Hanging Out with Cool Cycling Celebrities

Today at the South by Southwest convention / festival / happening / big mess o’ people, I lucked into a podcast by three cyclists from Portland, Oregon.  Anna Grace Christiansen, Annalisa Fish, and Abby Watson at www.WeGotToHangOut.com (which you should totes check out) have a funny and informative podcast about bicycling.  Today’s guest was retired professional bike rider and now entrepreneur Ted King.  He raced in the Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana and was a domestique for star Peter Sagan, so he’s the real deal.  So lucky for me, I got to ask a question on air and then meet and chat with all of them afterward.  That made it a pretty easy decision to feature them in today’s A Dude Abikes blog!  Readers:  you’re welcome.

My question to the hosts was of course how to grow a following.  To paraphrase, Abby basically said something like, “Be your authentic self, have fun and also collaborate with cool people.  People will find you.”  Good advice.  I suppose I’m doing the first one for the most part, the second one sometimes and the third, not really so much yet.  So, that’s something for me to think about.

I’m hoping for some guest blogs (hint:  one’s from Germany and the other’s from Scotland), but I’m also wondering about who lives here I could work with.  Bike mechanics and shops, maybe?  Who knows, maybe I’ll move into podcasting myself someday?  They were nice  ladies, so maybe we can colloborate somehow.  Thanks, WGTHO!

What’s This Professional Bike Rider Ted King Guy Like?

Well, I don’t know any other pro riders (yet), but this one was super nice.  My question to Ted King (www.IAmTedKing.com) was what’s his advice to new or non-racing cyclists?  He said to look for fellow riders and community through bike groups, shops, etc.  “Find your tribe,” is I think how he put it.  Well, it’ll be on the podcast, won’t it?  I’m at the very end, second to last question at 56’17”, so if you’ve been dying to hear what I sound like, there it is.

To listen to the podcast, go to this link now.  (You may need to scroll down to We Got to Hang Out on 3/14/18.)

Ted is from New Hamster (I mean Hampshire), and went to Middlebury College (up the road from where I went a year and bit, actually).  He talked about his product line of pure maple syrup, Untapped.  The reason he created it was because he got tired of the synthetic gels.

But he also learned that the syrup is packed with nutrients that are perfect for cyclists and it’s also low-glycemic.   So he went to work finding a supplier and making the product.  There is a coffee-infused version and a plain maple one, as well as waffle-type snacks that come in those two tastes as well as raspberry.  I am not being compensated for plugging these (yet; Ted, let me get you my address for the checks, ha ha ha), but I did get a few samples and look forward to trying them.

This quote below comes from a Strava blog post he wrote April 29, 2015.  Hopefully he won’t mind me re-posting it since it’s a great quote and of course I’m giving him credit:

The bicycle is a medium. For those of us lucky enough, it’s a means to a profession and livelihood, but for everyone who steps over and pedals a bike, it’s a method of expression. It’s both an input of and outlet of emotion.

The bicycle has the power to eliminate a nation’s dependence on oil as quickly as it can eradicate heart disease; it is among the most powerful tools for uplifting people towards social equality, and is the pillar of childish joy unlike any single thing on the planet.

I’ve been saying it for years, with enough patience the bicycle can save the world.  — Ted King

I also met two women involved with SRAM, the company that makes about every part there is for a bike except the frame.  Unfortunately I missed a presentation they did with Ted about cycling and eating.  But all in all, it was a good time well worth the hour and a bit I spent at SXSW.

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