Welcome to Built on Bikes

Stories at the intersection of cycling, culture, and the business behind it.

Photo: Fredo Gerdes

The day has finally come.

My addiction to bikes has led me to do something I haven’t done since college: write organized, well-researched essays on subjects most people know nothing about. Okay, that’s a little dramatic, but you couldn’t have convinced me I’d be making cycling content when I bought my first bike three and a half years ago. A few crashes and cracked helmets later, my brain is finally crazy enough to fully send it.

Enough about me. Let’s talk shop.

Working in a job that intersects with founders and venture capitalists, I’ve come to understand that someone’s attention is a precious resource. With that in mind, here’s the Built on Bikes elevator pitch so you can decide if this is for you.

This weekly newsletter covers the evolving U.S. cycling scene, from gravel to road and everything in between, by spotlighting athletes, regional scenes, and the brand partnerships driving the sport forward.

Domestic cycling is experiencing a renaissance. Like it or not, entrepreneurs, strategic partnerships, and athlete branding are leading the charge. There's no shortage of content about new tech, race results, and athlete stories. But I believe there's room for more focus on the larger forces shaping the sport’s growth here at home.

Photo: USA Cycling

These are the questions I’ve been asking the past year:

• What brands, professionals, and entrepreneurs are investing directly into domestic cycling?

• How are athletes finding and leveraging strategic brand partnerships?

• How are regional cycling scenes like San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Boulder evolving with investment from international brands like MAAP and Pas Normal Studios?

These are the topics we’ll dig into together. My hope is to support the sport’s domestic growth while showing other passionate cyclists how they can get involved too.

I’ll end this first issue with the question that kept me from starting Built on Bikes for far too long: What makes me qualified to talk about the domestic cycling scene?

The honest answer is that I’m just a young professional with no direct experience in the bike industry. But over the past four years, I’ve worked closely with venture capital firms and have had the chance to talk with incredible entrepreneurs and the people who fund them. I plan to bring that same curiosity and focus to this project. You’ll hear from VCs investing in endurance sport, founders behind the brands that are backing your favorite athletes, and the storytellers shaping the sport’s future.

Alongside my business background, I’ve spent hundreds of hours consuming domestic cycling media and taking advantage of my California location to attend some of the sport’s biggest trade shows. Most importantly, I’m an active contributor to the cycling meme community. Seriously. I’ve made The Holy Spirit of Gravel laugh and have the receipts to prove it. If you get that reference, you’re absolutely the kind of nerd who will love Built on Bikes.

This has been a fun one to write, but even better editions are coming. I’ve already been having fascinating conversations with people helping bring cycling back to the U.S.

Stay tuned — next week I’ll be speaking with the founder of a successful Women’s World Tour team about how we can improve talent development in the U.S. and abroad.

Ride and rip,
Kyle Dawes