Platinum Bicycle City: What's That Mean?

Local Art - at Compass Cider

You recall hearing about the "Faux Collins Tour" as one of our standard tour options, and "Experience Platinum Tour" is its slightly more sophisticated, well-manicured sibling. That's right, the second new tour route for 2016 is all about the trails, bike lanes, and inter-connected nature that makes Fort Collins a Platinum Bike City as evaluated by the League of American Bicyclists.

So, what makes the trails/lanes/etc in Fort Collins unique and worthy of being a top five bicycle friendly community in the entire United States? Well, my short list includes:

Bike Parking!

• Bike paths: miles upon miles of paved paths criss-crossing the city
• Side-street bike routes: efficient yet beautiful, and they just feel safe
• Bike racks, bike racks, bike racks... You can't go half a block without tripping over them
• Clubs, teams, festivals, and bike-share: there is Something quite literally for every type of bike rider, and chances are there's a (bike) shop dedicated to your style, too
• Drivers: bike racks and pasing with wide berths are fairly common, truly the inconsiderate driver is the minority
• Mapping and way-finding: the city makes it pretty easy (intuitive?) to find where you want to be and how to get there through maps, signage, and a ranking system for why some streets are better than others in this regard

The Platinum Experience takes you through several different decades of what it means to be Fort Collins while giving you the truly local experience. Enjoy!

Cheers for now!

Adventure Jes

On Tour!

Double-take: Does That Say "Leisurely"?!

Saturday, April 25 was a day for firsts here Colorado. Primal and Audi of Denver sponsored the inaugural Colorado Bike Expo at the Denver Convention Center, and Leisurely Pedaling participated in its first ever vendor event! Let's pause and reflect on this a moment...

Denver Convention Center

...Paws and reflect a moment? (You see what I did there?) The bike expo hosts were very attentive and accommodating throughout the experience: here's to hoping all vendor events flow as amazingly well! I'd certainly come back to this one again just for the variety of bike-related industries mingling throughout the day.

Loading up!

Pre-planning *smile*

Our immediate neighbors were Bolle Eyewear and Presserly. Across the aisle were Denver's version of The Fort Collins Bike Co-Op, a cyclist injury law firm, and ladies performance yoga-wear. Directly behind the booth was an adult big-wheels racetrack. Our wonderful neighbors, proximity to the racetrack, and proximity to the beer garden made for an exciting day filled with fun interactions and the most wonderful conversations!

Learn-to-ride area (separate from the big-wheels race course)

I found it refreshing the amount of interest in Leisurely Pedaling and what we're all about, and the many friendly individuals who also acknowledged the odd presence of "leisure" throughout most bike events these days. A walk-through of the expo is a prime example of how many ways a cyclist can do it stronger/faster/farther/longer/weekend-warrior through nutrition, equipment, varied physical activity, and coaching. For the record, I love a quality cycling challenge as much as the next enthusiast (my cycling history is a few stories for another day), but when do cyclist remember to really smile and enjoy the journey? Aside from the two yoga-focused booths and paint studio, Leisurely Pedaling was the "relaxed cyclist stronghold" on the floor. This fact alone contributed to the majority of smiles, chuckles, and friendly banter throughout the day.

Thank you all who stopped by the Leisurely Pedaling booth and brought additional smiles and inspiration to my day! My helper (Marcia, also my beautiful mother) and I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the opportunity to site-see Fort Collins and Northern Colorado by bicycle with us this summer and beyond!

Cheers for now,

Adventure Jes

ready for business!

brochures, T-shirts, and stickers!

Eye-catching, yes?

Our trusty Vintage Cruiser, Courtesy of the Fort Collins Bike Library!

Just a trailer full of T-shirts!

Owner Jes Mallory ready for fun!

We are go for launch - no joke!

Springtime is the embodiment of all that is brand new and full of hope, just like Leisurely Pedaling! March has been quite the whirlwind, and while not the standard interpretation of "in like a lion, out like a lamb" referring to weather... the month proved to be just that. In like a lion: the deafening roar of business deals, purchasing, marketing, coordinating, re-researching, and (finally!) launching. Out like a lamb: now we're in that deceptive lull where the news slowly spreads, grows, and expands into something beautiful, perhaps like the cherry blossoms in Washington DC, or the daffodils hesitantly rising to colorful life in my neighbor's yard.

The Leisurely Pedaling launch party was a smashing success! The Laboratory provided endless plates of delicious delights and a brilliant atmosphere. Akinz, The Parlour, Kilwins, and Old Town Spice Shop donated truly generous and wonderful door prizes embodying the character of Fort Collins. One lucky winner even walked away with a two day tour for two of Fort Collins! In all, about 80 people joined in the festivities, and several friends were showing their support with Leisurely Pedaling T-shirts in Idaho, Washington, and California.

Here are a few fun pictures from the event!

Business Development: What Are The Frustrations?

Most of the frustrations come at the inception of a good business idea: the closer you get to launch, the more frustrations evolve into welcome challenges. What frustrated me the most - and still makes me pause and smile - is all the "hurry up - wait, stop... now... go?" that goes into the first fragment of a business dream. Perhaps the "problem" (if it can be labeled as such) lies in the very broad concept of wanting to make a career of riding my bike. Let's go back to the end of 2012 and the start of 2013...
Naturally, everyone had an opinion and found the most obscure, far-off, and otherwise super-niche cycling activity to encourage as "profitable" before nudging me on my way. Because, you know, I really want to starve myself following the Amazon to a hidden temple of "bike enlightenment" and return destined for Olympic gold while simultaneously pied-pipering all the women of the free world into all forms of bike love. Sponsored by Patagonia, Nike, Orbea, Nabisco, and Smith...
Each incredible suggestion did help narrow my business and life focus onto two fundamental elements. The first is biking for the love of wind in my hair and sun-kissed smiles. The second is being a resource in sharing with other people something that I find interesting and important. This posed an occasional frustration in being effectively understood and re-explained among my peers. A very love-based frustration, to be sure, but equally frustrating overall.
Fort Collins is a gem of down-to-Earth residents, progressive students, outdoor adventure, and beer snobbery. It is completely endearing and the model for Main Street in Disneyland. New business ideas bloom daily involving all these charming qualities. My first inclination was combining brewery tours and bike tours since A) way too many delicious breweries to explore and experience in town, and B) no real tours of any kind going on in Fort Collins. Keep in mind this was January 2013. *ahem*

You know the absolute test of patience? Here I was voluntarily taking a business development class full of senior-level undergrads in the spirit of "four months of three credit hours per week crunching the creative young minds for the most pristine developed business plan ever." While I kept busy leading those young geniuses into a bike-conscious mindset, another hops-and-cycling focused enthusiast launched a bike brewery tour business.

Yep. Obviously, we did a great deal of research on that business... but the real research? That would be managing the three undergrads with which I had partnered, and pulling ends together for a viable business plan as the semester drew to a close. Patience and guided creativity are one thing, and the tools to master and manage are quite another.

The biggest take-away from frustrations experienced with taking this route to planning the business and watching my "initial dream" launch under someone else's expertise and leadership? Well, the best business plan for combining local lore, bicycles, and tourism research was yet to come and it would be frustratingly, gloriously mine to launch: and Leisurely Pedaling is by far the best take-away from all this!