Well, I hate to disappoint, but it is not Lexington Virginia. Well, I hate to disappoint, oh no, but it is not Lexington Virginia.

Speaker 2: 14:40

Wah, wah, wah, wah. I need that sound effect. You know that you do oh wait. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah wah, I forgot I had it. So, oh man, well, listen, matt. Can I just say thank you for taking a little time out of your day to write us a little message and to take a guess, um now let me say, with a caveat uh-oh, it is not lexington, virginia.

Speaker 3: 15:10

However, the town that I speak of is in Virginia and I don't know how close it is to Lexington, but it is not Lexington, so it could be the next town over, I don't know. But so you're ready for it, I'm ready. Okay, listener. Spotlight Town for this episode is in fact, haymarket, virginia.

Speaker 2: 15:39

Haymarket Virginia, okay, yes. So normally you have a little bit more about Haymarket. So while you're doing that, let me look up how Haymarket is it all one word Haymarket, yep, haymarket, yep. Haymarket, virginia, yep.

Speaker 3: 15:59

Basically it was formed in the very late 1700s. Like in the 1790s, I said, its early growth revolved around the district court. The district court played a huge part in this community until they moved away from the district court configurations During the Civil War the Union Army marched into town and burned it down, leaving only four buildings and one was like their big church. So, needless to say, there was not much habitation going on during the Civil War, or at least for the rest of the Civil War. It has a lot of golf courses within 20 miles, which I knew you'd appreciate. But what the big one that I knew might throw some people off is, mickey Mouse and Company had a vested interest in this town and that comes from the early 1990s.

Speaker 3: 16:53

Walt Disney bought up a ton of land near Haymarket or in Haymarket and they were going to open up an amusement park called, I think, disney America or something. It was going to be another amusement park. They had bought up tons of land 3,000 acres for this proposed history themed park. I think it was going to be revolved around American history, but the townspeople in fact threw up such a you know dismay about it We'll call it that that in fact Disney decided in 1994 that they would pull out of that deal and not build their amusement park. I think a lot of it. It's close to Manassas and the battlefield and that type of thing and I think that the local townspeople thought that that might take away from, you know, some of the reverence from that large Civil War battle site and things of that nature. So Mickey Mouse had a vested interest in it, uh, and due to public concern, uh did not build that amusement park. So that's where the Mickey mouse got involved. What about the golf?

Speaker 2: 18:15

Oh, there's a lot of golf courses there man, I was thinking to myself I got to buy a new timeshare.

Speaker 3: 18:22

well, if, if that would have happened, you would have had a timeshare right there close to 38 different golf courses plus, you never know, mickey might have threw in his own golf course.

Speaker 2: 18:32

So not, so, not so much hey market uh best on the fly, without doing quick research, is two hour and 15 minute drive from Lessington, virginia.

Speaker 3: 18:45

So it's not like right next door and it could be like confused. Ok, good guess they got the right state.

Speaker 2: 18:54

Now close, close. Yeah Well, I appreciate that. I assume, per usual, you'll, you'll, you'll whip us up another one at the end of the show. I have a good one. Oh, I love it, I love it.

Speaker 2: 19:13

So this next part, I think, needs a little bit of explanation, think, needs a little bit of explanation. You and I were able to sit down with Bruce White and Bruce White and Ryan Ryan, we met last year at Bragg and actually slept in his snooze box or very close to him. He was our neighbor and Bruce and Ryan were advocating and bringing awareness to the 9-11 Memorial Trail and our interview was great, somber but of course somber because of that horrible day. But you and I got to learn a lot and a few people reached out behind the scenes and wrote us and said thank you for for bringing awareness to that Um, no idea that there was a trail. And so, um, we told Bruce that when we got back from brag that we would try to connect with him um and get an update on how their um, how their trip was going, how the adventure was going.

Speaker 2: 20:21

But the reason why I think it needs a little bit of explanation is sometimes when you are doing a podcast, sometimes, when you're doing anything where you're trying to get media or you know content, you have to take what you can get. And I just want to be fair to you know you and I take a lot of pride in trying to have excellent. You know you and I take a lot of pride in trying to have, uh, excellent, you know, sounds, quality. We like to try to try to be right there at the professional level. I mean, many of you have written us and thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 20:51

When we had a little mistake, trip wrote us and said you guys got something going on, um, but in this episode I have to tell, to tell you this interview that we did with Bruce. He was in a town called Columbia, new Jersey. He was at a bed and breakfast, got his hands on a computer, got his hands on some Wi-Fi, and you were in Florida and you joined us as well. But unfortunately Bruce's connection is not the best. But I still think, uh, bringing awareness to the ride and what they were doing, I think it's still worth playing that. And so, did you have anything to add before I, before I play that, or?

Speaker 3: 21:29

no, I mean, you know it is what it is. Sometimes you get good connection, sometimes you get bad connection. You're right, I think it's worthy to play. Uh, not our best quality, but you know, when you have two of the three people that are doing remote uh out of uh hotel rooms or what have you, it's, it's going to be that way. So, uh, I did not get on at the beginning of this. I had some internet connections myself, uh issues, um, but I joined about halfway through.

Speaker 2: 21:57

So, Hello, well, everybody. This time it is just Adam Michael is unable to join us today, but that's okay. Divide and conquer for the material. I am on again with Bruce White. If you remember, we talked to Bruce and Ryan from the National 9-11 Memorial Trail Memorial Trail. Bruce White is the coordinator of the bike tour and an advisory board member and today happens to have a day off and, as a guy who just got back from Georgia on the day off, I know how well and rested a day off is needed. So, bruce, how are things going so far?

Speaker 4: 22:42

Well, they're going great, adam. We're about 740 miles into it, 15 days into a 27-day event. This is our second of three off days and everybody's flocked to the laundromat. I know, that happening.

Speaker 2: 23:13

So when, just to catch everybody up, we, when interviewing bruce um bruce gave us the history of how the 9-11 uh trail memorial trail uh came about, that it was signed in by president biden. Um bruce does a bike tour of the entire triangle, if you will, of the major crash sites from 9-11. And Bruce is now traveling. The jerseys, the pictures that have been sent the jerseys, say about 1,500 miles. Is that about right?

Speaker 4: 23:42

1,500 miles includes the spur to Pittsburgh and the loop from Harrisburg to Gettysburg and back. Those two we won't do this year, so we'll be somewhere between 1,250 and 1,300 miles, wow so how many is in your group this year?

Speaker 4: 24:05

We have had anywhere, because it isn't a requirement that they come join us for every day, for the whole tour. So we have people that join us, stay for a week and take off. Other people join us. So we've had the least we've had is 12, and the most we've had is 17. And that's going to get a little bit bigger the closer we get to Philadelphia and New York. We have some special days planned and we'll finish with 20.

Speaker 2: 24:31

And to take people's perspective. Where are you planning?

Speaker 4: 24:35

We're in a little bitty town of Columbia, new Jersey, at a beautiful bed and breakfast called the Rosemary Inn. It's across the Delaware River from a little town of Portland, pennsylvania. That would be about six miles south of the Delaware Water Gap.

Speaker 2: 24:53

Okay, so the starting location was at the National Memorial, is that correct?

Speaker 4: 25:02

Yes, we had a hotel about two miles from the Pentagon Memorial, so we rode down the hill that morning to the Pentagon Memorial, met some cool people and proceeded to go to the Lincoln Memorial which is under construction, the zero-mile marker for the C&O Canal, and we rode all the way to Harpers Ferry that first day. Wow, we rode all the way to.

Speaker 2: 25:24

Harpers Prairie that first day Wow. So if you are hearing this segment, I'm going to highly recommend that, if you're interested in the 9-11 National Memorial Trail, go back and listen to our first episode. I'll drop a link below for that interview. Absolutely amazing the work that Bruce and all the people in the advisory board have put together. And, bruce, this is something that you do every year, correct? I mean, I think we missed the mark on the last interview, where we really didn't get to say that. After listening to the interview myself, I was a little disappointed in myself, but I just want to really make sure that we give justice. This bike tour is a yearly event.

Speaker 4: 26:11

Well, we've done it three years in a row. We're going to take next year off, because 2026 is the 25th anniversary, and we're doing something super special that I've almost got put together where, in the year of 2026, the 25th anniversary together, where, in the year of 2026, the 25th anniversary, we're going to do 25 events. So we're going to join forces with bike clubs that have an existing event. We're going to create something called the Grand Prix. We'll put that out on September 11th of this year. You'll have over a year to sign up.

Speaker 4: 26:49

We're hoping for over 5,000 cyclists and what we're going to do is offer 25 different events that could be in any state in the country. It will include this bike tour, it will include the Gettysburg seven-day loop and a few other three-day weekend events, but also includes the century rides, the 30, 60, 100, one day type events from a lot of successful events that clubs have taken interest in helping me with this concept. So what the cyclists would do is they'd sign up for maybe $20 on our, on our website to become a member of the Grand Prix and if they participate in only one event, they'll receive the 25th anniversary commemorative challenge coin that we're having created to celebrate to remember the 25th anniversary of that day.

Speaker 4: 27:49

So if they do one event, they're going to get that, and I'm working on some major sponsors that would give away some pretty cool stuff. If they do like 500 miles or a thousand miles or 3000 miles, or if they do more than anybody else, maybe they'll win a bicycle. So I'm working on some pretty major sponsors to go along with the 25 events, and those 25 events are beginning to come clear, but they definitely will revolve around doing this 27 day bike to a home hotel oh that, I mean that's really neat to me.

Speaker 2: 28:25

I mean kind of like a tiered reward, if you will, but at the same time you're raising awareness and money for a phenomenal cause.

Speaker 4: 28:34

So the raising awareness is the is the key to the whole thing is that you know if I can get the word out to five or 10 or 20,000 cyclists that this trail even exists.

Speaker 4: 28:45

I did go to four trade shows this off season. Everybody that stopped at our booth I asked. My first question I asked was have you ever heard of us? And 95% of the people said no, I haven't. So that's what we're trying to fix. We're trying to let the cycling community, the hiking community, anybody that wants to visit and remember and learn about this history in our country. This exists, it works. We have 15 cyclists here that are having a blast every day.

Speaker 2: 29:22

So it's important it's important, not only the anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy, but it will also be the 250th birthday of this beautiful country that's correct.

Speaker 4: 29:39

So we're trying to make as celebratory as we can while we remember the tragedy of that day.

Speaker 4: 29:50

So it'll take place, I think, the first event will probably be sometime in April weather-wise, and if I go far enough south, I think I can run the last event in early November. So the 25 events all told will probably be around 5,000 miles of potential. There may be a couple that overlap, so it may be impossible to do all 25. But by us raising awareness to the cycling community we're also helping each of these cycling events raise their participation level and help me spread the word to their club members and their constituents that 9-11 has a national memorial trail.

Speaker 2: 30:36

I mean that's a win-win for everybody. I mean their events, you know, gain participation and the awareness gets brought to the 9-11 National Memorial Trail. I don't think there's a better outcome. So, all in all, everyone gets to ride their bike at the same time.

Speaker 2: 30:55

So your staff has been gracious enough to send me over a lot of the photographs and some of these you can just tell the people are just gleaming with pride being with you. Of course, I mean, if I'm full transparency, some of these photographs definitely, you know, make you kind of put your head down, unfortunately. I wish that day would never have happened. But I see, here on the National Park Service, you guys started a Flight 93 National Memorial Park Service. You guys started a flight 93 National Memorial and the wall and you were explaining to me before we hit record here of the way that that wall and the museum is built is to show the angle of the plane that came in on that day at 500 and something miles an hour. So these pictures are very powerful. But one of the pictures shows a gentleman is actually walking while the rest of you are in cycling gear. Can we touch on that? Sure.

Speaker 4: 31:57

We met a gentleman named Ray Dunton. He's a 22-year Army vet, year army vet. He is going through ptsd and struggling with reactivating himself into society. He's a member of the warrior expedition project and he's attempting to walk the entire 150 mile trail. We caught him. He started about a month ahead of us and we caught him in Thompson Town, pennsylvania. I had gotten his number from. He had stayed at a place that we stayed at and they had this phone number. I started texting him so I could line it up so we could meet him. We met him at a pavilion in Thompson Town and shared some tears together. And great guy. Matter of fact, I'm trying to convince him to do the 2026 ride with us on a trike. He has some lower back issues so I'm going to find him a trike so that he can join us, and he's excited about that.

Speaker 2: 33:07

That's awesome. We were able to get Michael here. He's coming to us live via Florida and we appreciate him. Michael, we're just catching up with Bruce White. You and I interviewed Bruce and Ryan on the 9-11 National Memorial Trail. Bruce is out on the trail Cool, but lucky for him, he's got a day off today and so we were able to get a few minutes of his time. Bruce and his team sent me over some photographs and we were just kind of discussing some of those when you and I interviewed him that day. He had told us about the eagle scout project uh, you and I being scouts, um, and the photo. I'm gonna try to see if this works, but I'm going to uh share my screen here. Um, and this is the photo of the of the memorial oh that's cool of the eagle scout. Did uh actually do so? Um, very neat.

Speaker 4: 34:12

so so if you're, if you can just imagine that that field was a dump. It was full of tight rubber tires and sticker bushes and trash um, but it was part of the buffer sticker bushes and trash, but it was part of the buffer. There's a buffer that the families of the 40 victims of Flight 93, they purchased land all the way around the National Parks property to protect it from commercial development ever so the only place on that buffer that isn't totally treed was this piece of property up on top of the hill but the radio tower, and it was a mess and it took blood, sweat and tears to get it to where it is today. And you're looking at a lot of the community's efforts, a lot of the families involved, their efforts, led by a Boy Scout who still puts tears in my eyes because he had cerebral palsy could have easily given up.

Speaker 4: 35:20

His dad is an amazing guy and together they raised over $15,000 to build benches. So around the outside of this fountain is a trail. It's probably three-quarters of a mile long and along it are benches that he had installed and found the money to purchase, had people sponsor him back and he got his Eagle project finished. He became an Eagle Scout and we lost him 18 months later to the disease of cerebral palsy. So a very emotional story that if anybody ever goes to visit Flight 93, it's right outside the front gate and up the hill about a half a mile. Right on top of the hill it's called the Remember Me Rose Garden and it's absolutely amazing.

Speaker 2: 36:20

Before I hit record and you and I were doing some chatting ahead of time, you told me that you recently got to meet the young man's father.

Speaker 4: 36:30

He was there, but I didn't know that Bill Sink is his name. I didn't know that that was his son, and so when I finally put the pieces together, I had to walk away from it because I got very emotional. I had to walk away from it because I got very emotional that his dad has continued the legacy of his son, fought incredibly hard with other people in the community to continue the work to make this what it is. In that picture it's absolutely spectacular and from an aerial photo it looks like a star, like a six-edged star, pointing in all the directions north, south, east and west. So they wanted people. If they were in a plane going over the top, they can look down and see it, and they accomplished that. That's one I've ever seen, 18 years as a Scoutmaster.

Speaker 4: 37:26

I've seen several and it's by far the most fantastic one I've ever seen 18 years as a scoutmaster. I've seen several and it's by far the most fantastic one I've ever seen.

Speaker 2: 37:41

So, Bruce, you give your team that you're there with three layover days or three break days, and you're on the second one of the three. Is that correct?

Speaker 4: 37:49

Yes, just in time to send them off for laundry.

Speaker 2: 37:54

And it was funny. Before you were able to get on, michael, he said that everyone was scattering to do laundry. I said well, that sounds familiar.

Speaker 3: 38:02

Been there.

Speaker 2: 38:04

Yeah, on our last brag trip we were waiting to get in there and there was this woman who, unfortunately, I think her house was going through some construction and she was waiting to get back in. And I said I'm so sorry to bother you. I said you know when you'll be done with the laundry? And she said boy, a lot of you must be here wanting to do laundry. She said everyone's coming here to do laundry. And I said well, you know, you know. She said well, I'll leave if you want. And I said oh my gosh, no, you have the right to do your own. And she said well, I got to be done by 11. And I thought to myself done by 11,? What do you mean? And she said oh, look, the sign says they close at 11.

Speaker 2: 38:42

So I went up to the front desk of the hotel and I said I said how strict are you on that 11 policy? And she said I don't think we've locked that building and locked that room in like four or five years. And I was like I'm doing laundry at 11. More of a guideline than a rule. So I understand your, your, your team, michael, I'm not sure when you jumped on. I apologize, but Bruce said he has somewhere between 12 and 17 of them. And, bruce, you said you're about 700 miles in now.

Speaker 4: 39:14

Yeah, about 735, 740, 15 days. Well, actually today's day 16 of 27.

Speaker 3: 39:23

Okay, that's cool. Sorry, I had some internet connections here in florida so yeah, I got them all worked out so I was pretty, I'm pretty happy I could get on from the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 2: 39:34

So that's right, it's good. Yeah, I was going to ask you your accommodations. You told us when we did the interview that you take care of all the accommodations and everything so far your hotels and all that. Hopefully it worked out.

Speaker 4: 39:47

Yes, my, I give all that credit to my wife, who's one of our support. Um, we have three support people one's my son, uh, one's my wife and one is a spouse of one of the ladies riding with us.

Speaker 4: 40:02

So seemingly that's one of the more difficult positions to fill on a bike tour. It's the volunteer spirit needed to be a support driver. They're always worried you're gonna screw something up. They're always worried you're gonna screw something up, but they don't understand. As cyclists, they can't make a mistake, they. And then when we them, it's like yay, so they set up a couple rest stops for us each day, and then she goes forward and checks us into the hotel. We show up, she hands us our key and we're in the shower within 15 minutes of when we get there. That part is super slick.

Speaker 2: 40:48

So, michael, I didn't get a chance to tell you because you've been enjoying your family time, but Bruce and I connected on Facebook and one of the things that just made me smile was he. He put a post on his Facebook. It said uh, uh, support, stop. In the middle of nowhere. It looked like it was a bunch of cyclists on the side of the road. Uh, looks like a few trucks were there. People were just getting some supplies and moving on down the road.

Speaker 4: 41:12

So I love it. So we've called. Now that I've done this three times, there's a couple nicknames I've given to certain spots. When we leave, we're in a certain part of Pennsylvania. We're following the Juniata River. It has a lot of similarities to me to the movie Deliverance we wait to listen for the banjos to start playing, so we made that joke. And one of the riders pulls up next to me right in the middle of it and he pushes a button on his phone and it played dueling banjos. So it was hilarious. And then there's another place that gets really narrow on one of the bike trails and the vegetation is real heavy and we say we're going through the jungle man, we're going through the jungle.

Speaker 4: 41:59

So yeah, every day has something unique and special about it. We went through Johnstown. We went through the Staple Bend Tunnel, the oldest American tunnel railroad tunnel. We learned about the Johnstown flood, which also killed 2,009 people. We learned something every single day. It's been a constant history lesson.

Speaker 4: 42:28

Today we were taken to a waste management facility just on the Pennsylvania border, where they not only take care of the trash, they also have a bird sanctuary. A lot of birds are attracted to garbage for food. A lot of birds are attracted to garbage for food. So instead of shooing them away, like most people do, they actually create environments for them. They have kestrels, which is a small fountain. They have 80 nesting boxes and they have one of their employees who's going through the training to become a banding there's a term for it, Master bander, maybe it's something like that so he actually checks these 80 boxes and when moms have their nest and the birds are hatched, he will take them for a short period of time, like an hour, and he'll band the baby birds and then put them back. That way they can keep track of their flight patterns and how many, he says, return every year to the same box. That was our day off. We got an unexpectedly amazing tour from Waste Management, who's one of our 9-11 sponsors.

Speaker 2: 43:50

Cool, so let's just do a quick review. You are about halfway through. You have anywhere between 12 and 17 of your group. Michael, believe it or not, one of our original cycling women of leisure, annette, met her, met on the trail, uh, and bruce got to see her after coming to brag. She's a traveling, traveling lady, for sure oh, that's cool.

Speaker 4: 44:21

She never misses your tours. You brag brag, stole her from you this year.

Speaker 2: 44:27

Yes, it turns out that bruce has ridden across the United States with, with, with our, with, our original cycling woman.

Speaker 3: 44:34

She's fun, she's fun.

Speaker 4: 44:35

I met her somewhere around 2010. We did a bunch of MS rides together and then she just started doing all our our tours with us and she did the cross country tour in 2018.

Speaker 2: 44:49

Cool. We might've been to blame for that, bruce, and I apologize.

Speaker 4: 44:52

She said she signed up because we were going back the pictures I saw she was having fun with you, so that's we love you that's right.

Speaker 2: 45:04

Well, you're not going next year with your? Just to be clear for everybody if you're interested in and such a powerful trail, um, you are going to take 2025 off, but in 2026 you are coming back and you'll have the grand prix, bringing awareness to the trail and, of course, some other local rides and trying to work together.

Speaker 4: 45:27

I'm not taking 2025 off, I'm just leading a tour from New Orleans to Key West, so that's available for people if they contact me too as soon as I figure out how to get out of New Orleans, because apparently they don't like to fix state bridges on that one highway that gets you that even adventure cycling has a 75 mile detour around, but that I'll worry about that here in a few weeks.

Speaker 2: 45:57

Don't worry about that.

Speaker 4: 45:59

Pictures of us walking our bikes over a bridge. That's closed, you know, I don't know where those pictures came from.

Speaker 2: 46:06

Or get that thing that our friend Juan showed us, Michael, where you pedal on the water and you actually get some. Yeah, you pedal on the water and go right across.

Speaker 4: 46:14

That's right. Go under the bridge.

Speaker 3: 46:15

There's another idea.

Speaker 2: 46:17

There you go, as long as it doesn't sound like Just kidding.

Speaker 3: 46:21

Just find somebody to ferry you across Lake Pontchartrain or something You'll be okay.

Speaker 2: 46:32

I will research it and try to come up with an idea. Bruce, I appreciate I know that you have a dinner coming up and I'm so thankful that you squeezed us in for a few minutes here. Glad we were able to catch up. We love bringing attention to this trail. It's something that Michael and I spoke about a few times just recently, when we actually were cycling ourselves. So, um, I'm sorry that Ryan was unable to join. You Turns out, michael, ryan had to return home for some family emergencies, and I wish him and his family nothing but the best.

Speaker 4: 47:02

Um but uh, you will be the first person who signs up for the grand prix you promised.

Speaker 2: 47:07

Okay, and you know what I, I, I, I would believe him. So, um, uh, ryan's a good guy. So, bruce, I want to make sure you get to your dinner. I, I, I want to thank you for your time and and appreciate you spending a few minutes again with us and, and, uh, may the wind be at your back for the rest of the trip yeah, okay thank you, bruce.

Speaker 3: 47:33

We appreciate it.

Speaker 1: 47:34

Thank you and have a great day I'll send you more pictures sounds good, thank you, take care guys bye-bye.

Speaker 2: 47:43

well, that was you know, um. You know, I know you and I recorded that earlier, but it's still very interesting to hear again and once we get some links for the 2026 Grand Prix, we can share those. Look forward to celebrating this country's 250th birthday. Absolutely, that'll be cool. I can't believe it's almost 25 years since 9-11. That's just crazy. Almost 25 years since 9-11. That's just crazy, I mean. But, bruce, thank you so much for taking the time on your day off. To actually side note, I saw he and I connected on Facebook and I saw that they had their last day off and so they're wrapping up. So hopefully they had a great adventure. So, anyways, you got anything.

Speaker 3: 48:31

Uh, you know, the one thing I did want to talk a little bit about is we got a lot of comments about ducks on our Georgia ride. Yeah, uh, one of the things that I did, um is, I know, when my family goes on our vacation especially like Disney and stuff we have little ducks, a little cards, and say, hey, you found a duck, you know, share it on social media, that kind of thing. Well, I decided it might be interesting to do it with cycling men of leisure. So, um, throughout the week I occasionally would uh, drop a little duck here or there, you know, stick it someplace, and we had a lot of people come up to us throughout the week and was like, are you the guys doing the ducks?

Speaker 3: 49:08

And it was really cool, and a couple of people posted them on our site and things like that. So it was something I really had a lot of fun with and I think a lot of people did too, and maybe it's something that we will adopt for other rides. But I just wanted to mention it. Thank you to everybody who acknowledged the duck and who, uh, you know, sent the social media posts and that type of stuff and, you never know, maybe the uh, cycling. Men of leisure will ducks will show up at another ride, you never know, but it was fun.

Speaker 2: 49:38

I have to tell a small story for that. You had told me about it, obviously. I mean, we were, you know, planning and we were on the bus and you told me about it and I, I don't know, I just kind of slipped my mind and this woman comes up to me and says are you guys the one doing the ducks? And I'm like what? And she's like this. And she holds it up and she had the duck when the card. And I was like, ah, well, he is. But you know, michael. But yes, yes. And so she says, oh, the kids are loving to find them. Well, when she said kids, I didn't realize it was the brag dream dream team. I thought, oh, michael, I hope you've got like 30 more in those bags.

Speaker 3: 50:22

But she's like no no, no, you don't have to do that so yeah, well, I did have a lot of ducks with me and I did say I said, well, if there's other people that feel left out, I think we can, I think we can hook them up. But she was like, no, no, that's fine. So, yeah, we did offer, but, um, yeah, it's uh, I don't know, it was just something I found, uh, I found to be fun, and so, uh, it uh added another little bit of uh, I don't know excitement to the ride. I guess.

Speaker 2: 50:52

You know, um, in my notes I kind of feel bad. I put shoreline here, but when this show comes out it'd be too late If you, if you're hearing me, me right now, it's too late to sign up for shoreline well, we've been pushing it for for several weeks, so, um, but that is getting around the corner.

Speaker 3: 51:09

We're getting close, aren't we? It's like three weeks, four weeks, four weeks three weeks.

Speaker 2: 51:16

You know I made that mistake with the uh, with the brag brag team. I don't want to have to apologize again, so I'm going to take that out of my notes.

Speaker 3: 51:26

You caught yourself Good job.

Speaker 2: 51:29

Listen, if you didn't get a chance to sign up, we're going to be at Shoreline, so check it out. But while you were gone, you and I I mean you were definitely involved. I don't want to make it sound like you weren't involved, but while you were gone, and I I mean you were definitely involved.

Speaker 3: 51:45

I don't want to make it sound like you weren't involved.

Speaker 2: 51:46

But while you were gone I got your text messages, so we officially have a jersey store, not a jersey shore. We don't want to be like you know we don't want a jersey shore.

Speaker 3: 51:55

We'll take a jersey store, though.

Speaker 2: 51:57

Yeah, we definitely have a jersey store, so um.

Speaker 3: 52:00

So for all of those people who are like, oh, I love the jersey, I love the jersey, I love your jersey, we've got a uh, we've got uh both uh men's jersey and a women's jersey out there, um, so that's cool. And uh, you, you managed to, uh, to work something else out on the jersey store site, didn't you?

Speaker 2: 52:19

well, sure, because anytime a company is going to try to sell you something, they're gonna. They're gonna sell you the world if you're willing to whip out your credit card and buy it. Uh, which I I did, um but you whipped out my credit card.

Speaker 2: 52:34

So, um, we're working with a company called jack rue. I mean, uh, I have, um had jerseys from that company before. They're high-quality jerseys, to be honest. I was just doing a search for someone who would sell jerseys at a store, because you and I, while we are cycling men of leisure, we still work full-time jobs, and so we were looking for a vendor to basically ship it, pack it, make it, give it to the people we love and care about, and make you and I look like rock stars in the end.

Speaker 3: 53:12

Because, yeah, if we're doing all that, our leisure time is definitely going down.

Speaker 1: 53:16

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 53:18

And the last thing you want is someone say, oh yeah, I bought it from them. Those guys didn't ship me. You buy something like Amazon. You want it. I mean, you want the same day. You can have it at 7 am, I mean. So the cool thing about that Jack Rue store is we'll drop a link down below If you're curious. Just take a look. They actually give you the delivery date, but deliver by date, which is pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 53:39

So, anyways, they were trying to just show me different options and items and, um, he said, hey, we got something new coming up. And he's like it's like a jersey, but it has a hood on it. Um, it's like for your average walk or run or just staying warm or whatever. And he's like would you be interested at all in looking at it? And I was like I thought to myself, well, I don't, I don't have any graphics ready. He's like I can actually theme it like the jersey we already have up there. And I was like, actually, yeah, I would love to see that. And so it took, I don't know, three or four days. I got some proofs in the mail.

Speaker 1: 54:15

I mean email proofs digital, digital proof yeah, in the mail.

Speaker 2: 54:19

I waited out by the box, but, um, but uh, you and I sent them back and forth and they they make it super simple for me to share with, like the team, aka, you are part of the team and so I was able to do that. Um, we went back and forth, we had a couple of errors but they got. Imagine, like a cycling jersey with a hood for cooler nights, and if anyone doesn't know this, but we have actually named and the cycling men of leisure, uh, the little dude riding the bicycle, oh yeah, his nickname is otis, his name is otis, and on the ladies, mary. And so if one of you out there are thinking, how did you guys come up with those names, well, if you've ever, if you've ever, pedaled 100 miles on a bicycle, you know it's a long day.

Speaker 3: 55:05

So yes, a lot of time to think about it. It's like, hmm, we need like a 1920s guy name and we need like a 1920s female name. What's it gonna be?

Speaker 2: 55:18

so on the men's sweatshirt in the hood inside the hood they were able just to take Otis and he's like in there like 25 times inside the hood and it looks really cool. And then on the ladies it's Mary inside the hood there, and so they actually on the website. Really cool, they show you can look at it with the hood up, hood down, you have a 3D spin. So a lot of you have asked if we sell jerseys, 3d spin. So, um, a lot of you have asked, uh, if we sell jerseys. As you know, sometimes we've walked away feeling like, oh man, we really need to get on this uh. But this is actually uh pretty excited. So we'll drop some links, um, on our website already we you can check out our stores. So if you go to cyclingmenofleisurecom, you can check that we'll. We'll drop some links here below.

Speaker 3: 56:04

And I will say one other thing with Jack room. Yeah, Uh, we have a local mountain biking team here and they use Jack Rue for their team, you know, for all their team. You know jerseys and and that's done in, you know, February, March, April, so it's cold. So they get all their cold weather gear and stuff and they they've liked it, they haven't had any issues with it. So it is something that from that side of it, I'm familiar with. So I feel pretty comfortable in it.

Speaker 2: 56:33

Yeah, I actually own a couple from different things I've done in there. They actually are high quality jerseys, so they have. You know, the jerseys you get where they have like the key pocket in the back for your car, you know you can put oh yeah, I love that and so they have that, and then you can actually I mean it's an upgrade, I'm uh, you can actually do reflective in the back, reflective pockets or not.

Speaker 3: 56:55

I mean, um so now wait a minute the, the key pocket or whatever, the racing pocket or whatever, with the zipper on the side. That is just standard, right that's standard now the upgrade is if you want the back three pockets to have the reflective thing correct 750 pennies or seven dollars no, I was just making sure that that they realize that the the, the zipper pocket on the side is, comes on all of them.

Speaker 2: 57:20

So got it? Great, great question. I'm glad you know if you were. You don't want to confuse anybody, but yes, that that zipper pocket in the back, which always is pretty cool to be able to put like key fob or you know some money in there and think to myself you know, hey, as long as this doesn't come on zip, my money will be there when I get there.

Speaker 3: 57:38

So I put beef jerky in there, but that's just me.

Speaker 2: 57:42

All right, you put whatever you want, and coming soon will be a second store, not to be confusing, but a swag store T-shirts, hats, stuff like that. We're working on a company and they are actually closed for July 1st through the 5th, but it's close and when we can announce that we'll get that out there. So all of you have asked for T-shirts and hats and things like that. We're going to be able to answer both jerseys and swag. That's cool. So it's going to same thing. If you buy it, ship right to your house because you don't want to wait on me. I'll be golfing or something. I'm just kidding.

Speaker 3: 58:28

I would have to put my daughter to work in an assembly line. Okay, maya, we got to ship these out, pack them up and seal them out. I'd have to break some child labor law for me to make that happen.

Speaker 2: 58:41

So this is good For the FCC. He does not make his daughter work at home.

Speaker 3: 58:46

I do not. That's why we're going with this route instead of the other.

Speaker 2: 58:49

Well, I'm sure you put her to some work, I mean like you got to well.

Speaker 3: 58:55

You know, household chores is different than yeah, of course.

Speaker 2: 59:00

So less than another day, otis and mary, so there you go um, all right, moving on, moving on. Here we go. Uh, it is now time for the end of the show. I get a little sad because I look forward to recording with you, but something I know that our listeners are highly enjoying is, once again, ladies and gentlemen, listeners, spotlight. Okay, I am ready. I got my pen. I got my pen and paper ready.

Speaker 3: 59:33

All right, this one could be a difficult one. This one is either going to be extremely easy or extremely difficult. I don't think it's going to be anybody in the middle of the road, so just giving you fair warning. This community is most famously known for a well-recognized landmark.

Speaker 2: 59:56

Hmm, it could be St Louis. They got the arch, but keep going, it could be.

Speaker 3: 1:00:01

It could be Seattle too, but we've already done that one, so we won't go back. The county in which this community resides is named after a president and a vice president, so basically they were vice president and then they became president okay um. This community was a huge railroad center. Lots of railroads went through this community and see it could still be st louis, but we've got one more here. This community has a connection to the 1889 Paris World's Fair.

Speaker 2: 1:00:53

Huh.

Speaker 3: 1:00:56

Which actually was called the Paris Exposition, I believe, but we would all know it as the Paris World Fair of 1889. Which St Louis did have its own World's Fair. So you know, there's a lot of similarities with St Louis, and that's your four guesses okay, I'm cheating right now okay, cheat away.

Speaker 2: 1:01:29

I am um, I was searching and I have something very interesting. I was searching for what county is st louis missourian? Uh-oh, it says louis is in. Uh, st louis missouri is unusual. In the united states. Since 1876 st louis has been an independent city, meaning it's not part of any county. See, that's where cheating comes into play.

Speaker 3: 1:01:56

So well, I I think most of our listeners probably had a pretty good idea. It wasn't st louis. I hate to tell you that you were probably the only person going. It could be St Louis. It could be St Louis. I probably was. Okay, I will just give everybody a fifth hint. Okay, it is not St Louis.

Speaker 2: 1:02:18

Womp, womp.

Speaker 3: 1:02:19

Even though it started out with the landmark the railroads. That's definitely in their connection to the world's fair, maybe because it itself hosted a world's fair. So you know, I mean one of these days your dream will be fulfilled.

Speaker 2: 1:02:36

Listen, I am not afraid I'll keep searching and searching harder and harder and but uh, just for second. When you said landmark, I was like I've been up in the Arctic, this could be it, well, cool. Well, I appreciate that. I love the hints For those of you out there. Bring your guesses, bring them to us. As you probably heard, we talk about them on the show. We love your guesses. We love that you take the time to write us. So, thank you. As you probably heard, we talk about him on the show. We love your guesses. We love that you take the time to write us. So, thank you, thank you. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 1:03:07

We are glad that Michael is back from vacation. We'll get back on our normal schedule. For those of you who were patient with us by putting out the two brag shows with a big long break, thank you, I appreciate you Absolutely. Shows with a big long break. Thank you, I appreciate you Absolutely. And fair warning, when we go to Shoreline our second big adventure of the summer, a week-long ride same thing's probably going to happen. Just in full transparency, we're going to be looking at the calendar. We'll be a little bit delayed. Got a couple shows coming up before then. So got some good stuff. I'm excited about that, and I've got a couple of shows coming up before then, so I've got some good stuff. I'm excited about that. So, and that's it. Can I give you the floor? You got anything else, or?

Speaker 3: 1:03:53

No, like you said, send in your guesses, and I think all we have left to do or to say is that it is, fact, a great day for a bike ride.

Speaker 2: 1:04:05

Yes indeed, yes indeed. Well, good to be back with you, my friend. Thank you so much. Okay, you too. Bye-bye, See ya.

Speaker 1: 1:04:13

Thank you for coming along with Adam and Michael on Road Adventures with Cycling Men of Leisure. If you have enjoyed this, please subscribe to the show on the podcast app of your choice.