taking the lead podcast

Jeff Cleary woke up one day while working as a California attorney and said wait a minute, how come there are no quality kids bikes? That simple question led him to founding Cleary Bikes in 2014. Based out of Sausalito CA, Cleary Bikes are now recognized worldwide for their lightweight, durability, kid optimized geometry, and vibrant colors. What I admire most about Jeff though is his personal motivation to keep building great bikes for kids – his favorite pastime is simply riding bikes with his 4 year old son. I always enjoy the opportunity to sit and talk with Jeff

Lelan Dains is the Operations Manager for Dirty Kanza Promotions and is a native of Emporia, KS. After graduating from Emporia State University with a degree in Recreation Management, he spent much of his time time traveling and working in various recreation fields including leading cycling excursions all over the world as the Camp Director for Carmichael Training Systems. When the opportunity arose to return to his hometown and bring his talents to the Dirty Kanza Promotions organization it was a dream come true! What I admire most about Lelan as how he is taking the lead through his position

Ted Theochung is not exactly your typical bicycle industry leader. After graduating from the Stanford Business school, Ted embarked on a twenty year career as a veteran technology executive with strategy and corporate development roles within Fortune 500 companies, and a few stints as a vice president for several tech startups. With a linkedin profile like that I was dying to find out how he landed the role as the current CEO of the Specialized Foundation and how his belief in the transformative power of cycling is fueling their incredible Riding For Focus program. As you’ll learn from Ted, exercise

Dave Wiens is known by many of you for his six consecutive wins in the Leadville Trail 100 MTB mountain bike race, between 2003 and 2008, where he even bested Tour de France riders Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong. But even before that Dave was inducted to the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2000 after he helped define professional mountain bike racing in the late 1900’s! Today, Dave is focusing his efforts on mountain bike trail advocacy, something he has always been passionate about, as the new Executive Director of IMBA the International Mountain Bike Association. Previous to working

Rebecca Rusch’s bio says that Rebecca is ‘the queen of pain with a heart of gold’.  Well, that sums up everything you need to know about this 30 year professional athlete. But if you’re into details, Rebecca is a 7x World Champion in multiple sports, 4x Leadville 100 mtb champion, 3x winner of the Dirty Kanza 200, she summited Mt. Kilamanjaro by bike, holds the record for the fastest ride on the Kokapelli trail, and was recently the first person to ride the entire length of the Ho Chi Min trail which you absolutely need to see for yourself in

Eric Porter found his love for bikes exploring his local trails as a kid in Louisville, Kentucky. Before long he was crowned the National Downhill and Slalom Champion in 2001. From there Eric launched a professional Freeride mountain bike career competing all over the world and pushing the boundaries of ride style in mountain bike films. These days, Eric lives in Midway, Utah with his wife and two young sons while working closely with Diamondback Bikes helping design and test many of their latest models on trails around the world, representing Clif Bar and Magura as a sponsored athlete, and

In 1988 Marilyn Price founded the non-profit Trips For Kids in Marin, CA which has since helped over 185,000 children connect with the bicycle through 75 chapters across the US! At 77 years young Marilyn rides her bike everyday and is still active as a Trips For Kids board member.  Recently, her love of the environment motivated her to sell her car so she can be the change she wants to see in the world and pedal long into the next chapter of her life! We had such a wonderful time hearing Marilyn’s story and I hope you do too!

Rich Tauer is the President of Quality Bicycle Products or as we call it in the bike industry QBP. Over the last 30 years QBP has grown into the largest parts distributor in the US, the parent company of other successful brands like Salsa Cycles, and a leader in green building with their LEED certified distributions centers.   What we really admire about QBP is their commitment to supporting local bike shops, getting more butts on bikes, taking a lead in the development of healthy sustainable bike communities everywhere, AND the personal development of their employees. Over his 26 year

Enjoy this very special interview with Gary Fisher where we cover A LOT of topics. If you know gary, you know it’s best to sit back and let him tell you some great stories and that’s just what we did. Most of us have heard the story of how Gary helped inspire the birth of modern mountain biking but what we love about this interview is hearing what lead up to those days. Running light shows for the Grateful Dead and the Rolling Stones, living in a commune with the New Riders of The Purple Sage. Meeting his future business

Remember the first time you pedaled off on your own Freedom machine, without Mom or Dad’s steading hand? Two time Olympic mountain biker Lea Davison remembers, and in this interview you’ll hear how the bike was her ticket to freedom as a young girl… and a steady supply of Snapple. Today Lea strives to take The Lead on the world cup mountain bike circuit and definitely takes the lead with her continued dedication to empowering girls through the non-profit she co-founded, Little Bellas. This interview was recorded Live from the Buddy Pegs Media booth at the 2018 Sea Otter Classic