To help spread the word about the show, my friend Rey Madolora put me on an email with a bunch of Austin cyclists that are also notable in the business community. One by one I was able to meet most of them, but Rob Taylor was elusive. When I followed his Strava I noticed that he was regularly climbing mountains in Europe…like really frequently and his trips had names like, “Epic Three Nations.” Needless to say this piqued my interest but he’s not on the group ride scene here so I wasn’t going to just run into him. I did run into his brother, Chris, at The Red Fridge Society, which he opened as a membership club and event space for founders. When I told Chris that we had started promoting live events, he said, “you should interview my brother, here.” And that’s how you stalk a podcast guest.

Rob’s ride through the dot com bubble and bust got him started in triathlon as an outlet to channel frustration - not exactly a joyful pursuit. Gradually, during his high flying career taking companies public, reaching a 9 figure exit and becoming a VC, Rob discovered a passion for European bike trips HEAVY on the climbing because the experience distills his complicated life down to basic pleasures: fitness, suffering, outdoors, local cuisine and companionship. We had a blast at the Red Fridge exploring Rob’s leadership insights as far as team building, communicating, and relishing the adventure as opposed to coveting the outcome. No topic was off limits for the audience Q&A, including Rob’s glorious hair. Now, enjoy the show

We could have interviewed Allison Morrison fresh off her World’s debut in Olympic distance triathlon as a UT MBA student and full time Meta employee. However this podcast has a strong entrepreneurial theme (you, reader, are about to feel inadequate), and sure enough, Allison made room for her startup, Ralli, on top of 15hr weekly training blocks, coursework and the day job. Ralli launched in 2022 as a web app to help athletes match with training buddies, and is expanding to include club messaging features with an imminent native app release. The special sauce in this episode is the LIVE AUDIENCE!

We hosted Allison at the Meteor in Austin with 40 other guests, our first public event, and the authentic laugh track takes this podcast energy to the next level. Do not miss the second half which covers the audience Q&A, because the questions about righteous selfishness, scaling the app for critical mass and fundraising were WAY better than ours! Enjoy.

For a podcast covering cycling-centric entrepreneurs (that’s Hill Climbers), Eric Min, cofounder & CEO of Zwift was very high on our list of desirable guests. For the uninitiated, Zwift is a metaverse in which you can ride and race other cyclists from all over the world! 🤯 They also happen to be the first unicorn featured on our humble show (so yes, a bike metaverse is a fantastic idea).

Having spent just a bit of time with Eric from afar before and during the interview, we can only say that his motivation to join us stemmed from an outgoing nature, showmanship and pride in his innovative company, and support of our fledging experiment building community around bikes and business.

We’re really proud of this interview because we’ve become passionate about Zwift over the last few years and it makes up an outsized percentage of our time/energy on a bike. That is managing the Hill Climbers Zwift Race League team, low-key obsessing over the race score, and coveting the new Zwift Ride spin bike.

The interview covers the game-changing innovations Zwift has heralded in from wildly efficient fitness for time-starved parents, to racing people all over the world, and finally, to the support of the Tour de France Femmes (Eric shares the origin story, which starts with a TDF delayed by COVID). Check it out!

The legend of Masters World Champion Joe Wentzell loomed large because Joe was a Temple University lineman and my brother in law has been coached by him on the bike for some time. Various versions of, "Joe will tear your legs off" were bandied about for the last decade, and I only briefly met him in person once, with few words exchanged.

Joe has been a person of interest for Hill Climbers since we launched because he owned Philly's premier bike shop, Breakaway Bikes, while pioneering power meter based group training sessions, and has gone on to various executive revenue roles (currently Talaria) within the bike and cannabis industries. So when Joe agreed to come on the show - to a bit of a surprise - his imposing stature belied a gentle power and wisdom that comes with decades of coaching and entrepreneurial experience.

Look no further than this interview for insights into what made Joe a Masters World Champion, all while running a business and raising children, and what methods he translates from training to his executive roles.

Earlier in the spring my buddy, Chas, told me that he trained with a guy named Scott Baldwin who was building a social media platform dedicated to endurance athletes. On top of that, Scott hails from the Philadelphia area, so I had to meet him. On the Meteor patio, Scott shared his vision for Front Pack Sports, a social hub where athletes can gather and do what they do - seek friendly competition and training buddies, pontificate on gear and get exposure to physical therapists, trainers and new products. As I racked my brain, I realized that a purely social experience like this does not exist and there could be blue sky for an entrepreneur like Scott to nail the value proposition. This is way easier said than done, so admittedly I was a bit dismissive with Scott’s pitch taking into account his lack of experience building consumer web businesses. 

However, I did subscribe to his newsletter…and I was immediately hooked. Scott boldly covers ALL notable endurance stories each week and he does so in his authentic voice, which is goofy and earnest at the very same time. So when Scott shared some impressive newsletter growth numbers, I was super impressed and instantly regretted my dismissive first impression. In fact Scott’s spirit and his business development growth initiatives are so complementary with what Hill Climbers supports, that we conceived a live audience podcast event for him on the spot. What ensued was a podcast taping with a small but mighty studio audience, which asked fantastic questions during the Q&A at the end of the show. In the spirit of our first live event, we’re front loading the Q&A portion of the interview to put you in the studio with us. Now enjoy the show.

A few months ago I introduced a Hill Climbers ride in Austin for folks to connect with each other over some soft pedaling, in addition to some hard pedaling. All of a sudden, our little Hill Climbers brand that had a digital presence, had a REAL WORLD presence! Crazy, I know. This brand extension is just as thrilling to me as shipping new episodes and he best part is providing an IRL platform for new friendships and business connections. I dive into how this IRL initiative dictated a new path for Hill Climbers, one that includes live audience podcast tapings, happy hours and of course, continued weekly Thursday morning group rides.

But that's not all. My buddy and guest on this bonus episode, Franco Martins, has come on board to co-produce the show, a THRILLING development for this humble brand. Franco is wildly overqualified for the job, coming off three years 3D printing housing communities (you read correctly) with ICON, Austin's buzziest unicorn. Tune in to meet the new guy, and survey blueprints of what the future holds for Hill Climbers.

Starting an American kit company in a sea of established competitors may seem like a daunting undertaking to some. Ryan Cady, however, became a bike shop owner at nineteen years old during college, raced bikes full time and then ran a sock company before he stepped up to the plate. Cady gravitates toward detail-oriented challenges and he met his match after launching Eliel Cycling in 2014. This episode contains an abbreviated master class in Eliel’s craft - from ordering a spectrum of italian fabrics, to panel choices, sublimation dying, laser cutting, and masterful hand sewing. Cady also shares both his pride in establishing an American heritage brand as well as the challenges of Southern California manufacturing. At the heart of Eliel is a founder and CEO who started a cycling brand because he loves the sport and knows he can improve the experience. Keep listening and judge for yourself.

One of my lasting impressions of Will Bryant, the Austin-based artist and brand collaborator, is from a photo shoot in which he’s modeling his own endo customs collab with a few other models. The colors and patterns are true to Will’s artwork - colorful, outrageous and fun - think PeeWee’s Playhouse (more on that in the show). The other models mostly conjure the blase, indifferent blue steel even though they’re rocking the VERY playful outfits and kits. Will, on the other hand, has a big smile in almost every photo like he couldn’t possibly contain the fun he was having. This was an observation I made without knowing much about Will and I am pleased to say that his spirit similarly shines through our interview. Although Will's creative process is not all fun and games, his mission is to make the work make YOU feel good. There are some gems in here including the story behind Will’s Breakfast Club collab and how cycling impacts his work - so stay with us and enjoy the first artist interview on Hill Climbers.

The Better Lab addresses a fascinating topic that is on the minds of most everyone on a weekly basis in this stressful world: sleep. In a sea of gadgets that track various bio metrics there are few products that have gained notoriety guiding users in incremental improvements on the key to life: sleep. Ex Strava executive Andrew Vontz and his cofounders have dug deep into research on not just sleep but also human behavior and more specifically the average person’s ability to affect change in their life when they want to change and when they know what they need to do to make it happen. For most of us, intention and execution do not always play nicely together. At the core of this interview is a theme of developing conscious awareness, which is also a throughline in both Andrew’s buddhist practice, his podcast "Choose The Hard Way," and guess what, his cycling habit. The Better Lab has a hot take on how you can change your life to improve your sleep, but you’ll have to keep listening to learn more.

The Austin meetup that started 4 years ago with 4 friends who mostly wanted to eat breakfast, has uncovered a need in this sport to encourage newcomers with a warm welcome and a bit of structure. The proof is in the monthly attendance, which has reached 800 riders of all skill levels, as well as the thriving online community and expansion to other cities. What outwardly appears to be lightning in a bottle is actually attributed to bottomless dedication, strong leadership and vision. From the early days, Breakfast Club prioritized programming for women with the weekly “Babes Ride” which boasts a remarkable turnout, and sure enough female ridership over-indexes at all sponsored events. Another essential ingredient is the club’s network of volunteer ride leaders who proudly organize, fix flats and encourage newcomers up Austin’s unforgiving hills. The secret is in the good vibes and leadership’s ability to create an incredible brand with a lot of sacrifice and limited resources. If you haven’t heard Breakfast Club’s origin story, tune into Hill Climbers episode number one. Now enjoy a discussion of what has unfolded since our first interview, and the impressive developments for 2024.

Eric Schlange is one of the most well known Zwift riders on the platform, and he comes to the notoriety honestly. When Eric started Zwifting in 2015, the engineer and web master immediately identified a need for a Zwift knowledge base to address the nuances of riding in the brave new virtual world. Exponential traffic growth led to an official Zwift sponsorship, cementing Zwift Insider's credibility. This story does not entail scale-at-all-costs entrepreneurship. Instead it is one of a self-professed community builder who understands the need, power and commercial value of niche online hubs. In fact, Zwift Insider was not Eric’s first rodeo - that was www.banjohangout.com - THE banjo enthusiast destination for more than 20 years!

Sure enough, Eric is exactly the kind of guy you’d hope to be riding and racing with on the platform: friendly, witty, competitive and resourceful. He demonstrates the core values and class of a true esport ambassador and this interview reflects his passion and ability to articulate both soft and hard reasons that Zwift earns precious hours of devotee training. This interview covers Zwift Insider’s adolescence before organized platform racing, broad usership data, and a taste of the product roadmap, with Eric’s insider insight and stories sprinkled throughout. You would be so lucky to race alongside Eric in Watopia, Richmond or Glasgow. RIDE ON!

Our branding was borrowed from Sub Zero, THE preeminent Philadelphia skate shop of the 90s, where I spent a lot of time and a little money when I was a kid. The shop’s owner, and one of my childhood heroes, was kind enough to give me his blessing for the logo AND to share his incredible story.

Schane Von Hartleben started Sub Zero as a response to his passion for skateboarding, a knack for pre-internet guerrilla marketing AND an innate urge for extended family. Schane’s family history is unconventional, and what he lacked in structure, he made up for in motivation to build his own. At 17 years of age.

This isn’t an episode about cycling per se, but I guarantee you’ll appreciate Schane’s thoughtful messages and clear perspective on living life with purpose. Along the way we have a great time discussing some of the similarities between the two sports and how Schane got his business going as a teenager. In the name of community and family, please enjoy.

Our branding was borrowed from Sub Zero, THE preeminent Philadelphia skate shop of the 90s, where I spent a lot of time and a little money when I was a kid. The shop’s owner, and one of my childhood heroes, was kind enough to give me his blessing for the logo AND to share his incredible story.

Schane Von Hartleben started Sub Zero as a response to his passion for skateboarding, a knack for pre-internet guerrilla marketing AND an innate urge for extended family. Schane’s family history is unconventional, and what he lacked in structure, he made up for in motivation to build his own. At 17 years of age.

This isn’t an episode about cycling per se, but I guarantee you’ll appreciate Schane’s thoughtful messages and clear perspective on living life with purpose. Along the way we have a great time discussing some of the similarities between the two sports and how Schane got his business going as a teenager. In the name of community and family, please enjoy.

If you’re racing bikes in Austin, TX, welcome to Tolleywood. The timing of this episode could not be more opportune given the slate of projects Chris Tolley has planned for 2024, and what I love most about this race promoter, is that he understands the value of branding, not just for individual races but for the sport of cycling on the whole. Chris’s background is firmly entrenched in BMX riding, where style, technical ability and strength are all required. “Style” is the component that is frequently missing from road races and Tolley has vowed to take the extra steps to make his races look good by anyone’s standards. These branding and digital marketing skills have come through years of cultivating an egocentric online persona that both mocks influencer culture while it effectively influences culture. All of these qualities on top of elite crit racing accolades make Tolley a VERY effective hype man, and one that Austin is lucky to have. Tolley is the race director of Driveway Series, America’s most prolific race series, and he has a burning desire to deliver an exceptional experience to all parties that seems to be driven mostly by the challenge of making it as good as it can possibly be. This is not an episode about business so much as passion for culture, two wheel motion and community. Please enjoy.

If you’re racing bikes in Austin, TX, welcome to Tolleywood. The timing of this episode could not be more opportune given the slate of projects Chris Tolley has planned for 2024, and what I love most about this race promoter, is that he understands the value of branding, not just for individual races but for the sport of cycling on the whole. Chris’s background is firmly entrenched in BMX riding, where style, technical ability and strength are all required. “Style” is the component that is frequently missing from road races and Tolley has vowed to take the extra steps to make his races look good by anyone’s standards. These branding and digital marketing skills have come through years of cultivating an egocentric online persona that both mocks influencer culture while it effectively influences culture. All of these qualities on top of elite crit racing accolades make Tolley a VERY effective hype man, and one that Austin is lucky to have. Tolley is the race director of Driveway Series, America’s most prolific race series, and he has a burning desire to deliver an exceptional experience to all parties that seems to be driven mostly by the challenge of making it as good as it can possibly be. This is not an episode about business so much as passion for culture, two wheel motion and community. Please enjoy.

Interview Part 2/2 takes all the context that we collected in Part 1 - Doug's upbringing in a creative household, brief flirtation with a serious cycling career, and epic journey pioneering the craft coffee industry - and gets to the good part. That is, how Doug rediscovered bikes after a decades long hiatus and hatched a brand that blends his flare for hospitality into a cyclist's haunt. The Meteor's path to a delightful multifaceted space has been circuitous, but as Doug points out, every misstep has helped his team focus the mold. This model was always meant to be a repeatable one, and The Meteor has ambitious plans for new locations across the country over the next couple years. Don't miss the finale when Doug shares how hard bike racing mirrors the seemingly insurmountable challenges in entrepreneurship.