Show #294 – The Outspoken Cyclist

Guests: Scott Cowan; Maggie Solis & Richard Weis

Our show this week is about Challenges.

The bicycle world in the U.S. is full of challenges: from local rides and tours to Race Across American and the Amgen Tour of California.

But, there are the personal and local challenges that often are overlooked by the media and this evening, we are going to highlight two of them.

Our first guest is Scott Cowan.  Scott is the owner of Century Cycles, a 3-store retail chain here in NE Ohio.  I’ve known Scott personally since he was in high school (at least he says so!) and I’ve watched Century Cycles grow and mature into one of the most well run organizations in our industry.  Scott has always stuck with his goals – to cater to families and recreational cyclists – and has accomplished those goals over and over, year after year.

Nine years ago, starting with his high school alma mater, Bay Village High, Scott began a Bike to School Challenge.  With only one school and 250 students that first year, he’s grown the event to 9 schools, over 5,000 students, and boasts the largest bike-to-school event in the Country.

Scott tells us how his event works, what it means to the communities in which they occur, and how the Challenge affects the kids long term.

After a break and some interesting new stories, we head on down to both Florida and Massachusetts, to speak with tandem couple Maggie Solis and Richard Weis.  The couple are not married to one another; but, over the 15 or so years they’ve known each other, they’re fast friends and a good tandem team.

This year, they will be riding their tandem in the National 24-Hour Challenge in Michigan father’s day weekend.

We talk about their training, their goals, and the things that make this event so compelling to them.