FIVE THINGS WITH THE WOMAN WHO MIGHT SAVE BICYCLE INDUSTRY
FIVE THINGS is a weekly feature on the Banjo Brothers Blog. It’s a short interview about life and bicycles with a notable person. This week’s FIVE THINGS is with the woman who might just save the bicycle industry, Arleigh Greenwald. For eight years Arleigh was the voice behind the popular women's cycling specific blog, Bikeshop Girl. At the same time she was running bike shops and working in bicycle advocacy. Like always, she's got a lot on her plate. The mother of two has a newborn, two start-up businesses and a new podcast. Her marketing firm Shift Up Strategies is helping bike shops and bicycle brands "build a better bike industry." Bike Here is a biking platform that works with cities and individuals to get more people on bikes. Banjo Brothers is pleased to present his week's edition of FIVE THINGS.
BANJO BROS: WHAT ARE YOU RIDING?
AG: My main focus these days is biking with my 3-year-old, and city biking. My goto bike of the moment is our Bullitt Cargo bike. It allows me to ride more than drive and communicate easily with my daughter so we can talk about what we saw, where we are going, and sing along to the latest Disney soundtrack.
BANJO BROS: WHERE ARE YOU RIDING?
AG: Where? Everywhere we can but by far my most logged ride is to and from my daughter's daycare (I work mostly from home). The 6-mile round trip ride is often the best part of my day.
How do we make biking less about the culture and more about what it can connect you to? I created Bike Here after user surveys from 1000s of "interested but concerned" people and this problem is my current focus. How do we stop focusing on upgrades and focus on getting people new people on bikes?
BANJO BROS: WHAT LISTENING TO?
AG: A selfish plug, but most of my "free time" with a job, 3-year-old and 3-week-old is producing my own bike industry podcast, Shift Up.
BANJO BROS: WHAT ARE YOU COOKING/EATING/DRINKING?
AG: We have a 3-week-old, so I'm living on coffee and girl scout cookies currently!
BANJO BROS: WHAT'S STUCK IN YOUR CRAW?
AG: For the past 18 months, I've really been stuck on how to get those "interested but concerned" people that are active in their lives but don't bike on a bike. How do we stop talking in a vacuum to other cyclists that are interested in the latest product, bike industry margins, or on the other side of the bike industry world - advocacy, protected bike lanes, and 3-foot passing laws? How do we make biking less about the culture and more about what it can connect you to? I created Bike Here after user surveys from 1000s of "interested but concerned" people and this problem is my current focus. How do we stop focusing on upgrades and focus on getting people new people on bikes?
MORE ABOUT THE FIVE THINGS INTERVIEWS FROM BANJO BROTHERS
A big Banjo Bros. thank you to Arleigh for participating in this week's edition of Banjo Brothers' Five Things. These short interviews about life and bicycles will appear every Friday on the Banjo Brothers Blog. If you liked this FIVE THINGS from Banjo Brothers you should check our our full series of past five things interviews.
Would you like to be interviewed for Five Things?
Use the contact form on our website to send us a note. See you next Friday. Also, since you're here, we do need to mention, Banjo Brothers makes a whole line of tough, practical and affordable gear for cyclists. Thanks for reading.