Business and cycling meet at the Biz, Bikes, & Brew event — similar to our Mobile Socials with an emphasis on networking. We posted on deals on the bike earlier and have ridden with Dahon and others. A couple weeks ago, I met up with a potential new business partner and Bike Hugger was vetted by REI during one of their legendary lunch rides.
There isn’t a handbook for these rides, but I’d suggest
- Take a pull and a good, hard one
- Ride hard, but don’t drop the VP of whatever
- Don’t pop-off about your skills and then suck
- Bring the good wheels
- Ask where the sprint is and line up for it
Besides the vetting, on the bike you get to know a person, how they ride, what they’re riding, and how they assemble themselves in the pack. It maybe a alpha-centered culture with roadies or a more democratic urban ride. Whatever the context is, I think more business should occur on bikes.
Also, as a final tip, if you show up on a Pinarello Prince, you must rip everyone’s legs off and then apologize profusely or risk being labeled a poseur.
Wait… Pinarello makes bikes in blue. That just looks… wrong.
I’m not a fan myself of the aesthetic, while at the same time I appreciate any company that’s pushing design. Problem is for that money you could get two Madones or Lappiere or Tarmacs or Scotts or Time. I can’t imagine there’s that much ride difference between them. At the high-end of carbon bikes, there’s a lot of performance from a lot of companies. I’d have Parlee build me a custom carbon for that money.