Bryan Wachs has spent more than 40 years as an entrepreneur, with a career spanning film production, restaurants, technology, marketing, and startups. Then a chance encounter with inventor Cal Phillips led him somewhere unexpected: manufacturing bike racks in Grand Junction, Colorado.

Bryan joins the Ride Cave Podcast to tell the story of building QuikrStuff and bringing the Quik Rack Mach2 to market. We talk about the difference between inventing a great product and building a business around it, the challenges of American manufacturing, launching just as COVID disrupted global supply chains, designing products built to last, and what Bryan has learned from a lifetime of entrepreneurship.

We also dig into the evolution of Cal Phillips' bike rack designs, comparing his original Quik Rack design for 1UP USA with his next-generation Quik Rack Mach2 for QuikrStuff. The Mach2 carries forward the familiar wheel-holding, modular concept while introducing a redesigned hitch mechanism, tool-free add-ons and wheel-size adjustments, easier-to-access pivot controls, an integrated one-key locking system, and increased capacity for heavier bikes and e-bikes. QuikrStuff says the redesign incorporates 14 new patents and addresses several limitations Cal identified in his original design.

Get your Mach2 hitch and other QuikrStuff products at https://quikrstuff.com/

The Ride Cave Podcast interviews people at the forefront of technology, products, cycling, and fitness. Visit https://ridecave.com to learn more, ride, plan, and analyze your fitness.

Jorden Wakeley is a professional cyclist and endurance athlete from Grayling, Michigan, with a career spanning mountain bike racing, singlespeed, ultra-endurance events, cross-country skiing, and elite canoe racing.

In this episode, we talk about Jorden’s win at the Marji Gesick 100 aboard a singlespeed with 32-inch wheels, why he’s an early believer in bigger wheels, and whether mountain bikes are eventually destined to become Penny Farthings. We dig into Jorden’s fitness, training and racing, along with the evolution of the mountain bike, from bigger wheels and electronic components to the inevitable arrival of wireless brakes.

Jorden also shares his experience racing the 120-mile AuSable River Canoe Marathon, how canoe racing compares with cycling, and his perspective on where bikes, racing, and endurance sports are headed next.

Jorden's shop: Northbound Outfitters, buy your next bike there https://www.northboundoutfittersmi.com/

Learn more about Ride Cave at https://ridecave.com/

Addison Forrester learned early that cycling apparel—like much of our world—is predominantly designed with men in mind. As a high school and collegiate cyclist, she was often left with baggy, poorly fitting kits and few options designed specifically for women. Shortly after college, Addison set out to change that by launching Allora, a community-first cycling brand with a mission to build better women's cycling apparel in collaboration with the women who will actually wear it.

Learn more and help build the movement at https://ridelikeagirl.club

The Ride Cave podcast interviews people at the forefront of technology, products, and fitness. Visit https://ridecave.com to learn more, ride, plan, and analyze your fitness.

Ty Schmidt left a promising career in physical therapy to address a problem he saw in his local community: a lack of safe, fun, and engaging cycling opportunities for kids. Ty tells the story of growing a small bike-to-school group ride into a six-figure nonprofit that now reaches thousands of young cyclists each year through summer camps, mountain bike programs, and other youth cycling initiatives across several communities in Northwest Michigan.

Ty has since left Norte Youth Cycling, but you can learn more at https://www.norteyouthcycling.org/

The Ride Cave podcast interviews people at the forefront of technology, products, and fitness. Visit https://ridecave.com to learn more, ride, plan, and analyze your fitness.

Jake Sigal is a serial technology entrepreneur, longtime cyclist, and founder of Roll, a free website that helps riders discover group rides, races, festivals, and cycling events. He previously founded Livio, which was acquired by Ford, and later Tome, which was acquired by Valtech. Jake’s clients and partners span the bicycle industry, including Shimano, SRAM, Specialized, Trek, and Cannondale. Jake lead bicycle-to-vehicle safety initiatives focused on improving communication between cyclists and cars. He launched Roll out of Vail Colorado as a passion project with a simple mission: help the cycling ecosystem put more butts on saddles.

Learn more at https://roll.ooo

The Ride Cave podcast interviews people at the forefront of technology, products, and fitness. Visit https://ridecave.com to learn more, ride, plan, and analyze your fitness.

Bob Bickel founded RunSignup in 2010 and the company is now the largest event registration platform for endurance events in the US. We discuss the origins of RunSignup and some of the special sauce that makes RunSignup more than just a event registration platform.

With more than 2000 releases a year, nearly 40,000 events, and more than $650 million in registration fees processed, RunSignup is now servicing more than 60% of the endurance events in the states.

Visit http://runsignup.com/ to learn more.

The Ride Cave podcast interviews people at the forefront of technology, products, and fitness. Visit https://ridecave.com to learn more, ride, plan, and analyze your fitness.