Metier Moto Show | Episode 2 With Guest Marc Gore

Building Community One Ride at a Time

What does it take to build a motorcycle show from the ground up and keep a riding community not just alive but thriving? In this episode of the Metier Moto Podcast, host Brad Columbus sits down with Marc Gore, the founder of the legendary Cherry City Classic Motorcycle Show and the Salem Toy Run, two Pacific Northwest institutions that have brought riders together for years.

Marc brings a rare depth of experience to the conversation. From his roots in the custom motorcycle world to running a Harley-Davidson dealership, he's seen the industry from every angle and knows what makes a bike culture thrive. Brad and Marc dig into Marc's journey from the custom shop to the dealership floor, the story of how the Cherry City Classic was born and grew into a must-attend event, and the heart behind the Salem Toy Run and what it means to give back through riding. They also get into what it really takes to produce a world-class motorcycle show, why the riding community matters more than ever, and the hard-won lessons Marc picked up from years inside the Harley-Davidson world.
Whether you're a custom bike enthusiast, a show organizer, a dealership insider, or just someone who loves the culture of two wheels, this is a conversation worth your time.

About The Metier Moto Show

The Metier Moto Show features riders, advocates, and storytellers from the motorcycle community. We discuss the rides that test us, the people who inspire us, and the causes that keep us moving forward. Presented by Metier Motorcycle Lawyers

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:04

So 2016, you start the toy run. Yeah. Right. And you're you're working at the dealership Salem, Harley at the time. Yeah. You just all of a sudden one day were like, there's nothing in Salem for a good toy run. And you're like, dude, let's do this kind of thing.

SPEAKER_01 0:18

Well, it's it's kind of a loaded question. Um, I'd been with the dealership for a while. You know, I worked for Harley Davidson for 15, 16 years. Okay. And by that point, I'd gotten to a level where I was doing a lot of things that weren't like bike-oriented, weren't really community oriented. Right. And I was kind of burned on it. I wanted to get back into the community. I wanted to start being a part of these events a little bit more. I wanted to start riding. And um, I just saw that as an opportunity to really get back involved, you know. Um, and I knew it would be good for the the dealership as well. So it was easy for me to like justify, you know, all right, I've got this thing that I'm really passionate about and I really want to do. Um, because obviously, like the easy answer is we're providing Christmas for kids. Absolutely, yeah. You know, that's easy to get behind. I'm very passionate about that. No kid should wake up on Christmas morning and street, yeah, you know, not be visited by Santa Claus. Right. So that part of it was easy, and then it was easy for me to fold it into the business just because, as part of my job, just because it's the community, it's writing, it's you know, um everything we already do. So why not do it for a good cause? And it was stuff I wasn't doing enough of, right? You know, that's what was really burning me out is I got into the industry because I love the bikes, I love the people, I love the sense of community, and I love what we're all trying to do, you know. So the toy run was just an easy one, it was a no-brainer for me once I thought about it.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Right, that's cool. That's cool. So, you guys, so the way you do it for people that have not been around and correct me, you start in what a couple months before December, right? And then you guys have a tree at the dealership, at the Harley dealership now Timbertown, and there's a tag on the tree with a kid's name and what they would like for Christmas, right? And then you can come in and get that tag, take it, shop for the present, bring it back to the dealership, and then I know I've been there and you do the rapping parties and stuff, it's so awesome. The like you said, the sense of community is just amazing. Yeah, yeah. That that that part's like my favorite. Well, so I've seen the smile on the kids' faces.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

That that's fun going there and wrapping presents with everybody and just being around everybody and then yeah, yeah, and and the way we structure it, I mean, a lot of people don't realize we have to do so much fundraising throughout the year. I'm actually working on it now. Well, you know, I take a couple weeks off after the event's over in December, start working on a plan, and especially because this is the 10-year anniversary. I'm already working on a little bigger plan for more rides, more fundraising. So the Salem Toy Run actually puts on rides and bike nights and stuff like that through the summer. Um, and that stuff's a lot of fun. Just get the community together, everybody hangs out. We just happen to be doing it for a good cause, you know. I love it. Um, and then yeah, about two or three months before the actual event, I figure out the budget based on how much money we've raised, more money we raise, more kids we can provide for. That's awesome. I get with the school district, they get the lists, you know, and it's needs and wants. Um we're called the Salem Toy Run, but the most common thing we get asked for is socks. Really? Yeah. We provide more socks than anything. Uh socks, underwear, and jackets, and this year, blankets. A lot of kids ask for blankets this year.

SPEAKER_02 3:31

Wow, so it's kind of almost sad. Well, thinking about it in the big picture, man.

SPEAKER_01 3:36

It is, and and I've gone back through sometimes. I'll even like post reading some of these wish lists, and and some of these families are in such a tight spot that these little kids don't even know how to ask for like what they want. Like what they want, I consider a need. Yeah, you know, when a little kid is like shoes without holes as a want, like, no, you should be asking for like a G.I. Joe or a car or whatever as a want. That's a need. And and a lot of them are in such a tough spot, they don't see it that way. You know, that's uh that's sad, huh? Like I said, when I first started it, like a lot of the reasons were for me. Right. And after that first year, I think the first year we covered like 12 or 14 kids because I'm like, I don't know if this thing's gonna take, I don't know if the community's gonna get behind it. And I saw those wish lists and I saw those kids, right? And it was like, no, going back for me. Like that was the mission. That was just thinking about that was that was everything. The first year that I got a chance to really interact and see how hard some of these families have it, right? And what they're trying to work through. And I mean, they're all across the board, um, you know, just as far as what their challenges are, what they're up against. Um, it's I don't know, it's crazy. Like I said, it just there's no going back after that.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Yeah, good on you, man. I just look up to you. Uh the day we met, I just every single day I'm just like, dude, what you're doing, just everything else you do blows my mind. But with that, it's just like bravo, man. I that's badass.

SPEAKER_01 5:10

I appreciate it. And um, I've always said that event it's for the community, by the community. Right, you know, people like you that come out and help us, like you said, man. You don't wrap gifts, but you run gifts and you help everybody, you know, in the same way. So do I. Yeah. So about every year I rap like two gifts, right? And that's it. And it's usually like last night, last minute, night before I gotta have this done. I don't rap, it's you do plenty.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

You do plenty, bro. You do plenty.

SPEAKER_01 5:38

But no, it's it's um nothing can happen without the community getting behind it. Absolutely, you know, and and I've been really fortunate that we've been able to keep that community or that event going, and the community has really resonated with it, and and it just uh it keeps driving, and and every year I feel better and better about it.

SPEAKER_02 5:57

Awesome, awesome. Well, yeah. We need it we need to talk off camera. I want to help more. I want to help more. We'll we'll talk off camera. We come up with something.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

10 year anniversary. Yeah, good year.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

I I like that. I like that. Um okay, so let's get that, let's get down to the nitty gree. Let's find out who Mark is here. All right. Been riding motorcycles all your life?

SPEAKER_01 6:20

You know, I have. Um, my dad was a rider. Okay. So that's where it first, like where I first got bit. Um, when I was five, my dad brings home this Harley. It's an 81 shovel head, you know. No way, that's badass. My surgeon. That's right, you have an 81. We both have 81s. That's right. He rolls up, he's got this new Harley, and you know, it's the 80s, so things are a little different. Right. I would ride on the gas tank in front of him. I'd put one foot on the air cleaner and then just let the other leg hang over. And then my brother would ride on the back. And I don't mean like just a one-time deal. We did that. Like, that was every time we got on that thing. Really? Oh, yeah. Oh my god, that's so awesome. That's when it got into it, into me was like when I'm five, like I'm rolling on my dad's Harley and having the time of my life, dude. I'm holding on to the speedo for dear life. Like, that's my handle. And you know, I loved it. Anytime he went anywhere, I tried to go with him. Right. And like if my brother couldn't make it, then I got to ride on a seat. Like, that was oh, yeah, that's living. And you know, my dad was way into it. He loved it. We we like to ride. Like, I was always the hero in my elementary school when he'd roll up and pick me up.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Dude, that's like every boy's well, every kid's dream be dropped off by your dad on a Harley.

SPEAKER_01 7:37

Come on. Yeah. So, like five years old, I just got bit. And then he ended up having to sell it. And um, you know, so we didn't ride for a lot of a long time in there. We got into sports, hunting, like everything else. And then when I was like 16 or 17, the bug never fully went away. Like, I have first day of school picks in the fourth, fifth grade, and I'm wearing like a Harley shirt. Yes, you know, yeah. Um, the bug never fully went away, but when I was about 16, starting to drive, starting to get independent, and like I got bit hard. I would I wanted a Harley more than anything, and that's when I first became like a little hustler, dude. I was like, okay, I can't get a loan. Right. Because that was the deal. My dad was like, Yeah, you get a motorcycle if you pay for it.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

You're like, all right, game on.

SPEAKER_01 8:28

Like, okay, I know you think that that's gonna keep me from getting a bike, but here we go. No way, so yeah, dude. I begged, borrowed, stole, like anything I could do to get some money in the bank to buy a bike. And then finally, uh, I think I was about 20 when I finally got my first bike. I my Sturgis. Really?

SPEAKER_02 8:48

That's the bike you you've had that bike this whole time.

SPEAKER_01 8:50

Yeah, I got that bike when I was 20 years old.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Wow, I did not know that.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yeah, so it took me like four years, but I paid cash for that bike, and uh yeah, it's a funny story. So I had this money, and I'm like, okay, I'm ready to go. Because that was the other thing. My dad was like, he's a Harley dude. Like he's he's a Harley man. So he's like, you're gonna get enough money to buy like a smaller bike, but I'm not gonna let you do that either. Like, you'll regret that forever. Okay, so you gotta wait until you get like the bike, right? So it's like a big twin Harley, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:20

Yeah, you're not getting no sports.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Yeah, late 90s, like that's the bike. So I was working at this gym for like a summer job, and I'm never late. I'm like, you gotta be on like I always tell people the easiest part of any job is showing up. The second easiest part's being on time. So I'm late to work this one day, and I'm freaking out, and I'm like in this giant hurry, and I go through this parking lot, and there's this blue bike on a trailer with a for sale sign. No way, yeah. But again, I'm like, oh, I gotta get to work, gotta get to work. So I haul ass to work, and uh lunch break rolls around, and I like sprinted to that parking lot. Like I've been thinking about it all morning, right? And yeah, it's this 81 shovel that's like in my price range, like right there. No way, yeah. So that's how I ended up with my surgeons.

SPEAKER_02 10:10

That is insane.

SPEAKER_01 10:10

Yeah, called the dude right then after work, went and bought it. Hell yes.

SPEAKER_02 10:15

Yeah, hell yes. That is so where is this you originally from Colorado? Yeah, right. That's so this is all in Colorado where this is yeah, okay, cool. So that's you're just out of high school, got your first Harley, dude. Yeah, where do we go from there? Did you do college? Did you do yeah, yeah?

SPEAKER_01 10:34

So I ended up in college and I went to this really small town, uh uh school in this really small town called Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado. And it's like a little ski town kind of. Okay, and uh it's right by Crested Butte Ski Resort. So there's like 4,000 people total in this town, really small town, and I'm the dude with the Harley. Everybody knows me because I'm the guy that rides the Harley. Yeah, like I'm the guy in town that has a Harley. And again, I'm like 20 years old, and uh that was where like really it all started for me because this is pre-social media, so obviously, like there's no such thing as influencers, like I'm going down and buying easy riders, and you know, um magazines were my whole lifeline, and when I look back on it, like the bad thing is I didn't have anybody to ride with, I didn't know anybody, especially at that time because Harleys were still like prestige. Most of the people I knew that even rode were like 30 years older than me. And you know, they didn't want to ride with some kid on his four speed, they're all riding like Ebos, yeah, you know, daggers and stuff like that. And I didn't have anybody to ride with, so I'd just get on and ride. Just ride. And everywhere, dude. I took that thing to the grocery store, I took it to the doctor. I like anytime I could get on my bike. Or you could strap to it. I remember one time I was riding back, I lived about 120 miles from where my dad was at, and I was riding back to his house this one weekend, and I got up at like six in the morning, not even thinking, Colorado. It's like June, so I'm like, all right, this will be fine. And I got like 30 miles out of town, and I was so cold. I had to like stop and wrap my hands around the pipe and the motor and everything because again, I'm just this idiot that didn't know anything, so I'm wearing a jacket and like light gloves riding. Yeah, I was just pumped for the ride, and it's so awesome. Yeah, so you know, I would do that ride all the time, and and again, you never realize how great things are. There'd be days that I'm just like, Yeah, I'm gonna go back to my hometown, see what my friends are up to, right? Jump on, and it's like this 120-mile ride through all these Colorado windy highways, this Highway 50 that goes from Gunnison to Montrose, Colorado. It's some of the most beautiful riding in the country, and I would just do it for the hell of it on a weekend. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

I love that and there ain't nothing like doing that on a four-speed. No, on a shovel head, dude. People don't you don't have a shovel head if you've never ridden a shovel head, it's just it's a whole different experience.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

Oh, you're missing out, man. Yeah, the torque all of it.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

You know, top speed might be 58 miles an hour, but yeah, and it feels like it's gonna vibrate apart between your legs, but hey, that's well, that's it. Because the the downside to a sturgis is with the belt drive, oh, that's right, you can't really change the gear ratio. Right. So you're kind of those things were made when like even interstate speed limits were like 55, 65. Right. Yeah so I mean that thing, that bike will pull a tree stump out of the ground, yeah, but it won't do 80 miles an hour.

SPEAKER_02 13:40

Nope, the electric car's gonna pass you, the little mini car's gonna pass you going down the freeway.

SPEAKER_01 13:44

But dude, I smile every time I ride it. It's the sound, the feel of a shovel. I love those things.

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Mad respect for that. Mad respect. I've always said, like, you know, people getting into wanting to ride Harleys, and you know, I think if you ride them, you should wrench on them. You should learn how to wrench on them and everything. And I tell people, you want to learn how to ride Harleys and you want to learn about Harleys? You should own a shovel head first. Oh, yeah. I teach you so much respect for a motorcycle, it's not even funny.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Oh, dude. So when I was first uh and I'm jumping way ahead here, but when I was first in in like a dealership service department, it was like 2005, 2006, and and the customer base was a little different during all of that. And I used to always like joke with the mechanics. I was like, anybody that comes in and buys a brand new Harley should have to ride an Iron Head Sports Dirt for before they do it.

SPEAKER_02 14:33

Yep, that's right up right, yeah, exactly. 100%. So you were at the were they that was beyond you wouldn't take when you started the dealership, you wouldn't take shovel heads. So that was still they didn't still take them, did they?

SPEAKER_01 14:46

So it was it was dealership to dealership. So when I first started in a dealership, it was down when uh Albany, Oregon still had a a dealership. Oh, okay. And that place was like the wild west, man. Like anything went down there, so the service department was constantly turning people over. So they didn't really have they didn't really have rules. Right. And uh I would take shovels in and work on them just because I knew them a little bit. Right, right. And um but yeah, most dealerships won't, and as as things progressed on, um even they stopped working on them. But yeah, it's uh I don't know. I love them. First bike, it's what I learned to work on, it's what I learned to ride on.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

It's yep, yep.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

They teach you a lot, and there's a lot of them out there, there's a lot of parts for them. I mean, shovels have been around long enough that dudes were building pro street bikes out of them. Yeah, dudes have built choppers out of them, like just about everything. Shovel's seen it all, a shovel's done it all.

SPEAKER_02 15:48

Mm-hmm. So you get the bike, you got the bike, you're 20, you're riding it everywhere, and this is in Colorado. Where do we go from there? You do the college thing now, and you're take me through take me through that. Give me a little give me a little. I we've been friends for quite a long time, but I've never really heard your story. So this is this is perfect. I I get all the get all the nit nitty gritty here.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

So my degree is actually in kinesiology.

SPEAKER_02 16:15

Okay, what the hell is that?

SPEAKER_01 16:17

Basically exercise science.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

No shit.

SPEAKER_01 16:19

Yeah, so I was uh I was a strength and conditioning coach for a college volleyball team.

SPEAKER_02 16:24

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 16:25

And I was doing like the the exercise physiology thing. And um, so I go down to South Florida because if you're gonna be in the fitness business, you're gonna be a personal trainer, that's where it's why not go to Palm Beach. Okay, okay, I see that. And again, at this point, I'm like, dude, what was I 22? And I'm in South Florida. And I get down there and I get my I get my bike down there. So it's funny. At first I didn't have my bike down there.

SPEAKER_02 16:54

Right. You're going crazy, probably.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, I'm like driving this truck, and I'm like, I live now, I live somewhere where I can ride 365, and I don't have my bike. So I've got this really nice Dodge 4x4 pickup that I had in Colorado. It was perfect there, but honestly, in South Florida, it was kind of sucked because like traffic's bad, like gas is horrible, and so my dad has this like little kick around Ford Ranger, and I'm just like, I need to get my bike down here, but I don't know how to do it.

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:25

So I come up with this plan. I'm like, I'll tell my dad, I'll trade him my dodge for that ranger while I'm here. Because at the time I'm thinking it's all temporary, you know. I'm just I'm just here for a little while, check it out, you know, see a different part of the world, and then I'll probably end up back in Colorado. So my brother and his buddy that we went to school with throw my shovel in the back of this ranger and they rally from Colorado to South Florida. Oh, yeah, dude, just road tripping it. And so they bring my bike and a Ford Ranger down to Florida and then go back in my uh we hit up bike week while they were down here in Daytona, and then they drove back to Colorado, and um obviously I never moved back to Colorado, but I'm in South Florida with my bike now, so I don't care. Yeah, like that's it. And I was even down there for a while where that was all my only transportation was my bike. Perfect, like it was perfect, it was awesome, right? And um I got it down there, and of course, it needed some like going from 9,000 feet in elevation down to sea level, right? It was running kind of crappy, and the the heat and the humidity was messing with it. Well, at this point, I know nothing about like really working on them, right? Tuning carburetors, timing, like I don't know any of that. So I ended up taking it to this shop called Red Racing, and it was a really cool spot. The full name of it was actually Red Racing Harley's only.

SPEAKER_02 18:53

Oh, no way, yeah, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

And the red was the original owners, it was an acronym for his initials, right? It was Robert E. Davis, I think, with his super cool guys, and I just start talking to them. And um next thing you know, I'm like hitting them up. I'm like, well, you know, I'm kind of mechanical, like I love these things. Cause at this point, I'm hooked. Like, all I can think about, I go to work just to make money, and then the rest of my time, all I'm thinking about is my bike.

SPEAKER_02 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

And but I don't know. At that point, I didn't know what I didn't know, but I didn't know much.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Right.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

So uh they have the they throw this big open house barbecue, and I end up going and it's a blast. They got live band, there's tons of people, South Florida, hot chicks everywhere, all the beer, the barbecue. And on the spot, they're like, Yeah, just come back Tuesday and we'll I don't remember, man. It was like eight or nine bucks. They're like, We'll pay you eight or nine bucks and you can come hang out and a couple hours a week, whatever. Oh, no shit. And I was just gonna be like a shop hand, sweep up, help the mechanics here or there, organize the shop, like you know, go pick up bikes for them, stuff like that. And looking back, like I was so fortunate that I got a chance to get into that shop. Because again, never working in one before, I didn't realize most aftermarket shops don't have a dyno, they had a dyno, they just got it because that was kind of a new thing, right? Yeah, this is like 2003, 2004. Yeah, so they just got a dyno again. This is the chopper boom, this is the biker build-off days. Right, they're right across the street from the horse magazine offices.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

No way, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:32

So I actually worked on the editor of the horse magazine's bike for the uh for a biker build-off down there.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

No shit.

SPEAKER_01 20:38

She was right there again. I'm just like, wow, working in this business is cool. I didn't appreciate like this opportunity under that.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

The horse was badass.

SPEAKER_01 20:47

Yeah, so they had a full machine shop too. Really? Yeah, so Tommy was one of the owners, and actually, he's still um on Instagram, it's still under Red Racing, but he's for my money right now, he's probably one of the best shovel head or Evo builders in the country.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

No shit. I definitely gotta look for it.

SPEAKER_01 21:08

He builds some really wild stuff, and because he's a machinist and has the equipment and capabilities, he does it all in-house, but he also he's got some style to what he does. You know, he'll build up an Evo or a shovel, it's high horsepower, runs great, but it also looks super cool and trade. Yeah. Um, so that was the first shop I worked in, and most of what I did, most of what I did was get in their way or mess stuff up.

SPEAKER_02 21:34

But you're living the life now. Now you're getting paid to work on motorcycles, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:38

Learning. And um it really showed me I didn't know as much as I thought I did.

SPEAKER_02 21:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

But they would let me like hang out off off hours, you know. Tommy uh the first ever horse build off that they did for the smoke out. Yeah, yeah. Our shop was one of the bikes really in it.

SPEAKER_02 21:54

Yeah, I have stacks of those from that vintage somewhere. I gotta find out.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

I'll bet you that bike is in there if you've got. It from that, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:00

I gotta find those, but huh?

SPEAKER_01 22:02

So Tommy would let me like I got to hang out in the engine room while he was building that because again, this this shop was legit. They had a specific engine room, had a clean parts washer just for reassembly.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Like, dude, you got the full experience, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:15

And again, looking back, I'm just like, I did not appreciate how great this was for me at that time. That's crazy. Um, I mean, I've worked in most, I've been in two different dealerships, and neither of them had the shop set up that these guys had, like, not even close. Wow. Um, and so it was super cool, but then I realized like the way I learn and what I know right now, right? I'm not gonna be able to like keep figure this out and and be efficient anytime soon. I need to go to school.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Um, so my brother and I actually he moved down to Daytona. I moved up to Daytona, and uh we got an apartment and went to uh AMI, American Motorcycle. You guys went together? He was a class ahead of me. Oh, no. He got there like five weeks before me. That's wild. Yeah, so we went to motorcycle tech school together. Really?

SPEAKER_02 23:10

I did not know another thing I didn't know about you guys. That's freaking awesome. I was gonna ask, uh obviously your brother got the bug um in the whole thing, too. So you guys went to school together, huh?

SPEAKER_01 23:22

And again, from you know, so I was five when my dad got his Harley and we were riding on it, so that would make Ryan like eight, nine.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 23:29

Same thing. I mean, it never left him, like he loved riding, and right, you know, the bike part of it never left him either.

SPEAKER_02 23:35

So what an epic upbringing, man. That's fuck. I can only dream I mean, whatever. I got into it, man. Got into him, but god damn, that's awesome. How did you get into it? How did I get into it? Fuck, man, TV. Harold Davidson the Marlboro man, dude. You know, I mean, shit like that, because nobody it's funny. I last podcast we did with uh Patrick from Mateer, um, we were talking about that, and literally he was saying how he was like the first person in his line kind of to ride motorcycle. I'm the same way. My parents rode an XS 650 from here in Oregon to Maine, down to Florida, and back on one bike. Dude, right? On a 650? Yes, I have pictures to prove it, and I always my dad gave me the pictures, and I always just had those, and I still have them to this day, and I just always thought motorcycles are so cool. He said, as soon as he got home from that trip, he sold it and never touched another motorcycle. Never really had them. Uh had some dirt bikes when we were kids and stuff, but nobody rode on the street, nobody rode Harleys, nothing around me. Yeah, even when I'm God, you know, throughout my life of doing the rodeoing and riding, I rode dirt bikes and raced single track and did a lot of the Enduro shit, but never touched a Harley, never looked at a Harley, rode street bikes, and then I met Jim. Then I started working with Jim. And uh God, I wish he was here, you know. Yeah, sorry. Um yeah, met him and he's he's he's what lit the spark for Harley's for me. No way. Yep, yeah. He's didn't know that. I used to make so much fun of me because I'd pull into work on my crotch rocket and he'd be kicking his shovel head. But I'd always be, I'd never had that. Oh, look at that piece. It was always like caught my interest, but I never let him know.

SPEAKER_01 25:20

You know, you couldn't put him over, man. You couldn't let him know he was winning.

SPEAKER_02 25:23

No, because this yeah, for the people listening, the guy we're talking about, I I worked with him, his name is Jim, and uh he passed away a couple years ago unexpectedly. But the dude was I called him the shovel head guru, and the dude knew just about everything you need to know about a shovel head, and he taught me everything, helped me build my first shovel head and everything. And well Mark knew him pretty well. He was a legit factory trained cat back in those days. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 25:45

Like he yeah, uh he was a line mechanic on Harley's back then.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

So crazy. So he he was the one that got me into Harley's. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:53

So so funny story, you brought up Harley Davidson and the Marlboro man. Uh-huh. Obviously, like the way I was raised, like that movie was up there.

SPEAKER_02 26:02

You're living that life, bro.

SPEAKER_01 26:04

Like, this is amazing. So the the shop I work at, Red Racing down in Florida, they have this big party. My first day is like their next day open after that party. It's like the party was a Saturday, they opened up on Tuesday, I was there. So the first thing, obviously, I gotta clean up the party, and they wanted to get they had this really small showroom with like six or eight bikes. They wanted to get that reorganized, and then they wanted to get the next bikes up on the lifts for um for their tax, for their mechanics, and they used to always be like, We're not tax, we're mechanics. So gotta catch myself, man. Like mechanics. Right, yeah. So um, first thing I do, I go into the showroom, and back then, this is the boom, dude. Choppers are selling for 70 grand.

SPEAKER_02 26:50

Yeah, you got the Jesse James thing going on, you got all those big guys going on.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

That's what their showroom was was like five or six, and most of them were consignment, but some of them were house builds they were selling. It's like five or six high-end choppers, and the dude looks at me and he's like, I don't care if you set on them, I don't care if you push them from the front, I don't care if you stand by it, as long as you don't drop it. Oh god. So I'm like, okay. So I'm tiptoeing these things, and I was, man. I was setting on them, and like, you know. Um, but then I go in and the first bike they tell me to put on a lift, yeah. Harley Davidson and the Mallbrook. No way, Black Death. Shut up. So it wasn't like Mickey Rourke's like the, but it was one of the movie bikes because apparently there's like two or three of these things.

SPEAKER_02 27:38

No way.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah, dude that owned a bunch of nightclubs in Boca Raton owned one of the Black Deaths from that movie. So my first day, I pushed that bike up on the lift, and of course, badass.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

If you don't know what that that bike is in that movie, is you need to look it up.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

Oh, yeah. If you've never seen Harley Davidson and the Mob Roman, uh-huh, do yourself a solid. I think it's on Amazon right now. It is like last chick that I dated. I was like, you've never heard of that movie? Oh, are you insane? Guess what we're doing tonight night. Go watch Harley Davidson and the Mob Roman. You'll thank yourself later. Exactly. Even if you just get a good laugh out of it. Oh, yeah. That's you know, so I'm like pumped. I can't believe it. And of course, this isn't no cell phones. Like, I still got the Milkia brick back then. You know, no pictures, nothing. Um, but yeah, that bike, one of those bikes, was actually there. Huh. It was super cool. Wild. Okay, okay. Only thing he had changed on it, he put a thunder header on it. I was at the time, I was like, ah, what do you do to that thing? Now I'm like, yeah, it was an epo. Yeah, it needed it. It needed it.

SPEAKER_02 28:48

Yep. Nice. So you go to school, AMI said, right? With your brother. Yeah. And then you're still in Florida. Now what?

SPEAKER_01 28:59

Daytona was like where you know the Florida stories, like that's where my Florida stories came from were Daytona. Like I was living it up up there.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

If you haven't been to Daytona, you need to go there too.

SPEAKER_01 29:11

And when you live there, you don't realize, or when you don't live there, you don't realize like Daytona bike week. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

SPEAKER_02 29:21

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Like spring break. I always thought like, oh, spring break's like a week. No, every part of this the nation has a different week. Yeah, so spring break was like five weeks, and all that stuff is back to back. So it was like speed week, bike week, spring break.

SPEAKER_02 29:40

What year were you there?

SPEAKER_01 29:42

I think by the time I got to Daytona, it was oh four, oh five.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

When you first went down there, backing up a little bit, was it oh like oh one, maybe?

SPEAKER_01 29:54

When I first went down to Florida 2000? Uh I was like two, three, maybe.

SPEAKER_02 29:58

Really? And you were in southern Florida?

SPEAKER_01 30:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 30:01

How how old were you then? Twenty?

SPEAKER_01 30:04

Twenty. No, I was twenty-two because I graduated college.

SPEAKER_02 30:08

We might have been there in the same time. I lived down there. I lived on South Beach for like six months. Oh, no way. Yeah, in 2000, 2001. Yeah. That's wild.

SPEAKER_01 30:15

Uh I was probably there after you. Okay. Oh, that's wild, man.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Yeah, that did, yeah. But Daytona, all the it just as soon as you start talking about it, I'm like, oh, I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 30:24

Oh, yeah. Yeah. No, Daytona was a lot of fun. Like Ryan ended up staying there, and he got a job at a bike shop, and he stayed there for uh a couple years after we graduated. There's no way I could have no dude. I just was too much trouble down.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Too much trouble, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:40

All I did, because that's one of the times where that bike was about the only transportation I had. Like, all I did was ride down to Beach Street, drink beer, and chase chicks. Like that was it. Living the lives, yeah. You know, and yeah, for a 23, 24-year-old, like that was dude, that's epic.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

That was as good as it could be. Nice. So there, so you got out of there. Where where did it take you from there?

SPEAKER_01 31:02

It's what brought me to Oregon.

SPEAKER_02 31:04

All the way from Florida, Oregon. Yeah. So know anybody, or oh, tell me, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Well, no, so it's it's a funny story. So back up when I'm in college, I get this roommate whose family like lives down in Corvallis.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 31:16

So again, I have all these like weird Jack Kerouac type stories where I'm just like, so I jumped on a plane and I ended up in Oregon. And just here's my life. So I'm I'm in Corvallis. Um, I think I was 21, and I just came out here for a week. Like, had a little bit extra time, a few extra bucks. My roommate was uh here with her parents through the summer. So I came out here and I spent a week here, and it was like July, of course, so it's beautiful. Oh, yeah. Here we went out to the coast, like I'm seeing all these highways, and I was like, this place is pretty sweet. I could ride here, yeah, exactly. So on the way back up to the airport, we happened to stop at this little dealership in Albany. Right. I like got a hat, flew back to Colorado, whatever. So uh when I graduated from Daytona, I put applications in all over the country. I don't care, I'll go wherever the work is. Right. And um, I remembered that little dealership, so I sent an application out there, and we were still in the chopper boom. So most of what I was sending out, I was sending out to like aftermarket bike builders and stuff.

SPEAKER_02 32:22

Right, not dealership, right? Because that's your that's your niche right now.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

So that dealership ended up offering me a job, and um it paid like 50 cents an hour more than another one. I think it was in Colorado that I was gonna go to. So 50 cents an hour, I'm like, I guess I'm going to work.

SPEAKER_02 32:39

Let's go.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Yeah, dude. So I loaded up and um that would have been 2005. I loaded up, put everything in in a truck, came this way, and uh the trip about the trip is I left when Hurricane Katrina was starting. Oh, no way. Yeah, I left South Florida, and I remember I was I just remember it so well because my original plan was to go through New Orleans and come up that way. And literally, like the day I left, because I was supposed to be like two days ahead of the hurricane. Right. And the day I left, I was like, I don't know, man, it might be a mess. People leaving town, like I don't want to mess with that. So I went up north further and then cut across. The hurricane ends up making landfall earlier than they projected. Oh no, I would have been caught in New Orleans during the hurricane. Dude, and uh again, I know nobody, it's I don't even have a cell phone at this point. Like, um, it would have been horrible. Oh man, I always tell people like I would have been the dude blasting out of town on a shovel head with everything I own left in the street, like all my shit, I don't need it.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Yep, as long as I got my shovel, yeah. As long as I got my shovel.

SPEAKER_01 33:48

So that's what brought wow, okay. So that's how I ended up in Oregon.

SPEAKER_02 33:52

Crazy. And you were at that dealership for like I said, that place was a trip.

SPEAKER_01 33:57

It was I always thought the wild west. Yeah, I've heard some stories. That place was insane, and it was just a free-for-all. Like, um, so I was there for a couple years and started out as a mechanic. I was working on bikes, like, I'm loving life, man. It's great. And then um that's where I started getting into like the management side, is I it was funny because I didn't want to give up my lift, so I would try to do both.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Oh, geez.

SPEAKER_01 34:22

And I would like be working on bikes while I'm scheduling the guys, and like I, you know, I did a lot of work at home at night just as far as like the administrative stuff, and um, I was really scared to give up the lift. I didn't want to, you know, but that's where I first started getting into like the management side. Okay. I was there for a couple years, and then um I had a really good rep from Harley. He was a service rep that I was really good friends with, and uh he ended up clueing me in that Salem had an opening, and and even Harley, like Harley ended up eventually shutting down that dealership in Albany, like they bought him out and closed it just really just because it was officials, yeah. That place was so nice. And um, so Harley knew it was not the great greatest place, and my rep was a really good dude, so he was like, Hey, the Salem dealership is looking for a service manager. So that was actually how I ended up in Salem at Salem Harley. Wow, was that Walker's at the time? No, it was Salem Harley, but it had only been for about a year. Oh, okay, okay. Yeah, that was 2008 that I started at um Salem Harley. 2008, wow. So you were there for what yeah. So I started at the dealership in Albany in 2005. 2008 started at Salem Harley, and then I left in 2021. Wow.

SPEAKER_02 35:44

Wow. And you were you moved up to GM, right? You were GM Yeah. Yeah, I was out in the store by the time I left. Right. For what, probably 12, 13 years you were GM?

SPEAKER_01 35:53

Uh yeah, I became the GM 2011. Okay. 1011. So yeah, I was 10, 11 years.

SPEAKER_02 36:02

You need to be a GM again of the local dealership. I'm just saying. Hint hint. Yeah. You always ran a good tight shift community, man. I know you do. I know you do. No, I appreciate that. It was always enjoyable going in the store when Mark was running the store. That's all I'm gonna say.

SPEAKER_01 36:17

No, I I appreciate that. And honestly, when I hear that kind of stuff, um it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 36:28

We can go to the store again. I don't care.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

You know what I like the most about Brad? He's subtle.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

I am subtle. I don't care. Uh I didn't say anything bad. It's a great story. It was just greater when Mark ran it. Sorry.

SPEAKER_01 36:43

Tell the truth. No, that stuff, you know, when I hear that stuff, it makes me feel really good. Obviously, we all like getting complimented, but um I don't know. I like to uh it feels good to know that I had an impact on the community here.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

You did, and you still do to this day, Mark.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

When my time there was done, that people were like, he did it right. That means a lot to me.

SPEAKER_02 37:05

I still hear it from lots of people. Yeah, so it's it's good and good on you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 37:10

Appreciate it. And yeah, I I say always everything, the toy drive, the Cherry City classic. Right. I cannot do anything if the community doesn't get behind it. Well, you know, you've seen a lot, you've done a lot, and if the community isn't willing to back you, you won't get anywhere.

SPEAKER_02 37:27

No, you're not getting anywhere at all.

SPEAKER_01 37:29

And honestly, if the community's not willing to back you, there's usually a pretty good reason.

SPEAKER_02 37:34

Yeah. It never pays to be an asshole. Let's just put it that way. Period. The end. Why not be nice to people and just yeah, be a good person? Yeah. So, okay, so you did the GM thing. What are you doing now?

SPEAKER_01 37:47

Anything and everything. Are you retired already? No. That's kind of like the the rumor, I think, that goes right there. But no, I'm not. I I work for myself and there's a lot that I do. I do a lot of marketing and events type stuff. Okay. Um, but the event side of it is really what I don't know, it's what I feel the best about right now is like being a part of these events. Um, one of the things I try to do, you know, is promote and push all the shows. Like I go to these shows, everybody's putting on some great stuff. Um, you know, you kind of started it with Pac West, just as far as these shows coming around, and um, you know, I'm happy to see that. There's more stuff to do, there's more stuff going on.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

Well, you do it, like you said, for the people, you do it for the community. That's I mean, what better? I mean, like you said, you didn't all have the community, you don't have a show, and it's just to see the smile on people's faces, and you get the people that come up and thank you for doing this. It's like, doing what? I'm just doing what I love.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

So well, and again, because it's funny, a lot of people don't realize when you work in a dealership, especially at the level that I had gotten to, you become really disconnected from the community, right? And you know, I always like you go to the bank and they're like, Oh, you work for Harley Davidson? That must be so fun. Like everybody thinks we just sat around and like drank beer and talking.

SPEAKER_02 39:10

And rode Harley's. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

The reality is I spent more time looking at spreadsheets than I did bikes, and that was a problem for me. Like, yeah, I'm not built to be in conference calls all day.

SPEAKER_02 39:21

No, uh, no, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 39:23

So for me, I love that stuff because it gets me back out into the part of the bike industry that I want to be in.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

Right.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

I'm with people that think like me, I'm with people that like the same things as me.

SPEAKER_02 39:34

Like, um is that is that part sorry to cut you off. No, is that the uh you don't have to whatever. Is that the reason you decided to leave the dealership? Or was it just are you burnt out period the end, or is it just you were ready for something new or do more of the event kind of stuff? Or all of the above, all the above. So I can see it, I yeah, I yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Reality is I was pretty burned out. Like we had pushed really hard for a long time. Um, a lot of people don't realize it, but that dealership was very successful, and we were cranking out a lot of bikes. Right. Um, we were right up there with the big boys everywhere when we we put up that uh second building and started becoming focused on used bikes. Right, we were selling as many new and used bikes as a lot of dealerships that are giant, you know. People didn't realize Salem Harley was one of the highest performing dealers in the country. Wow. And but that took a lot.

SPEAKER_02 40:31

Oh, it's a lot of people. That took a lot of sacrifice, a lot of sacrifice, a lot of your own time and a lot of yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

So I was pretty burned out, and you know, like I said, the toy run, it brought me back a lot of the joy, it brought me back a lot of that community feeling. Um, but it was just on and on. And I mean, by the last year that I was at the dealership, I didn't do anything but lead the ride for the toy run. Wow, like I gave them the budget and I was like, this is what we can do. And I had this great assistant named Laura who really like got involved with that stuff. Yeah, you know, yeah, yeah, oh yeah. Yeah, um, so she uh Laura and one of my volunteers, Heather, like basically spearheaded it the last year that I was still with the dealership. Wow, I didn't know that. And you know, it is what it is to me. The event being successful was more important than me being heavily involved in it, and it always it's always been that way. Yeah, but I didn't like that.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

I didn't like that like I you couldn't be involved in your own event that you came up with like my baby.

SPEAKER_01 41:31

I wanted I want to be involved in that, and it's important to me, right? Um, so you know that and corporate at the end of the day, dude. Yeah, there were mornings I was waking up and I dreaded putting my feet on the ground because it meant I had to eat breakfast and go to work. Yep. And that's not a place I want to live.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Nope, nope, it doesn't yeah. That's I've always might yeah, yeah. If you ain't happy where you're at, go somewhere else, man.

SPEAKER_01 41:56

Don't don't make yourself so I didn't really have a backup plan. And we were we were in the middle of COVID at the time, and you know, a lot of people don't realize we had our biggest years during COVID, like it got really busier than ever. So I'm like work, I'm burned out, but I'm working harder and putting in more hours than I ever have before because it's just booming, and um it just the year ended and it felt like it was a good time for me to walk away. Um, so my plan was I was gonna walk away and I wasn't gonna go back into the bike business at all. Like I wanted to ride, I wanted to like, you know, still bikes will always be a part of my life, 100%, right? But I didn't want to work in that industry, I wanted it to be separate because at the time I didn't see a way that I could still enjoy it, could still be part of the community and could work it. Yeah, I can totally see that.

SPEAKER_02 42:51

I mean, that's literally like we were talking about when we started the show about how I was trying to wrench on bikes here, and it didn't it didn't become enjoyable because I never got to go ride.

SPEAKER_01 42:59

Yeah, so I I totally feel you on that on a different level, but well, and even I mean, you know from that though, even if things go right, like it can create strain, you can create issues with people that you want to be your friends or that you are friends with, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 43:15

But you can't mix business and pleasure, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:17

You just can't, um and that was always uh something else that I didn't like about being in the dealership, especially at the level I got to, is it created a lot of like not tense but awkward situations where it's like I gotta be loyal to the company, I can't be your bro at the same time, yeah. Sorry, man. Um, and and get being able to step away from the dealership, like I've been a lot more open, you know. Part of the problem was I was so afraid of that that I wouldn't open up enough and be like, yeah, let's go ride. Yeah, I want to do this. Um, and then part of it was just I had no time. Like I would ride back and forth from to work, and then I led the dealer rides, and that's it. That was it. Yeah. Uh that ain't weird. Live. Yeah. So I I walked away and uh I was like, all right, I need to step away for like six months, and I need to take that six months and figure out what I want to do, start a new career, get into something totally different. Cool. All paths just kept leading me back to motorcycles, man. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 44:17

I love it. So you leave there, and then how did how did the uh for everybody that doesn't know, Mark not only does the Salem toy run, but he also puts on an amazing indoor, what'd you call wintertime show? Wintertime early spring, early spring, yeah, Cherry City Classic. If you haven't been, you need to go, it's amazing. Thank you. So how did how did that all come about?

SPEAKER_01 44:37

I'd been wanting to do something like that for years. And like I said, with the toy run, when I was still with Harley, I was trying to incorporate passion projects into what I was doing, but I still, you know, I try to be up and up on everything. I had partners with Harley, so I everything I did had to legitimately be for the business. And I kept trying to figure out how to do this and still, you know, tie in the business, and it just didn't work. Like I can't host that event at the dealership. The vibe's totally different. The obviously the venue is different. Um so that's how long I'd been like sort of simmering on that show was 2017, is probably when I first started seriously thinking this is what I would like to do, this is what it could be. And then when I left the dealership 2021, I started making some phone calls and started looking into it. And you know, in a way, it was a blessing that I ended up delaying it a couple years of just kind of things didn't feel right, wasn't it didn't seem like the right time. Obviously, I was a little nervous about it.

SPEAKER_02 45:45

Um I feel that.

SPEAKER_01 45:47

And then I finally kicked it off. And like I said, in some ways, I'm pretty thankful that I had that extra couple years to think it through a little bit more because I don't know that it would be what it is now. But in another way, like this would be year five, and I wish that I would have. Is this year five already? No, this is year three. Okay, that's right. Yeah, okay. It would have been year five if I kicked it off. I was gonna say, God dang, time really goes by because um so I go back and forth on that, but at the end of the day, I did end up waiting and uh you know, ended up running it. But again, mics and community are what have pulled me out all along. We do a lot of charity stuff tied to that, which is also important to me. Um, so it was like just all these pieces kind of fit together.

SPEAKER_02 46:30

That's awesome.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

I love I I love it.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

It's it's I love it because well, not only it's right down the street, it's uh it's still and I I can attest to this, and I have sworn to myself that I will keep my show and I'm not uh putting any other shows down, but you see these shows and being in the community for all these years and going to all these bigger shows, and they keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and they become more and more and more corporate. And I know it's the nature of the beast, but I don't want that for my show. And I'm sure you don't want that for your show either. You know, it's still you know, you want more people to come, but you want to keep that still that homegrown community feel to it.

SPEAKER_01 47:15

Part of why I will get behind all these other shows is because they all have a personality. Yeah, 100%. I don't want to go all over the Northwest to the same show, right? I love like part of it for me is I love the ride. That's the part of it that's kind of shocked me is I love the ride, and then when I get there, I want to go to a show that's unique. I want to get to something that you know me and my buddies can hang out at and have a good time, right? But each one is a little bit different, a little bit different, yeah. Different bikes, maybe different people. The cool thing is a lot of the same people are there. So you do like I have friends that I only see at these shows, 100%.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

That's yep.

SPEAKER_01 47:54

Um so that part of it is cool, but yeah, I'm with you, man. I think each one should have its own personality, kind of its own flavor. A lot of them even have like its own style of bike. Like it's even if it's even if it's a chopper show here versus a chopper show um on the east coast or wherever, yeah. The flavor might be a little bit different, right? But it's it's um, I don't know. They're all just I love the shows, they're super cool.

SPEAKER_02 48:20

It's awesome. That was my that was my thing. Like when I was trying to think about doing my show, I would go to all these other shows and pick what I liked and what I didn't like, like you know what I mean, like and notice things. Like my biggest thing is like weird as flow. I want to have a good flow, it's gotta flow. You walk into it, everything's gotta work. And you know, I went to one show that was a not not the one show, but I I went to a smaller show in another state, and I was walking around. I was like, There's no garbage cans. You can't not have garbage cans. Like, I I don't know if I'm weird like that, but you know what I mean? Like after putting on my own show, it's like, oh, you don't have no, this doesn't flow like I don't know, I'm weird like that, but no, but it it's details like that make a huge difference, right?

SPEAKER_01 49:09

And yeah, you know, like I said, I I do a lot with other events and things that are aren't even necessarily motorcycle related, and it blows my mind how many people like look past those details. Yeah. Um, I was at one one time, there was like a multi-story, multi-building. There was no signage, there was no, like I saw about 25% of it, and I was like, You had no idea that there's three more levels ahead of me. I think I'm gonna get out of here, yeah. And then somebody was like, Oh, have you been over here?

SPEAKER_02 49:39

Right.

SPEAKER_01 49:40

How many people came in there and were like, This is it? Yeah, and then nobody came and told them there was more, and they left. Yeah, so like that stuff's important, man.

SPEAKER_02 49:49

That's like Mama Tride. Have you been to Mama Tride? No, oh, dude. If you're a showgoer, I can't believe you've you've been in the industry this long, you've never been to Mama Tride.

SPEAKER_01 49:58

So the first year on my show was the year I was supposed to go, right? But it was five days, it was the week before my show. Oh, that's right, because it lands.

SPEAKER_02 50:05

Oh man, yeah, but that reminds me because the tear, because you go into that building, and if you walked in, you'd be exactly it's been around long enough that everybody knows you go up, but like you walk in and you're like, This is it? And then you go, but there's like four floors of it, it's wild. Yeah, so man, we could talk for hours about this show stuff. I've been to so many, and I'm sure you have too, and just tell stories over and over and over again. Uh, what do you think about coming back for a part two sometime?

SPEAKER_01 50:31

Oh, I would love to, man. If you want to have me back, I'm happy to come back.

SPEAKER_02 50:34

Absolutely. Maybe we do it like after the Cherry City Classic that's coming up. What's the dates again?

SPEAKER_01 50:38

March 21st, 22nd.

SPEAKER_02 50:39

I'll be there. Yeah. Heck yeah. Maybe we recap after that and have some more stories to tell. Oh, absolutely, man. Cool, man. I really appreciate you being here.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Yeah, it's been a pleasure, man. Thanks for having me.