The Super Excellent Not Too Serious Bike That Goes Nowhere Podcast

Timestamps: Interview - 10:55, recap - 53:10, Industry news - 1:08:40, Echelon News and shoutouts - 1:22:23

Sheldon done went and injured himself - wasn't even during a hard workout. Also a Peloton at the Doubletree only has "delta" clips so had to bail on a ride. Meredith has entered the dark side of 45 minute rides. She's loving how strong it's making her feel! She also talks about going to see her daughter play in the orchestra for Sweeny Todd. Then a little Tv talk because... well, it's our show and we wanted to hahaha. Meredith also finished her Master's - yay!!

Lindsay Kaplan is our guest and it's been a long time coming. We talk about her journey to fitness and how it wasn't one of those "I've always been into fitness stories". She is open and inspiring about her journey and we learn a little bit about the Miami fitness scene! Lindsay also talks about her on bike persona and how it is quite a bit different from her "real life" one (at least until she gets to know you!). She is really very shy until she has time to be comfortable with others, but then it's game on! We talk about her plans and what she is excited about in 2023 and we end up with a great "three questions" segment. 

Industry news has some doozys in it - Peloton and iFit hit with a cease and desist on selling imported equipment due to a law suit from Dish Network. Beach Sweat is no more. Interesting technical article from Tonal about selecting proper weight. Planet Fitness hits highest membership ever and has big plans. Three Peloton instructors are launching books. We talk a bit about "sleep tourism".

In Echelon news, Lindsay is appointed head of talent. Echelon at the IHRSA trade show showcasing Echelon Worlds. Our friend Laura Smith wrote a book. We talk a bit about Echelon's inquiring about an event over Memorial Day weekend... we have opinions.  Echelon Dublin? Not so fast. Opportunity to catch Amber on the bike again!  Many shoutouts.

Snackdown results and this episode we Snackdown! on "sauces". 

Follow Lindsay Kaplan on IG: @fablinds 

We start today with a somber note as we recognize the loss of one of our community members, Agie Yatsko.  Meredith gives a touching tribute and shares accounts from community members.

Sheldon has been traveling again and gets his hotel brands mixed up ... leading to a "no gym" situation. Meredith teases her friends with Peloton gear. 

Our guest today is Echelon's own "international man of mystery" - Jim Johnson.  "Chattanooga Jim" has been a staple of the community for years and he had joined even before it was a public platform. We learn about his incredibly interesting life that includes starting a number of businesses including a helicopter tour company, a magazine and his biggest venture biketours.com that has set over 35,000 people up with tours around the world for over 20 years. Jim is also a strong advocate for his adopted home town of Chattanooga and has fought hard for many years to ensure that the community keeps its citizens first. He truly is an amazing person!

Fitness news discusses that Tonal is in trouble and desperately looking for a buyer. If they don't find one , it could be an issue.  Peloton reports on hiring more gaming experts and hints about multiplayer gaming. Forme has decided to go public and introduces a $399 a month service that includes 1 hr a week of 1:1 training.  We discuss the attractiveness of this. Sugarbot launches its tracking app for Apple watch.  Mere and shel talk about "food tracking" and whether it's something they subscribe to.

In echelon news - Ashley Kelly is leaving Echelon to be close to family in BVI she will be missed. Are Mere and Shel a jinx??  We've had 3 instructors leave not too long after their interviews with us...    Mere talks about the "circuit breaker" row classes.  Starting to see Echelon testimonials be released. Manny Lopez has a new look!  Fun names and shout outs galore! 

We recap the prior two Snackdowns! and have a new one to commemorate Pie Month!

Mere has a great day with fancy boots and dog kisses.  Sheldon travels and rides a Peloton and uses an Assault Treadmill.

We want to wish Crystal from the Peloton based The Clip Out podcast a fast and complete recovery as she was struck by a vehicle when out running.  She will be ok, but was a bit banged up.  Fast recovery, Crystal!

Our guest today was a regular on the Clip Out and quickly became known as a connected fitness expert from those that heard his passion for the topic.  His Facebook group Run, Lift, & Live is a fantastic group where the dialogue is kind and interesting (fair warning though echelon folk - it's a lot of Peloton talk too hahahah).  What's also amazing about John is the passion he has put into his advocacy for the American enslaved.  The story of his work and research to tell the stories in this realm is absolutely inspiring.  Please support his foundation: alexbreanne.org 

Industry news is a little on the light side - Peloton starting to look like they are turning the ship in the right direction ... and may be a target for acquisition.  Lifetime fitness introducing beer to some of their gyms. Peloton drops 100 ride shirts for all and people are not pleased.  Stryde comes up with a way to measure power while running.

In Echelon news  - lots of fun rides:  several of the "groups" are doing a swarm ride with Reed.  Lindsay has her annual "break up ride" on Valentine's. We both toss some kudos out to a fellow rider.  TONS of shout outs and another SNACKDOWN!

It's episode 50!! We kick it off the episode with both of us (mostly) not sick! yay! Sheldon has a good doctor visit, Mere has some Oklahoma snow. We debate the merits of the Netflix show Kaleidoscope.  

Amber is BACK! She is part of our 50th episode and our FIRST repeat guest. She has SO much to talk about from being a new mom to the challenges she faced during pregnancy and after. We hit a number of aspects including combating your "gremlin" with your "Smurfette" and giving yourself SPACE vs. Grace. Amber brings an electric energy that can't help but make you smile and she is back on the rower every other Thursday! Follow her on FB or IG @ambermgmtfit. 

Industry news is hopping, Tonal raising prices on everything... but rumored to be laying people off.  Peloton adding live row classes, and also seems to be teasing potential tiered pricing. Nautilus and Bowflex launching some tech for weights and body movement tracking motion, rep counts, and adaptive weight targets.  we talk supplements and how venture capital is pouring something like $400MM into startups in this area each year.  Meredith and Sheldon give their opinions as well. Finally we talk about the $8MM invested in a wellness based company called Othership Lands that focuses on being a "social bathhouse" - ice baths, saunas, wellness and breathing. We discuss whether this is something people will enjoy.

Echelon news - Mari's farewell ride draws a crowd. Rowan's menopause ride with a guest. Nicole's 5-year! We've been told PB resets are on the plan to deliver. And Mere has all the shout outs. 

Sheldon can't remember that we are doing a "would you rather" for Snackdown and first says we aren't... it was a long day folks hahahah! 

Bye Bike!

Meredith went on another cruise - and got sick again.  Pattern??? hmmmm.  She did have a great time though and she tells us all kinds of fun facts about her trip and her favorite - Costa Rica!  We give a warm welcome to our new holiday season members.  You're gonna love it.  Listen to the instructors and have a great time. 

Ashley Kelly is our guest today - she was an Olympian for the BVI and we hear about her drive, journey, and experiences representing her country along with being an elite level athlete. We also discuss how she seeks to bring these traits to her coaching and intends to move from being an elite athlete to and elite instructor!  If you ask us, she's already there.

Industry news is all over the place this episode. Peloton is infiltrated by fake accounts with...um... explicit tendencies and are also hit with a $19 MM fine for issues related to the tread+ recall.We talk rowers as Hydrow launches circuit training, Peloton says you can work our 86% of your muscles in 15 minutes, and Tonal creates some kind of Rube Goldberg patent for adding a rower to their device. We talk CES and wearables seemed to be the only thing of note according to Fitt Insider. One interesting one - Baracoda - powers itself using your movement.  The wearable market is expected to grow to $139B by 2028. 

Echelon news included the "What's your finish line" promo, Vandon moving on, and SO many shout outs! I've also seen a lot of "output" discussion this week and been prodded to discuss it. Well, we have some opinions on the topic, but this isn't something we want to get into. It's an energy drain. Don't worship output. Don't worship riders. Don't worry about the miscalibrated bikes. The Bike does NOT use weight to calculate output. The stride DOES. 

We finish with a good ole' SNACKDOWN!

Find Ashley Kelly on IG: @ashleynatasha or @aktivfitnessxak 

While Meredith is on vacation, Sheldon gets to play! He pulls his favorite ... well, at least the ones he could remember and find .... snippets from the 2022 episodes.  Little nuggets of wisdom, laughter, and joy from several of the guests we had on the show in 2022.

Thank you for supporting our podcast in 2022 and I hope we can keep on entertaining you moving forward!

Sheldon has started his holiday vacation.... and is starting to already feel sick after spending 1 1/2 hours in the cold trying to help someone get into a care they locked their keys into.  Meredith had her office holiday party and was winning ALL of the prizes!

Our guest today brought serenity and positive energy with her and delivery it for Echelon as well as for her own adventure Mother Manifestor.  We learn all about Maria Manalo including her challenging journey from a difficult relationship to someone that discovered who she was and what her ultimate purpose is.  We talk about how she works to help others find the best within themselves.  We also learn that once again, the fitness world is well connected and a tight knot community as she tells us of her journey to Echelon.

In industry news, Peloton is selling refurb bikes in the UK on Ebay and there is lots of speculation about the tiered pricing plan they have been teasing for their digital app users.  They also launched some special action figures of a couple of their instructors ... they sold out in a few minutes.  Meredith and I then talk about which action figures of Echelon instructors we would want.Tonal has introduced a form correction that utilizes your phone's camera.  Kayne purge continues across others in the industry.  We finish with a discussion about the connected fitness market and how a recent report says it will grow 28% per year from 2023-27... that would be ... surprising.  

Echelon has some great sales.  20% all equipment PLUS free shipping.  Ex3 or Rower free if you buy a 2-year membership.  A couple of instructor debut rides - Meredith and Sheldon were both there for Jaime's and it was awesome.  There has also been some buzz that Echelon is launching a new treadmill product at Costco in early January!  Can't wait to see what this is!  Eden runs a 1/2 marathon ... but never trains more than 4 miles and she relied on other modalities to build endurance.  Ginger Princess also tackled a tough race that last time dealt her some injuries.

We discuss the Snackdown! Holiday Special showdown and launch a new one about the best "Holiday inspired flavor".

Meredith is ill!  And not in the Beastie Boys way - she caught a bug and it still shaking it, but that doesn't stop her from being a trooper and showing up.  She tells us about her cruise and we discuss our Thanksgiving holidays and the concept of winter blues or holiday cheer.

Our guest today we just found out will be leaving Echelon to pursue some other endeavors, but luckily his interview was full of great content!  Nick Carrier is FULL of energy and drive.   We talk about his journey to fitness and how he decided to pursue a path of entrepreneurship.  He has a fantastic podcast call The Best You podcast and we talk about how it started with a series of letters and articles shared between Nick and his brother.  We discuss motivation, and brining energy to everything you do "This ain't tee ball baby", he said!  Tons of great insight and advice to boot.  Find Nick at nickcarrier.com and @carrier_bestyou at Instagram.

Lots of industry news.  Hydrow launches a series of new colors for their Wave rower and their CEO gives some... opinions... about Peloton entering the rower game.  It was a bit of a masterful burn.  Peloton and Amazon extend their relationship.  Forme files for IPO.  Tonal... may have some financial woes.  Black Friday deals from many including Echelon.  Some fantastic deals if you're interested in new equipment!

In Echelon news, Thanksgiving rides, Ryn Birthday Ride, and Eden Echeversary ride top the charts.  Some news and important things to know if you're interested in riding in studio.  We give Mere's voice a rest so no show shout outs, but we will post them!

Snackdown! Holiday Children's Special edition.

Hope to report next time on the Echelection survey!

We decided to try something a little different for this episode.  Since we just went through the U.S. mid-term elections, we wanted to have a little election of our own - podcast style!  We go heads up - Snackdown! like - with a whole series of questions ranging from "best class type to let the rage out" to "best workout recovery beverage".  Two options are given - Meredith chooses, we each defend!  Each question also comes with some discussion that we hope you'll all find fun too.

We do a little bit of industry news and Echelon "stuff" as well in this one.  

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We open up with Halloween hijinks.  Mere watches jazz, Sheldon negotiates with the "Kit Kat" kid.  We also discuss if we were the children of Gods who would our parents be.  (Hey, don't judge, our podcast, our rules)

Our guest today is Monkeys' Uncle himself Abe Kelledjian, a Canadian rider and a member of The Eh Team - a group of Canadian riders that rock the house.  He was a super fun guest that immediately had a "sheldon" story when he was able to see a Big Bang Theory pilot.  His journey is such an interesting one where he escaped a civil war at a young age.  He discovered Echelon in a way many of us will relate to, and immediately connected with the community.  He tells some great stories about how the instructors changed the game for him and now he's ALL in!  He reminds of of some great lessons and has a great answer for the "Three Questions".  

Lots of news - especially on the Peloton front.  Eye popping comp for their CEO, a shaky earnings report, and a new "talk show / ride" for one of their most popular instructors.  We address "Kanye-gate"... briefly... that's all we will say about it.  

Echelon has a BIG sales happening, equipment and gear for low prices.  Lots of folks stocking up.  Miami instructors invade Chatt!  Lots of fun duo rides.  Member appreciation week also brings a lot of fun to the party.  Meredith has tons of shout outs to deliver as well.

We wrap up the show with Snackdown! Results and  Native American Awareness.