the philly bike expo
it’s been a week since we arrived in philly for the philadelphia bike expo. it was the very first time we took sad velo out into the real world and put ourselves in front of an audience other than the niche emo bike community that we’ve found on the internet. i’d be lying if i said my anxiety wasn’t working overtime in the days leading up to the expo. not entirely sure what it was that i was so worried about — would people understand what we’re about? would they give a shit? are we in over our heads? has this all been a giant waste of time?
it wouldn’t surprise me at all that a majority of the people reading this right now are all too familiar with self-doubt and imposter syndrome — two things i’ve wrestled with since i was 14 at least.
i tend to get obsessive over projects and hobbies — i dive in head first and learn as much as possible. i’ve done this my entire life with music, bikes, coffee, beer, and countless other things, but rather than focus on what I’ve learned, I have a tendency to compare myself to the people that still know more than me. it’s a self-defeating attitude that often holds me back and I’ve spent a long time trying to push through.
i’d reached a bit of a plateau in the months before PBE. i hadn’t written much for the blog, had some interviews fall through, creatively felt stalled with new ideas, and started to worry all of this was a big waste of time and energy. all of the changed the minute the doors opened at the expo on saturday morning and we started talking to people.
we got a few weird looks as people walked by and saw our giant flag reading “ride bikes. go to therapy” and “sad velo cycling club” — but those strange looks quickly turned to intrigue and people started walking up with smiles and genuine curiosity about what the fuck sad velo cycling club even was. honestly, sometimes we’re not even sure, so we just roll with it: “we are a mental health awareness and advocacy group looking to de-stigmatize the conversation around mental health. we also happen to really like bikes.”
the response we got was even greater than I could have imagined. people wanted to know more! the number of folks that thanked us and encouraged us to keep going was overwhelming. we ran out of business cards on day one and had to scramble to get more printed. we connected with multiple clinical therapists, social workers, and other mental health professionals all of whose enthusiastically gave us the thumbs of and many even asked how they could help.
people opened up to us about their struggles with mental health and the connection we felt was tangible. by the end of the second day, we’d sold through nearly all of our water bottles, made some incredible new friends, and most importantly, got the boost of energy to i so desperately needed to keep pressing on with this..
so yeah, i’m back in los angeles, evan returned to georgia, daniel back to indy, and adam never left boston. we’re working on some fresh gear in the form of t-shirts, new bottles, socks, and maybe some top caps. daniel has started the process of making svcc as legit as possible and working to lockdown 501c3 non-profit status. group rides are coming to a town near you — as long as you’re near los angeles, indy, athens, or boston.
now i’m going to use this last paragraph to shout out some new friends we’re beyond stoked to have made over the weekend. check all their shit out:
there’s a ton more but far too many to list. all i can really say at this point is, thank you philly. it was a beautiful weekend full of beautiful new friendships, conversations, and bikes. could have asked for anything more.
ride bikes. go to therapy.
