About Miles Wide and its creator, Miles.
Miles first started mountain biking in 1997 when he saw “Mountain Bike” magazine in Penn Station, NY. A Trek Y33 stood on the cover in classic 90’s fashion: anodized purple and gray. Resembling what looked liked a motorcycle without an engine, Miles’ eyes were blown away and he had to ride it. At the age of 13 he couldn’t “legally” work at a bike shop. Instead he shadowed a mentor, Bob Harris, at BikeWorks in Greenville, NY. Almost everyday after school he’d go over to the shop and knag the heck out of Bob with questions like any 13 year old should. Every weekend he would change flats, unpack new bikes, vacuumed the floors and of course, asked questions.
That summer Miles went on a mountain bike trip in Colorado with a group called the “Biking Expedition”. At the airport gate were two counselors and a group of “tweens” from all over the US who shared the same passion for riding. They traveled, camped, talked bikes and road epic trails throughout Colorado. They stopped in Durango during the NORBA Race series where Miles met those same people he had read about in magazines months earlier. He was HOOKED.
Every summer thereafter he would take a trip with the company The Biking Expedition and rode trails in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Vermont and New Hampshire. At 15, he managed to break his Collar Bone and both his Wrists on a Gary Fisher Level Betty; Deer Valley Utah had gotten the better of him that trip. Though the crash left him feeling bitter, he had nothing else to read in his hospital bed besides Cycling magazines. This kept his hunger and knowledge for the sport strong. That same summer Miles’ favorite rider Myles Rockwell had a horrific knee injury during a downhill race. The following year Rockwell won the Tissot World Cup in Men’s DH. This gave Miles even more inspiration to keep swinging his leg over the bike. Eventually he was old enough to lead the “The Biking Expedition” tours and share his knowledge with young riders.
For the next 10 years Miles continued working at BikeWorks and watched the bicycle industry evolve. With his shop becoming more Road Bicycle biased, he was frequently asked if anyone made a pack to stuff in the back of his or her Jersey pocket. In 2008, a light bulb clicked, a sewing machine was purchased, neoprene materials were scavenged and the Sticky Pod was born. He continued working at the shop and sold Sticky Pods exclusively through BikeWorks. Word of mouth had spread and by 2012 BikeRumors’ founder Tyler Benedict was using one. After using his for two years he presented it to his audience as more of a “Product Share” then a “Product Review. This was the first time a Sticky Pod was exposed online. Before then the Sticky Pod was an underground/word of mouth product in the cycling community. After that review Miles had a new day job and “Miles Wide” was truly born. As time unfolds so does his ideas and creations.
The vision of Miles Wide is just that: A business that’s built around providing a wide range of cycling products that can meet the needs and wants of any rider.
