I fell right back in love with it just like I was a little kid. And I think there's a lot of aspects of cycling that really speak to me. I really enjoy the outside the adventure part of it. I really enjoy the comradery of it. Feel to burn baby. Oh yeah. A slam dunk. It's absolutely breathtaking. Welcome to the Bike to Bites podcast. I'm your host, Garrett Bess. This is a companion podcast to the Bike to Bites television series, and you can check out the links in the show notes to find out more information as to where you can tune in to watch the series. Now, in today's podcast, I'm joined by Robert Schumacher, the creator of the Biker Bar podcast and YouTube channel where Robert sits down with industry experts and fellow biking enthusiasts for some fun and interesting conversations. Now, I'm excited to get into this episode, but before we do, I want to take a moment to thank our sponsor Plus for Bites podcast. When your tomorrows are built on technology, you need a partner with superior insight, with expertise in cutting edge innovation across ai, security cloud and workplace transformation Plus is on the frontline of today's modern enterprise E plus where technology means more. I'm excited to dive right in with it with Rob Schumacher. Rob, thank you so much for joining us on the Bike to Bites podcast. Yeah, it's great to be here. So you and I, let's talk about how we met. Right. So briefly, we met at Sea Otter. We were on a ride together for Pearl LaMi, a fun ride, and it was a 13 and a half mile ride, which was supposed to be a lot of fun and it was a lot of fun. Although I must admit, 12 and a half miles of climb out of the 13 and a half miles was not something I was necessarily trained for at that moment. And I struggled a little bit and as I think I might have, we all have personal stories and I'm not afraid to share. I have a little bit of a condition, a heart related condition, not to make excuses for myself, but I have to be a little bit more cautious in terms of how aggressive I ride. But it's all good. Cycling has become part of my life and I think if anything it's keeping me healthier and that's a story for another day. But we met and you were with your wife Katie, and she's amazing. Thank you. And the two of you were, I was kind of at the back of the pack and I would say I was struggling. It was taking me some time to get up those very large. I think they were pretty high grade climbs. I think some of them were like 15%, 12, 15%. Yeah, they were definitely pretty steep. And I mean, I have a similar condition. I just hate climbing. So I'm going to tell you what I've done since sea hotter. You're going to be very proud of me. So how we kind of met was that you and Katie were feeling bad that I was at the back end of this pack and you guys were so gracious and caring and loving. You kind of came back to the back of the pack with me to make sure that I had somebody riding with me to make sure that somebody was riding with me. And that was very, very sweet. And I finished and got there. I think I was the last one back at the Pearl Zumi tent. And everybody started clapping when I got there. But with me, you guys had gone ahead. I told you to go ahead, but Hannah Shell, who is this world-class pro cyclist who just raced at the in Kansas, she came back to the back of the pack and she spent the last 15, 20 minutes riding with me, coaching me, giving me pointers on how to better my form. And it was really, so we got back and you guys all started clapping. I go, Hey, you know what guys? I am perfectly fine finishing last, having been coached for the last 20 minutes by this lovely human who, and of course you and your wife were lovely with riding with me in the earlier part of the ride. So yeah, that's how we met. And we started talking and I think we instantly just connected with each other. And here we are. I came and visited you in Sacramento, we rode together in Sacramento, and I fell and we'll talk about that after. But there was no big climbs that we got that. There was no big climbs. It was a freak fall. And I'm sure we've all had those and I'll talk about that. But I came out and spent a day with you and your wife and we went riding together with some friends and we had some beers and hung out and had a great dinner. And I feel like we've created this instant friendship. And so I'm so grateful that you're here with me today. Yeah, I'm super stoked to be here, man. It's always like, we've talked about this before, but I have my own podcast, so I'm typically used to being the person leading the conversation. So it's very awkward for me to sit here and not drive the questions. So it's going to be a fun experience. And I'm definitely going to be driving the questions because there's a lot for me to learn, a lot for the viewers to learn not only about what you're doing in the world of podcasts, but in terms of your own personal story, which I think is just inspiring and really, really uplifting. And I want to kind of dive into all of that. So let's talk about your love of cycling and when that came about and what got you into it and what became so much of a passion for you that you decided, Hey, you know what? I think I want to start doing a podcast on all of this stuff. Man. Well, first of all, I don't think we have enough time, but I'll try to give you the Cliff notes version. I started riding bikes when I was a young kid. I'm 46, so growing up in the eighties, I think that's a pretty normal thing. And kids would go out to ride bikes. We didn't have all the electronics that kids have today, so it was like go outside or do nothing. So I think I just started riding when I was younger. And as I got into high school, I was more into BMX, and that was in the early nineties. And my mom was dating this guy that was getting into mountain bikes, which at the time was, I mean essentially the mountain bikes that were out then were basically the gravel bikes are today. I mean, they were fully rigid just with a flat handlebar though. And so I started riding mountain bikes with these air quote old guys. And then during the day I would still do BMX with all my friends. And that's kind of like how I got into the two different kind headspace with it, I guess you would say. And then when I was younger, in my early twenties, I was in the military, had young kids, and I kind of fell away from it for a little while. And as my metabolism slowed down and I started to get gain weight, I was like, man, I need to do something to take care of this. And so I was like, you know what? I'm going to go ride bikes again. It was one of those things where in high school or whatever, the kids that play sports, they get whatever attention for that or whatnot. And I was never a traditional sports kind of guy. All the things that I liked were not things that were teams at school. And biking was one of those things where I was just always just good at it. It wasn't like I was some bound to be professional guy, but it was something that was just really fun for me and it was something that I was good at. So whenever I thought of, Hey, what's something fun to do to burn some calories and try to lose some weight, biking came back into play. And then from there, honestly it is just, I fell right back in love with it just like I was a little kid. And I think there's a lot of aspects of cycling that really speak to me. I really enjoy the outside the adventure part of it. I really enjoy the camaraderie of it where you go out and you do something together with a bunch of friends, whether it's in the mountains or on the road or whatever. You all accomplish something together. And that I think pulls people together more. And I appreciate that. And at the end of the day, it's fun just going out and doing something that makes you feel accomplished when you're done. It's funny, I watched a couple of your YouTube videos, I've watched more than a couple, but I've watched some of your YouTube videos and you really are, wear it on your sleeve kind of out. You're not afraid to talk about your struggles. You're not afraid to talk about your demons and your weight for me has been a demon for me, it's been a real struggle. And when I started cycling, I didn't start for the reason of wanting to lose weight. I started because for mental purposes, for me, I needed to be able to go out and just clear my head and have something that I could just do and appreciate nature outside and not listen to music in my ears. Now I know everyone has a different way of riding, and sometimes music in your ears is not a bad thing, but for me, it was all about getting out there and just hearing the crunch of the gravel under my tires or the crunch of the road under my tires and seeing the world around me. And the added benefit that I didn't anticipate was that I started to drop weight and that plus I started to really kind of monitor what I was eating because I also felt that that impacted my ability to ride better. And so I dropped 30 pounds in a course of a couple of years just riding the bicycle and not even riding hard, but then some of that weight came back on and I'm like, oh, I got to get back. I got to get more serious about riding regularly because then it started to become for me about I want to ride regularly because now I want the weight to stay off. And yet still, the purpose for me was again, the same mental reasons, wanting to clear my head, wanting to have an outlet. And I was not, well, unlike you probably because I was not athletic at all in growing up. I didn't have any kind of team sports, even individual sports was not my thing. I didn't have a real role model in my life to be able to help guide me on those paths. And So for me, when cycling became a thing for me, it became something I just instantly fell in love with. But I had this added benefit of these things that we just talked about. What I really loved about your videos is that you just put it all out there. You don't hide what you struggled with. And I would love for you to talk about that a little bit because I know that was a big part of motivating you to get more regular, if you will, about your regimen, not just for fun, but because you thought, I can see the health benefits of this and I want to do something and I enjoy this, so I need to be committed to it. Can you talk a little bit about that. As far as in terms of the weight loss and stuff like that? Yeah, the weight loss, because I thought there was one video that you did that was just so inspiring because you were talking to yourself about, I just, oh. That was recently. Okay. I. Know what you're talking about. And I think it was really powerful. It was a really powerful video, man. So first of all, I want to address something that you said there about doing it for your mind. And I always refer to riding bike as single track therapy because I think getting out there and having that time to really think to yourself and kind of process whatever's going on in your life and not having any outside influence in it, it's really healthy for you. And some people do that when they're sitting in the car and they're just commuting or something like that. But for me, I really like to have that physical aspect to do part of it. But without riding bike, definitely my mental, it's definitely where I get all the wiggles out. So It's definitely something there. And as far as the weight loss goes, I was one of those kids that grew up and I was a skinny kid, so I had a good metabolism and I could eat whatever the hell I wanted to. And then I was in my teens and early twenties in the military and I was in the infantry. And a lot of what we do is learn how to do army military stuff. And then we also are off duty just drinking a bunch of beer and eating 20-year-old kids that don't have parents anymore. So I continued to just smash calories all day long, but at that time it was like, Hey, I'm doing a lot too. So it's like as you get older, I got out of the military and I started doing it. You're sitting down all day instead of out there doing all this physical stuff. So I had just would continue to eat the same way. And like I said a minute ago, I like drinking the beers too. And those things, they have a big caloric punch to 'em, especially when you're a big guy like me, it's not for me to drink two beers, that's pretty easy and maybe three or four. So anyways, I think what happened is as you get into your twenties, your metabolism slows down more and closer to your thirties or whatever. And then having this more stagnant kind of job, I just put all this weight on and it's always been a thing like a battle for me because basically what happens is I get to a point where I'm uncomfortable, and maybe those uncomfortable weights have been different through the years. When I was in my twenties, it was like, oh, I hit 2 35, I need to do something about it. And then in my thirties I was like, oh, I hit 2 55, I need to do something about it. And then next thing you know, here I am in 2020 whenever the pandemic hit and I stepped on the scale. And you always look in the mirror and you don't see yourself as probably what everybody else sees. And to me, I would look in the mirror and I'm like, I'm just a big guy. I'm six two, so I can carry weight pretty well. But it's like I stood on the scale that day and it said 301 pounds. And I was like, well, that number definitely does not mean I'm just a big guy. That number means regardless of who I see in the mirror, I am obese. I am probably in that, I don't know clinically they would maybe say morbidly obese or something, I don't know. You know what I mean? It's like that's big. There's no sidestepping it. And at that point I was like, all right, well, I've buckled down plenty of times before, so I know how to lose weight. I know how to eat right, I know what I'm doing wrong and I'm just going to lean in. And my personal way of attacking those situations is I have this all or nothing personality, so I just lean all the way in. So it's like get super strict on your diet. It's not like I wasn't active at that point. I mean I was 300 pounds, but I was still going out and riding 20 mile mountain bike rides with 2,500 3000 feet of climbing. So like I always like to say that I was a fit fat guy. The only reason that I was fat was because yeah, we'd go out and burn 2000 calories and then we'd smash a bunch of beers and go out to eat, have some pizza, and it's like, oh yeah, you burned 3000 calories and then you ate 3,500. I mean, you're going to get fat, dude. So because I have a YouTube channel and it is all about mountain biking or whatever, I decided, obviously I'm going to document this and make a video series about it. So I called it the 80 pound vlog. And right out the gate, let's just say I lost 65 pounds in a few months, and as I got down to around the two 40 mark, I really was comfortable with looking in the mirror. And so my goal was to get from 3 0 1 to two 20. I've always been pretty happy with myself right around there. So I was about 20 pounds away, but I'm looking in the mirror, man, I'm wearing all these clothes that didn't wear for years. And at that point I've been riding a ton. So in my mind when I first started, I had to be back down to two 20 to be as fast as I was riding bike when I was two 20 before. But what had happened instead this time was I was way stronger. So I was smashing prs, which are personal records for people that aren't really big into riding. And so I was doing really good. So now mentally I'm looking in the mirror. I don't look like 300 pound Rob, I look like 240 pound Rob, which is dramatically smaller. And I think I just got comfortable. So what would happen then apparently for the next few years is I would get to that comfortable spot and then throughout the year I would slowly gain an amount of weight, let's say 20, 30 pounds. And then right around Christmas I would be like, ah, man, I'm letting stuff slip again. Okay, I'm going to get with it. And just like everybody does on the new Year's, and this year it was the same thing. And so I'm looking at my 80 pound vlog and it's the last three vlog videos were once a year and then we're all around March, which was like, Hey, here's a compilation of me in January, getting my stuff back together and losing this weight to get back on track and I'm going to hit that goal. And then the next year it would be, guess what? I fell off and I'm going to get back on track. I'm going to hit that goal. And so this year, that video that you're speaking of, I once again let myself slip. And at this point I had gone from that two 40 zone back up to about two 80, which 2 85 actually. So it was the highest slip, let's say, since Covid. And I'm climbing this nasty climb and I get up there to the top of the hill and I'm thinking to myself like, okay, dude, you need to buckle down. You really need to buckle down. And I had to be honest with myself. And if you're somebody that makes content that at least to me I feel like when you're being vulnerable is what relates to people the most. And so I was like, you know what? I'm just going to pull the camera out real quick and I'm just going to talk to her about how I feel and how I felt was, I remember the whole time I was climbing was every time I look in the mirror, I look at myself and I think I'm a failure because I have throughout the year, hundreds of people that message me and tell me how inspiring I am to help them, what they've done, losing weight and getting in shape or starting mountain biking. And I've always been a guy that if I set a goal, I meet it. And that weight of not hitting that goal for four years was just kind of built up. And so that's what I was telling the camera is like, Hey. And to me, I'm not saying that I walk around with my head down and I'm kicking the can and my life's horrible that I feel like a failure. But what I am saying is when I look in the mirror or I stand on a scale and I don't see that number that I set for, I feel like a failure in that moment. Well, you feel like you let yourself down basically. Yeah. You set this goal for yourself And then you didn't deliver on it. And so you feel like you let yourself down. And I totally can relate to that because I've been exactly in that same place. I lost all that weight and then I gained some back. And then I was like, I don't ride as regularly as I would like what I'd like to be doing in terms of riding versus what I can be doing, or you can't even say can because it's not an excuse. If you really commit, you can make the time. You just have to make the time. And it's about sticking to that idea that I deserve this. You know what I mean? I deserve, and I think that's kind of the place that I think I saw you getting. I deserve to be where I want to be. That's not failing myself. That just means it's a different way of looking at it. It's not so much I failed as much as I deserve better than where I am. And. So I think for me, that's what's been motivating me as of late. And I will tell you, you were inspiring to me. Both you and your wife were inspiring to me, and I'm going to tell you why. Because I didn't realize how out of shape, not just from a physicality standpoint, physical looking standpoint, but just the ability to have the stamina to be able and the strength to be able to complete the certain task. And that ride that we did with that Pearl Zumi ride, that 13 and a half miles with 12 and a half of it all on an ascent, I hadn't trained for that. I hadn't ridden like that. I'm on the Jersey shore, most of where I ride is flat. So for me, that was a bit of an eyeopener for me about, well, this is beautiful up here and I could be enjoying this much more than I am if I allow myself the ability to train properly to be able to do it. And so after I left you two days later, I rode that 47 mile grand Fondo Pacifico, and the last seven miles of that ride was completely uphill. And it was like. California. I. Don't know why they designed these rides to tease you with a 40 mile ride and you feel like, shit, man, I did it. And then no, you didn't do shit because you got seven miles to go before you can say that you did it. And I finished those seven miles. I did not get off my bike to walk it. And there were some pretty steep climbs that last on those last seven miles. Anyhow, I got back home and we'll talk about our ride in Sacramento in a second, but I got back home and it's been a couple of months since that, and I was out riding with in northern California in the South Bay area, and he said, Hey man, we're going to ride from Menlo Park to Woodside and anyone who knows that there's a road up there, very famous road called Old LA Honda, and it's this big ginormous climb, right? It's three miles of climbing and the average grade is probably, I think something like 9% or something like that, which means That there's some 15 extended, 15% climbs. And so we get up to it and he said, you know what? Today's not the day for you to climb this because you're not going to enjoy it and I want you to enjoy it. And he goes, we'll climb a little bit of it. And so we went, this is my friend Jeff. And we went up and we climbed a little bit of it and I realized, holy shit, this is a climb. And I came back down, finished the ride. It was still like we did 30 miles that day or something like that. And I came back home and I said to a friend of mine, Mike, who's master mechanic friend of mine, avid mountain biker, used to climbing. And I go, dude, I want to get conditioned. I want to be able to climb. And there is this one section right outside here, our offices here that's got, it's like a two mile climb and there's some 12 and 15 grades on the way up, but it's like a two mile straight climb up and then you come down and he did it with me and he had me do it three times in a row. So he's like, we're going to do this, we're going to do it together. It doesn't matter how fast we do it, let's just do it. We're going to go up, we're going to come down, we're going to recover, we're going to go again and did it. And then he said, and then two days from now, you're going to go do it on your own and you're going to do the same thing. I've been doing that now only. Oh, right on. Yeah, only for about a week now. But I've been consistent and I have not stopped riding. I've been riding every day. Even if I'm tired, I'll go out and just ride a short 12 mile ride or something like that. But you guys inspired me in that moment that you were with me by being so, like I said, so gracious and so supportive and helping me realize that it's not about how fast you get up there, it's just you're doing it, man. And I remember Hannah turning around to me and going, you're crushing it. And I'm like, I'm crushing something. I said, I dunno. I said, I might be crushing it. And now I feel like if I did that same ride today, it would be a very different ride. Not to say that I would be a master of that climb, but I certainly would be much more conditioned. I've been doing these rides now for the last few weeks and I feel like every day I'm getting better. Every day I'm finishing getting to the top of that hill faster. Not that I'm racing to get up there, but I'm just trying to improve myself. And you guys kind of inspired me, both you and your wife because, and those videos that you, going back to the videos like they're inspiring and so I can understand why people are reaching out to you and saying, Hey man, you just inspire me every day. I can see it. And you lost the weight and you've picked up your game again and you started to share with me all of these things that you do and you're a mountain biker. And when I came out and met you, when I met you on that first time that we rode together on the Pearl Zumi ride, it was a gravel ride. And then I came out to see you in Sacramento and we did a road bike ride, and I started to kind of learn from you about your passion for mountain biking. So where did it explode for you from that little kid who was interested in BMX to all of a sudden? Because let's just explain to the people who are listening and watching who might not know the difference between road gravel mountain, maybe you could, and I know that seems very rudimentary, but you could just lay that out there for those that are new to cycling in general because. So I mean basically road riding is as the name is, you're riding on roads, it's all paved. You're riding a bike that has the super skinny tires and I don't know, I'm 46, so somebody back when I was growing up, it'd be like, oh, you ride a 10 speed. That picture that comes in your mind with the curly bars, that's a road bike and a gravel bike is basically the same thing except for the tires are just a little bit bigger and they have some knobs on it so that you can get on some light dirt or some gravel air quote roads that those little super skinny tires won't really, really do well on. So with those kind of bikes, you can travel a lot of miles pretty quickly just And also because of it's more of, in my mind at least more of an endurance kind of thing where it's almost like running long distance. You're just kind of keeping your heart rate at a certain spot and you're just peddling away. Whereas mountain biking is really dramatically more challenging. So you have much fatter tires and you usually have suspension front and back so that it helps going over rocks and roots and things of that nature. And in mountain biking as well, you'll have some really high, how do I say this? Real sporadic peak effort moments. So you could be going along at a flattish kind of spot and then all of a sudden it's like you're maxing your heart rate out for 30 seconds or two minutes and then you're having a little bit of a break and it's doing that again. And then even whenever we're going downhill, a lot of people are thinking, oh yeah, well, okay, let's just go down. That'll be fun. And it is, but it's also a workout as well because you're really maintaining, you're having to kind of move the bike around and it's just different muscle groups. So I think because it's so fun, you don't notice as how tiring it can be. But realistically, people will come out to places and maybe do lift access mountain biking, so they'll go to a ski resort that in the summertime is just mountain bike trails and they're going downhill all day and they're like, man, I didn't realize how tired your forearms and your shoulders and your legs get from. You're not pedaling, you're just keeping yourself stabilized. So that's basically generally speaking, the difference between the three. I think for me, with mountain biking, I always enjoy being outside as a young kid. And I think I grew up poor, so we didn't really have a lot of money. So being outside was definitely a cheap and easy thing to do. And I always enjoyed being out in the woods and stuff like that and kind of exploring around. I grew up in Pennsylvania, so it's super woodsy there and lots of creeks and things like that, and there's always little trails that kind of go through this woodsy area or this park or whatever. So when I was growing up riding these BMX bikes, you'd always kind of get into the dirt a little bit. And I think that's why it was real easy for me to start getting into mountain biking. It was like, oh, this bike's actually made for this. And then when I got older and I got rekindled, my love for cycling is mountain biking is what I wanted to do because I knew just the way that you feel when you climb some just monster hill. It's just like when you were a little kid and you're on a BMX bike and you have one gear and there's that hill in your neighborhood that when you first started riding your bike, you're like, oh my God, I got to push up this hill and it feels awful. And then one day you get halfway up the hill and you're like, oh my God, I made it halfway. And then maybe later a year later you're like, I pedaled all the way to the top, and the way that you feel so accomplished is the way that I feel like when I go mountain biking. And it's that same kind of like, man, sometimes some of the stuff that we ride, you'll look back at it and you'll be like, oh my. I can't believe we actually rode that. I was going to ask you, do you ever feel like you're pushing yourself too far? You just described an instance where you look back and you go, I can't believe we just rode that, right? Do you sometimes do a mountain bike ride and say, maybe I should dial it back a little bit, or is it. Or no? Is it always just, how can I push further? Yeah, you finish something and even if, let's just say it's something that I didn't do as well as I wanted to. So there's a ride around here in the mountains up by Lake Tahoe, and there's this ride that goes up to almost about 10,000 feet elevation, which is just a monster soul crushing climb. And the first time I did that, there was a lot of sections that I walked, but I did get to the top regardless of how long I was the very last guy, everybody was up there, all cuddled, cuddled together. It was all windy and cold up there. And I finally roll up to the top and they're all freezing. They're like, let's get out of here. Let's go. He is here. And I'm like, shit, I didn't get to take a break, but I finished that ride. And then it's in your mind, you're like, okay, I can do that better. Just your climb that you're doing on the regular, you're like, I can do that better. And I did it. And even if I made it halfway up that hill and turned around, then in my mind I would be like, well, next time maybe I can get halfway in 10 more steps or halfway and a little bit more. And that I think to me is it's that goal and that overcoming something that's really hard. Just recently I had this conversation with my buddy. We did this huge day and we're just driving home and my body is just completely destroyed and instead of feeling like I should dial it back, that's where I feel like, man, this feels so good. It feels so good to be this wrecked because I did something really hard and I'm proven I'm alive. It's so funny that you say that because after I did did the climb last week, the incrementals or the interval climbs with him, the three climbs up the hills and back down, I felt so accomplished. I didn't crush it in terms of time or whatever, although it was respectable, considering I hadn't ever done anything like that. And then when I went out and did it again by myself without my friend who's coaching me, and I felt even more accomplished that I did this. You know what I mean? And then the next day I rode 47 miles flat, but I rode 47 miles and it was really windy. There was a strong headwind. We get a lot of headwind situations here on the jersey, the wind off the ocean. But I did that and I felt like, you know what? This has been a full week where I did not come off a bike at all the entire week. Well, I was on the bike four times and in between I was on Peloton and I felt like I am there. Even now today I am feeling a little tired and I'm like, but you know what? I got to go home. And even if it's riding just for an hour, I got to get on the stay on the bike heading off to Europe next week. And I'm doing a big ride in Europe and I'm excited about it, and I'm a little nervous at the same time because I'm like, is this going to be another situation where I'm riding with a group of 27 people and I'm the one that they're all waiting for at the end? And if it is it right, I don't feel shame in that, the fact that I'm out there just doing it. But to your point, even though you might feel crushed physically or be like, yeah, that yeah, you did it. I did it and I want to go do it again. So there's something about that. Feeling. I think that feeling of being the last person or the slow person, and for lack of better terms, the embarrassment that you maybe feel in that position is like all self-induced. Nobody else on that ride really cares. They're not looking at you and being like, oh my God, we're waiting on, and if they are, you're riding with the wrong, right? The motto of my YouTube channel is it only takes a bike to be a biker. Get out and be one. That's really all it takes. And for you, you may be diminishing yourself that you couldn't do that 13 miles in Sea Otter as strong as you wanted to, but there's thousands of people out there that would love to be able to finish that ride that you finished. They get on a bike and they go, dude, I've talked to some people, they're like, my first mountain bike ride, I went a mile and that was it. I thought, man, this is not for me. Maybe this is the wrong thing then, but there's that little voice that's like, Hey, keep doing it. And so I don't know exactly where I was going with that, but I think you get the. No, I do. I totally get it. So let me ask you, you talk about the YouTube channel. What was the inspiration behind starting your YouTube channel, your podcast? Where did that all kind of emanate from? I am a tech guy, so I bought the domain named biker, B one KE r.com a long time ago. And I had this idea of doing some trail guides of local trails that were in my area. There was this guy that had a website that was similar to that, and he would write all these write-ups and you could kind of get an idea of a trail before he went to ride there. And for whatever reason, that dude decided that he was over it and he stopped updating the site. So I'm always coming up with ideas of things to do, right? I'm a busy person, I guess, and I'm like, man, I'm going to do that site because feel like it was a good resource and I think this would be a good website. Maybe this is a good business idea. So I started building this website out and I'm having a good time. And right around then GoPros were kind of in their infancy, and I was like, that would be this guy just wrote stuff and I'm a good writer. And that's kind of what I was thinking originally. And I'll take some pictures. He didn't have enough pictures. And so these GoPros come out and I'm like, oh, that'd be rad if I could put some video in there. And then people could see the trail too. And so I buy GoPro and I start learning how to edit and film, which I've never done before, so I have no clue how to do that. And unfortunately, I'm a bit of a perfectionist. So I am trying to make movies like Steven Spielberg, but I have about 15 minutes of experience, and it became very overwhelming. So I recorded all this video, and then it was the idea of trying to edit it all, it just became so overwhelming. It just kept putting it off. It was like, okay, well, I'm going to work on this other part of the website and then I'm going to get to that. And eventually it got to the point where I just pretty much just stopped working on this site. So then it turned into this thing that me and my buddies would talk about whenever we were drinking beers after a ride. Like, dude, I'm going to finish this site and then we're going to start, we're going to have reviews and we'd talk about it and we're going to do these group rides. Maybe we'll do a pub call, a month to month pub crawl kind of thing. And we'd have all these ideas. And that was all that we did with it. It was just talk about it. And some people would tell me along the way, they'd be like, man, you should start a YouTube channel. You have a great personality. I think you do well on YouTube. And I originally with that website was using YouTube but only to host my videos. So they weren't even publicly available. They were just as unlisted videos that I could embed into my website. I had zero idea what YouTube was for other than cat videos. If somebody said, YouTube give me, I was like, oh, you go there to watch cat videos or how to fix your refrigerator or something like that. I didn't know that there was any kind of community out there for anything other than something silly or maybe learn how to fix something. And this guy, he's a pretty big YouTuber, one of the big mountain bike YouTubers now started, and he's in my local area. And so he started making some videos and the guy's real inspirational, his name's Brian Kennedy, he does a channel called, I've seen. KXE. Yeah, I've seen some of his stuff. Absolutely. And so he was talk about it on his videos like, Hey man, if you think you can do this, you should do this too. It'd be great to have more people out there doing it. And at the time, it just really spoke to me about this once again, another one of these goals that I didn't meet, and it was like, you know what? I'm going to try to do this. And so I went out and I got a GoPro and I recorded a video and it was right around the beginning of the, it was in between Christmas and New Year's in 20 16, 20 17. So I recorded a video and just was like, Hey, I'm a normal guy. I'm going to start making these videos and let's do it. And a couple of videos in. And at that time when I started recording, I was just trying to be super professional. Hi, I'm Robert, and this is what we're going to talk about. And I wasn't really being myself. And there was this one video that I did, I called it Beer Your Bike. And it was just like me putting a couple of things on my bike that had to do with beer. So it was a top cap that you could put a bottle cap on and some other part that was also a beer opener and something like that. And while I was doing it, I was drinking some beers. I'm cracking 'em open to show, Hey, I need to use this cap, and in that process you might as well. Finish this one. And I was just being myself. And I think that video really resonated with people because then they got to see who I am instead of this guy that's trying to be video worthy or prim and proper or whatever. So I probably dropped a few F-bombs or whatever, and please don't watch a video. No good. Anyways, at the time, it was great though. And so that really got me into it, and I'm a creative person. So then the idea of creating something became really fun, and YouTube just gives you that instant feedback that people comment and they like it and stuff. I remember getting a handful of people subscribed that are your friends. And then the first time that I got a subscriber that wasn't one of my friends, I was like, I'm in it. So I was super cynical. I was like, this is a bot. This is not a real person. There's no way somebody actually likes my stuff. And then it started to grow, and I think somewhere around 30 subscribers, I told everybody in my house I was famous, and they need to start referring to me as royalty or something. Sir Robert, they need, yeah, they should start calling you Sir Robert. Exactly. Yeah. So the channel began to grow and stuff like that, and I continue making that content. And somewhere along the line, YouTube introduced live streaming. So I started doing these live streams, and the live streams were essentially just me in my garage drinking beers and talking about bikes. And all these people would sign in, and these live streams sometimes would go two hours or three hours. And it was like, dude, that's crazy. People would just listening to this all the time. And then podcasts were coming out and I was like, that's kind of a, I'm just going to call it a podcast and keep doing the same thing. And I did it for a little, and I was like, okay. I think what happened was then, because I had my regular content, which is mountain biking kind of stories and trail reviews and stuff like that, when I was getting subscribers, I wasn't sure if they were actually for the podcast or if they were for the other channel. And so I decided to split 'em up. And another reason that I started actually calling it a podcast was I tried to go find a podcast that I wanted to listen to, and none of them were what I wanted. I wanted somebody that wasn't going super deep in the weeds and just talking about nothing but pro rider. I wanted something that was more accessible, for lack of a better term, just average, just a normal conversation with people. And so that's whenever, I think that was the part of switching it from just the live streams where I was just bullshitting about whatever to actually making it a podcast was I just couldn't find one. I wanted to listen to myself. So I just did it. Well, and you've been doing it really well because the content's great. Thank you. You are very, very energetic and charming to listen to. And so I can see why you have a following, and I count myself among those that are there listening to your content and watching. Thank you. And it's funny, I came out to see you after Sea Otter. You guys were like, we'd love to if you get out to California, come on up, come ride, we will do a ride together. And I was out in California for two weeks, about a month ago, and you and your wife invited me up to do a ride with you and a road bike ride, which is a little unusual for you since most of your riding is mountain biking. But I felt like you were accommodating me, which is very kind. And you picked out this ride, which was this great trail, I think it was the American River Trail, is that what it's called? In Sacramento, American River Trail in Sacramento. And we were not that very far into the ride. And something freaky happened to me, which hasn't really ever happened to me. I've been riding for three years. I should knock wood, because what happened wasn't as bad as some things that I've heard horror stories of, but it was a freak accident. I was going over this bridge, you guys were ahead of me, and I was making the turn onto the bridge, and the bridge had a sheer metal plate on the base of the bridge on the entrance to the bridge, and there was some loose gravel on it. And it was just the way my bike turned onto the bridge that I ended up hitting that loose patch of gravel. And the metal was like a sheet of ice, and the bike just slid out from underneath me and and I cut my leg and not too bad, but my derailer pretty bad. And you guys are like, you came back over to me and you're like, oh, this happens all the time. Mountain biking. We're used to this. We could get you back on the road again. And both you and we rode with a good friend of yours, And you both kind of helped get the derailer bent back into shape, and you were afraid, oh, the derailer hanger could snap, but we got to do something. You can't ride the bike the way it is, and you bent it back and you got it working. We ended up finishing the rest of the ride and without any incident. And it was a beautiful ride, absolutely beautiful ride. And we're kicking back in your backyard afterwards having some beers after the ride. And it's funny, I learned a few things on that ride. Number one, I learned always bring a couple of extra derailer hangers with you, especially when they're custom to the bike that you're actually riding on. So Parley, who's one of our sponsors, immediately after I left UI didn't take the bike to the bike shop to get looked at. Instead I went and a couple of days later I was riding with another friend of mine and Salito and I went out and rode Salito at the Tiburon and then came back and the bike was starting to make some funky noise on the gear shifts. And I was like, okay, this is not feeling right. Brought it into the bike shop then, and it was still bent, and they said I could try to bend it back, but if I do, it's probably, it's got some stress marks, it's probably probably going to snap. So that's when Parly overnighted some derailer hangers for me, and Now they'll always be in my kit. And we got it up and running. And then I did that ride from Menlo Park to Woodside with a bike that was all tuned up and ready to go. But I learned a lot of things on that ride. And what I learned on that ride was that I really love riding with people who just love being outside and on the road, and you guys have this love and passion for just getting out there. And we talked a little bit, a bit, we were kicking around the backyard there and we talked a little bit about bike packing. And I said, we've made a commitment to each other that we're going to do a bike packing trip. And I said, what kind of bike do I need? And you were telling me, well, you probably minimum you need to go on a gravel bike, but probably you might want maybe go on a mountain bike of some sort. And what I love about cycling is that the possibilities are never ending, right? That you can always find other ways in which to explore and to get out there. And my question to you is where do you go from where you are in your journey? Because you started talking to me in the backyard about how you actually go out and build trails and then you build them all day and then you go out and ride them. And I think that's exciting too. You've created these trails that didn't exist before, and then you and your friends go ride them. Where's your next chapter of continuing to explore this unbelievable sport that you get to enjoy? I think basically what it comes down to is just coming up with more dumb ideas. And every time you do something really ridiculous, then you're like, oh, wow, let's do something even more ridiculous. So for my 45th birthday, there's this area that's close to me called Downeyville. It's way up in the Sierra Nevada mountains. And normally people go up there for this mountain biking ride up there, and it is about a 14 mile downhill that you drop, I don't know, let's just say it is probably three or 4,000 feet elevation that you drop, something like that. And it's an epic ride that lots of people come from all over to go to. And normally what you do is you go to the city of Downeyville and you get a shuttle to the top. So they put you in a van and you drive for 45 minutes, 45 minutes in a vehicle to the top of this mountain, and they drop you off and then you ride down. So one of my dumb ideas is like, Hey, I'm turning 45, let's climb to the top on our own. Oh my. Gosh. So we get on the bikes and we pedaled 5,000 feet of climbing and. Oh my gosh. It would go all the way up there and then we have to pedal our way down. How long did it take you to get up to the top? A couple hours. It was probably like four hours or so. Wow. And you weren't completely spent by the time you got up there? Oh yeah. We were pretty good and good and worked. But I mean, you still have to get down. I mean, what are you going to do? So we got to the top, we were out of water, everybody misjudged how much water, but fortunately, I ride in these Sierras a lot. So we had some water filters and we could filter water out of the stream and make our way down. And then at a certain point we were like, man, we really need to step up this pace because the pizza shop in town is going to close, and this town has eight, it has three restaurants tops, and they all close it pretty early. Let's just call it six. So the motivation was we needed to eat and in order. To, yeah, we need to get back so we can get beer and pizza. So we were definitely turning it up a bit on the way back. So that was one of these things where it's like, okay, you do this ride and this is one of those, anybody that's from around here, you tell 'em that you climb, that you climbed. And they're like, first of all, they're like, well, that sounds ludicrous. And then it's like, why? So that's a great example of some kind of ridiculous idea that we come up with. And then instantly, as soon as we do that, it's like we probably weren't even finished with that ride. And I was already thinking about, I bet you I could do this faster. And then there's also this tower on top of the mountain that's like another 2000 feet above that that we're like, so maybe next year we should just climb all the way up to the tower and then ride back. Oh my gosh. So that's probably on the bucket list. They call that tower to town is what they call it. But normally people take the shuttle to the top of the hill, then climb up to the tower, then go down to town. We want to do town to tower to town. Wow. So what else is on the horizon in terms of you're constantly challenging yourself, you're constantly looking for new adventures. What else gets you going every day? I know that you were just out at a big festival and you do a lot of those. So what's your regimen in terms of the next experiences that you're looking for? What do you look for? Well, as far as mountain biking goes, it's really like this time of year, it's try to be up in the high altitude riding as much as possible and do those big epic rides that are, it's just beautiful up there because the. Weather's perfect. Yeah, when the snow's melted so that you can get up to these higher elevations and do these trails that are under snow for the whole winter. And then come fall is like whenever it starts snowing up there again, then we start riding the trails down here lower, and then that's the time of year that we usually do trail building because we don't have access to those big rides up there. But as far as what's next for an adventure, I think it's always just another way to challenge myself. So currently I'm still working on that goal of hitting two 20 last week weighed in, so I started January 1st, like 2 86, and last week I weighed in at two 40. So I'm excited to get you look great into Thank you. I appreciate that. Into the two thirties, because when I very first started this weight loss journey, I had put 81 caps in a glass. I can't see very well. I think it's right there behind me. And every week, whenever I lost weight, I would take those bottle caps out and signify getting down to my goal. And the lowest I ever got was 2 38. So there's still 18 caps in that jar, and I'm pretty stoked to get to a point where I can take caps out of the jar again. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool. Yeah. Yeah. What's the difference between your two channels? You've got Biker Bar and then you've got Biker. So how would you distinguish between the, I mean, I think that it's pretty easy to distinguish, but for those that are listening and haven't tuned in to either, what can they find on both these. Channels? So on the biker channel, I do, it would be wrong to call it trail guides, but I go on rides and I tell a story about that ride and whatever it was that we did or we ever come and I showed the trail, or I showed I did a video recently on Sedona. I always go to Sedona Mountain Bike Festival and the thumbnail is like, I'm never going again. And the story is how you can have this really good adventure of going to Sedona and riding in Arizona and how to do it right. From all the years that I've went, you can learn from me. And the reason that I'm not going again is every year I tell my friends I'm not going again because I want to go somewhere else. But every year somebody calls me in December and they're like, Hey, are you going to Sedona? And I'm like, well, that was really fun. Sure, I'm going again. So at the end of the video I tell people, Hey, at this point I'm not going next year, but I'll see you next year. So that's on their videos. Like me going through my weight loss, like the one that you saw where I was sitting on top of that hill, come into this realization that something really needs to change. I don't want to do this video that I've done three years in a row. Again, I want to do this video where I get to two 20. So those kind of videos are on there. Then on the Biker Bar podcast, I talk to other creators, whether they're on YouTube or TikTok or Instagram. I talk to professional riders. I talk to a lot of companies in the bike space and just, it's a super laid back conversation like we're having right now. I always call it the Joe Rogan, the mountain biking, Joe Rogan kind of thing. I had some comment on there. Somebody said I was the Joe Rogan mountain biking, and I thought that was pretty rad. So that's pretty cool. But yeah, it's super laid back like that. If we spend 15 minutes talking about the latest movie that's in the theaters, that's fine, but I'll bring it back to biking or whatever. But those are really fun, long format conversations. So typically around two hours. When we met and I told you a little bit about what I was doing and bike to bites and the whole premise of the show, you got really jazzed up about that. Why? What made you gravitate towards the content that we were creating and why did that resonate with you? I think part of it is just that I really like AI, like cycling a lot, and I see things that are, let's just say similar in the stories that I'm telling on YouTube or some of my other mountain bike YouTubers are telling, and I always think that this really has a place for, it could do well on syndicated tv, and I think that you're actually doing something like that. I thought it was really rad. I just really liked the concept. Go somewhere, show this adventure, ride some bikes, showcase what a city has in terms of that. And then also when you're done with the ride, it's like, Hey, yeah, let's go get some beer and let's get some good food. And you showing that too. I just thought it was really ingenious idea and I like it. I think it's a great format. It's funny, one of the things that I enjoy about doing the series is meeting people like yourself. All along the way, I have met so many incredible people from people doing some really cool stuff in the world of cycling, content creation chefs that are out there doing unbelievable things and your world of mountain biking is a world that from somebody who doesn't mountain bike, I get drawn in because it's something that I aspire to want to be able to do. Now, I don't think I would ever ride you. I've got some years on you. That doesn't mean that I can't, it just means, I don't know. I've tried mountain biking once and I got all, I did the toll typical, I'm going to go out and get myself a mountain bike, I'm going to try mountain biking. And I went and I didn't have anyone kind of teaching me the ropes and I had a good ride, but it was so hard and I ended up, the trails were marked and I ended up coming off of a beginner trail and ended up on some intermediate trail. That was really the way I look at it was probably in the world of expert for me because I just remember getting off the bike at some point and hiking, biking, and I'm like, I god damnit. It's like, what is this? But gosh darn it, what is this? And I was like, I don't think I can do this. So I kind of gave up on the mountain biking thing, but then when I watch your content, I realize, you know what? I think it's just like riding a road bike or a gravel bike. It's about learning and pushing yourself, but appropriately. You're not going to go climb that big 15% grade hill having never been on a bike before and think that you're going to succeed. So it's about setting yourself up for the appropriate success of the moment. And I think what you inspire me to do is maybe go out there and try it again. And we certainly talked about doing a bike packing trip, and I think that is probably one way that I don't have to do blue or black marked trails, but one where I maybe can do some green stuff and maybe try to dip my toes back in the water again. And I will tell you that your content has inspired me to want to go and give it a try. I am not going to be doing the tricks that I've seen you guys do. There's no way it's just not going to happen. But getting out there in the ruggedness of the outdoors and the wilderness and enjoying the outdoors in a way that I think can be enjoyed without having to do all the tricks, that's something that I am gravitating towards. And it's like a beacon. I think you have everything it takes to do it, man, honestly, I mean obviously you have the mental fortitude to start a ride and finish it, so you have a certain level of athletic ability there. And I think that with mountain biking, it is a very subjective sport in terms of what is hard. So what is hard for you compared to what is hard for me is vastly different. But there's other guys that ride the trails that I ride and they're like, that's easy stuff. So I think the sad thing is that a lot of times people take other people out for rides and they're not very well equipped at setting them up for a good ride for a good time. So when your buddy said the other day, let's not do this because this is going to suck for you. You got a good friend there. Yeah, absolutely. And that's the type of ride that you need to go on. You need to go on a ride that builds confidence, that's fun. And then it shows you like, yeah, parts of this is going to suck. Well. You and I made a promise to each other that I am going to come out on a ride with you. I'm going to do a mountain bike ride with you. And you were so again, so kind and gracious to say, well, we'll do one where we think one that's appropriate for the level of skill that you were at at the time that we go out. So I'm looking forward to being able to do that. Yeah, for sure. Because I just love being on a bike period, just like you got on a road bike with me to ride the trail in Sacramento, and. You. Found joy out of being able to do that even though you weren't going down a 10,000. Foot. Descent on a single track. Yeah, I think any day on a bike's a good day, man. No, and I love that. So if people want to find you and look, there's so much more we can talk about. We didn't even get into how wonderful a cook your wife is because I had the pleasure of having dinner with you after our ride, after we had the beers in the back. She just, oh my God. I mean she made such a tell everybody what she made. Oh. Man, she is a phenomenal cook. And it's one of those things, this is the way that I explain it to people because every guy is like, oh, my wife is a great cook. So it's very typical for a husband to brag about his wife's cooking, but in my circumstance, the way that I tell people, your wife's a good cook when your friends brag about your wife's cooking, and that's the way it is with her, and she's just phenomenal. And I really appreciate having that opportunity. Well, that. Night we had some company join us. You can tell us who they were. These are some good friends of yours. And they didn't ever, I think both of them hadn't eaten seafood, the kind of seafood that we were serving that night that Katie was serving that night, and they offered, well, we're here and she's a great cook and so we're going to try it. And they tried it and they were like, are you kidding me? It was like an awakening. Yeah, yeah. So we had Taino, those of you guys that know what that is, if you don't, it's like a tomato-based soup that just has a bunch of different seafood in it. And my friends are both from the Midwest and they did not grow up with a lot of seafood, I think. And they were like, yeah, we don't usually eat all that shellfish kind of stuff, but we've had Katie's cooking and everything she's ever so we're coming over and yeah, like you said, they were both super stoked by the time they left they were like, I guess we liked Pinot. Now. Yeah, they were blown away. It was. So for somebody who's really into food like I am and does a food cycling show, watching their faces was priceless because the level of enjoyment that they were having over what Katie had prepared was amazing. And I am looking forward. I love to cook as well, and I think you do too, although probably. Not as much as Katie. I actually, I'm the probably worst guy that Katie could have picked to get with, and she always jokes around about this because I will eat chef Weer D out of a can, not even warmed up and be like, this is great. And so she just cooks amazing and I'm so blessed by it. Don't get me wrong. I love it, but I am not, if I could take a pill instead of cooking, I would, I'm just lazy. I feel like it's always like it's cumbersome, but I do enjoy food, obviously I don't get to 300 pounds without enjoying it. But no, she's fantastic. I'm looking forward to cooking for her. She was so amazing cooking for me and the rest of the guests that were there that night that when you guys come and visit back east here, I'm looking forward to being able to equally return the favor because it was amazing that night. So back to you real quick. How do people find you? Where should they go to consume some of this great content that you are producing on a regular basis? Love to have the listeners and the viewers here. For sure. I mean, you can always just go to Google or whatever search in biker, but instead of it being B-I-K-E-R, it's B one KER. So it's just spelled a little different. It'll always come up on top. But I have content on YouTube. I have content on Instagram and Facebook as well, and a little bit on TikTok, but mostly on YouTube is where the majority of my content is. Same thing goes with a podcast. If any podcast app that you're using, just type in biker B one KER, and it'll come up there, almost 200 episodes at this point. So on the biker bar, so you could find me there. You could also watch it live on YouTube. I usually do them live there and then I convert that live show into the audio format for the podcast. Yeah, it's amazing content, Rob. And I know you and I are going to do something together when it comes to Yeah, sounds fun. I think we've talked about it and I'm excited because I just feel like tremendous synergy and you're putting out great stuff and I encourage everyone to go check it out and give it some eyeballs. A hundred percent. Thank you. I really appreciate being on the show. It's really fun to be on this side of the microphone, I guess you would say. Well, we got to do this again. We got to do it again. Yeah, for sure. You're definitely going to be on my show here soon, I think actually maybe even this week. I think. So by the time people are listening to this, they'll be able to just tune into the Biker Bar podcast and listen to me interview you instead. It'll be interesting to have the tables reversed. Right? Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Well, until then, we'll see you soon. Perfect. And I would just say this, I always sign mine off and I feel like it's a great way to end the show as well. It only takes a bike to be a biker, so get out and be one. There you go. There you go. And I signed myself off in a certain way, but I'm going to wait until we're done with this and I tell everyone when we're done at home and I thank our sponsors, and then I'll sign off and it's basically perfect. I'll do it for you. It's pedal Eat and repeat. Oh, nice. I like it. I like it. Yeah. So Rob, thank you so much. Yeah, it was great. Thank you for having me. Alright, for more information on this episode as well as other episodes in this series, head over to our website at Bike to Bites podcast.com. You can also find us on YouTube at Bike to Bites. Be sure to give us a like and subscribe while you're there. And if you're listening on your favorite podcast platform, we would appreciate a five star rating and a glowing review. It really does help spread the word. Check out our Instagram at Bike debits tv and be sure to follow my personal Instagram at Garrett Abe where I post shots of my daily rides in interesting places I visit. If you're interested in watching the Bike Debits TV show, please visit bike de bytes.com. We also have some really cool stuff of Bike de Bites apparel and some other things that you can check out. While you're there, Robert, I want to thank you so much for being on the Bike de Bites podcast with us today. It has been an absolute pleasure and I want to thank all of you for listening and watching at home. It's been a lot of fun. And of course, let's not forget our sponsor, e plus E plus helps organizations harness the power of technology for truly transformative results. From AI and security to cloud and workplace transformation. Plus brings you the right solutions at the right time, in the most efficient way. Plus is on the front lines of today's modern enterprise. Check them out@eplus.com. It's been great, and we'll see you next time on Bike To Bites. And remember, get out there pedal, eat and repeat.