“Reporting live from the beating heart of Nutmeg Country…
Cable actuated and opinionated…
This is Alt Bike NOW!”
As self-styled skipper and first mate of Rons Bikes Dot Com, Ronnie and Arya’s gently tongue-in-cheek take on what’s hot or not in bikes and bike riding is now served up as a weekly slice with their very own podcast Alt Bike NOW!
With subjects ranging from World Tour racing to real-life ride reports, what’s in Ronnie’s bike stand, and a regular swipe at whatever’s making them mad; this hour-long insight into the couple’s psyche—complete with homegrown sound effects and background birdsong—is an auditory delight.
Taking time out to discuss the life they’ve built together—from advice on first dates to cycling cosplay and the entanglements of entrepreneurship—Ronnie and Arya offer up a conversationally candid and laugh-out-loud window into their world.
cyclespeak
It’s lovely to see you both.
Arya
It’s lovely to be seen.
cyclespeak
You’re back from Portland, Arya?
Ayra
I got back last week. And then this morning, I hadn’t had my second cup of tea so wasn’t sure if I was pepped up enough to talk. But I’m glad I am.
cyclespeak
Well it’s so nice that you feel suitably pepped because it’s early for you and a little later for me. Which prompts me to ask, when you’re home in Nutmeg Country, whether there’s a regular rhythm, a routine, to your day?
Arya
It’s different for both of us. Ronnie likes a routine but I’m the agent of chaos.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
Are these roles by choice or inclination?
Ronnie
I believe we were both drawn together, in the beginning, because of those differing constitutions. Back then, my responsibilities were a lot less responsible. And I guess we were both looking for someone who didn’t take life too seriously.
Arya
That’s certainly true.
Ronnie
So we found one another and discovered we had similar brain chemistry.
Arya
We’re always on the lookout for new things to stimulate our thinking. So we get fascinated with one thing or another for a little bit and then move on to the next.
cyclespeak
What did the first moment you met look like?
Ronnie
We started dating 14 years ago this October. I was splitting my time between travelling a lot on my bike and working for my father as first mate on his charter fishing boat. Every winter I would head off on a bike tour and gradually grew to realise how inexpensively I could live. It was the early days of Instagram and I’d grown a bit of a following; which helped when I was selling the t-shirts I’d designed and the little wooden pipes that I whittled. And then one fall—running out of money—I’d come back home and went over to my friend Troy’s house. Arya was there…
Arya
You forgot to mention that your mother had said how you looked in pretty rough shape and it was time to come home. Which wasn’t too far from the reason why I’d also gone home after being a full-time climate change and social justice activist and getting a little burnt out.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
So you first set eyes on each other at Troy’s house?
Arya
But I wasn’t that interested in him when we were chatting over the kitchen table. Probably because he had this other friend that I was trying to pick up. But Ronnie just kept on interjecting, asking questions, and generally being very charming. So I guess he won.
Ronnie
Arya was over at Troy’s to borrow a bike so we just bonded over bicycles almost immediately.
cyclespeak
I can remember a conversation with some of my wife’s female friends when I was shot down in flames for suggesting a gentle bike ride would make a perfect first date.
Ronnie
Our first actual date was just that. We arranged to meet up at the beach near where I grew up and Arya rode over from Old Saybrook—which is about 15 miles away—just to see me. I was waiting at the entrance to the beach, picking wild berries, when she rolled in.
Arya
It’s funny to look back at it now but that was a long bike ride with three big hills. But Ronnie has really nice legs so I figured it was worth it. So maybe you can tell your wife’s friends that you need to get someone a little bit spicy…
Ronnie
The shorter the shorts, the better.
cyclespeak
And when Arya arrived for your date?
Ronnie
We went on the beach with our bikes and kind of cruised around. It was a beautiful, unseasonably warm October day…
Arya
And we’d both gone to the same beach as children.
Ronnie
It was low water so we crossed over to this little island.
Arya
I think we got a ticket for trespassing.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
Home very often features in your highly entertaining videos, Ronnie. And references frequently crop up on your Alt Bike NOW! podcast. But for a number of years you both lived on the road, crossing the country by bike. So what forms your sense of home? Is it a place, possessions, people, a certain way of living a life?
Arya
That’s a really deep question. And for me, I feel it’s very different as an immigrant and a refugee to understand what home means. For Ronnie, it’s a little bit easier. His family has lived in New England for nine generations. But it was something I used to ask myself when we were bike touring at the start of our relationship.
cyclespeak
And at this point in your life together?
Arya
My family emigrated to Connecticut with this promise of a safe landing and the American dream. As I got older, I wanted to explore and see what else was out there but I just kept on coming back. And I guess what I love about this place in Nutmeg Country is that it holds all the people that I care deeply about and all of my stuff. I know these roads, I know the seasons, the climate and the weather. So home is just that. The knowing.
cyclespeak
And you, Ronnie?
Ronnie
Like Arya said, I’ve got nine generations going way back. And growing up here, you don’t think anything of it. Just a boring place…
Arya
Filled with old people…
Ronnie
And it still is.
Arya
But now we’re the old people.
Ronnie
[Laughs] I guess we are. So I left here in 1998 to go to college in Durango, Colorado. Kind of sight unseen—back then you only needed the bare bottom of SAT scores to get in—but knowing that I wanted to be in those mountains riding my bike. And it wasn’t really until I moved to Austin, Texas, right after graduating, that I got more into road riding and began to understand how good I’d had it back in Connecticut: these quiet, quaint, bucolic settings we have in New England. But it wasn’t until my mid-twenties that I once again viewed this place as somewhere to settle. And now we live with a big part of Arya’s family and have our nephews close by. So I guess our priorities have definitely shifted. Which means I couldn’t be happier that we call this place home.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
I was thinking over your respective professional lives and wondered whether, rather than simply asking a direct question, if you could describe each other’s responsibilities?
Arya
So we run Rons Bikes Dot Com which is the online store for all of Ronnie’s creations and the things that we collaborate on together. It started out as a silly little thing—more than a decade ago—when I would put lipstick on Ronnie and get him to kiss the envelopes and packages that we were sending out because he’s the romance. But what Ronnie does now for Rons Bikes is to create things in the bike world that he really likes and satisfy his own sense of taste. He has really strong opinions on what works and what doesn’t. And I am truly a disciple of Ron’s biblical canon even though it does take up a lot of barn space.
cyclespeak
So what does that look like on a day-to-day basis?
Arya
Ron is responsible for all the communication and media. He takes all of the gorgeous photographs of not only the products but our lifestyle out here in Nutmeg Country. He’s basically the forward facing aspect of our brand: bikes, bags, and all those little accessories that make life so much easier…
Ronnie
And shoes…
Arya
And shoes too because Ronnie has really long, narrow feet and I have very small, wide, hobbit feet…
Arya turns to Ronnie
So what do I do?
Ronnie
You are the backend person.
Arya
Ron’s backside [laughs].
Ronnie
Which means Arya handles the purchase orders and spreadsheet stuff. But I always consult her before ordering colour ways because I respect her sense of style. And Arya also had the great idea to start our own Alt Bike NOW! podcast. She’s way more connected with the pop culture world—not that we’re particularly looking for trends or anything—and she’s the best model there’s ever been. When she lets me take photos of her, that is…
Arya
It can get a little much.
Click an image to open gallery
Ronnie
And when I need photos taken of myself, Arya’s behind the camera doing that.
Arya
It’s pretty much left hand, right hand. Because it’s just the two of us.
cyclespeak
You both live very beautiful but possibly unconventional lives. So do you, in effect, go to work and then, by closing a door, come home again? Or do the lines between work, home, the two of you as a couple, ever become blurred?
Ronnie
There’s definitely some blurring.
Arya
It’s kind of a tangle.
Ronnie
As we’ve mentioned, I do like to start work right after my morning coffee. Which averages out—between occasional dips in our swim hole—as eight hour days. Whether that’s emails, a lot of customer communication, placing orders, designing our products, working on bike builds—I like to put a lid on it right around four or five o’clock when I’ll go off on my daily bike ride. Whereas Arya prefers to start a little later…
Arya
I like to read in the morning which oftentimes means I get carried away with my book. But to address the tangled reference, I think we do have a problem with work and play being so interconnected.
Ronnie
We’ll go for a bike ride together but I’ll want to take a bunch of photos because to me that’s never work.
Arya
But I’ve got to get the socks on and the cap and that all gets in the way of me just jumping on the bike and riding. Which I guess is why I do a lot of solo rides if I just want to see things at my own pace. That way I’m free to get distracted by a flower and linger for a while.
Ronnie
Your rides are way more for you. Whereas I’ve always shared my rides. Something I’ve done since high school.
Arya
I guess everything we’ve built and the decisions we’ve made so far have been together. So maybe it’s an intentional tangling. Which feels…
Ronnie
Normal to us but probably weird to other folks. Not that I can imagine any other way for us—this is the fish bowl we’ve been swimming in—but it definitely has its challenges too.
Arya
I think we’ve got pretty good at talking about things.
Ronnie
We should be experts by now [laughs].
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
One of the tag lines for your wonderfully conceived podcast Alt Bike NOW! is cable actuated discussion. But does that extend to every aspect of your life together? Are you churning butter by hand, cooking over a range?
Ronnie
We’re not Luddites [laughs]. You can’t be so rigid in your life that you’re not using modern conveniences. And I’ve learnt to bend and sway with that over the years.
Ayra
You’re building an eTap bike for your Mom.
Ronnie
But it does have rim brakes.
cyclespeak
Because hydraulic disc brakes would be a step too far?
Ronnie
Exactly. And our reference on the podcast to cable actuated is a nice nod to the simplicity of the bicycle. Which, in turn, acts as a metaphor for life. Because there are certain modern things that are awesome and some modern things that just suck. I guess it’s up to the individual to decide what those are.
cyclespeak
So where does social media sit on this spectrum of awesomeness to just sucking?
Ronnie
The irony is that without these social media platforms, where would we be in a business sense? I went to college to become a gym teacher. And that’s most likely what I’d be doing; getting paid $30,000 a year to get basketballs thrown at my head. But the way we actually make a living would have been unimaginable back then—when I was going to my high school guidance counsellor—because stuff like this simply didn’t exist.
cyclespeak
So on balance?
Ronnie
We get to make our own schedule each and every day, and live a pretty footloose and fancy free lifestyle. So that part of it is awesome and it would be hard to give that up.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
And you, Arya? What’s your take on the complexities of modern living?
Arya
My attraction to the way we were—back in the day— is that I’m only one generation removed from living off the land. Both of my parents were farmers in Tibet, so that life—you pull a lever and that moves something—is a little bit closer for me. The eye’s ability to see what is happening allows you to fix things more easily. Not that we’re against new technology but we’re so strong on cable actuated because it’s what we know. Or what Ronnie knows when it comes to bikes.
Ronnie
It’s nice to know how something works. I can see a cable move but Bluetooth?
Arya
No idea [laughs].
cyclespeak
You both, very playfully, comment on aspects of cycling style and custom. And I was talking to John Watson of The Radavist about how all the boys and girls wearing Pas Normal self-identify with that brand—cycling is nothing if not tribal—but take a look at photos from your own Nutmeg Nor’easter and there’s a lot of metal bidons, bar bags, and Brooks saddles with bits and bobs dangling from them. So my question to you both is, are you happy to be tongue-in-cheek arbiters of taste? And whether you reflect or actually determine cycling fashion and trends?
Ronnie
I think it would be silly not to acknowledge that we influence cycling fashion and trends. But I try not to be…what’s the word…
Arya
Cult leader?
Ronnie
Perhaps not [laughs]. But I’ve always been a trend setter for as long as I can remember and there’s definitely a leadership persona about me. Which is why the word cult was going to crop up sooner or later. But I feel so passionate about bicycles because it was something I latched onto early in life. And that authenticity is what people connect with and perhaps explains why people choose to wear a leather chamois with woollen underwear and have all their bits and bobs dangling off their saddle. Especially if they’re getting tired of checking heart rate and power meter readings. Which is why what we do—out having fun in the woods, smoking weed, eating pizza—might have its attractions.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
I guess cycling is about choosing your tribe?
Ronnie
But that’s not to say we look down on other forms of bike riding. Over my 35 years of serious riding I’ve been the Pas Normal person. In 2005 I was wearing all Assos stuff. So looking at all the fads and trends, I feel like what I like to promote is holistic cycling. There’s room for all of it and it’s really fun to cosplay in all the different ways that you can on a bicycle. Because you’re putting yourself on display, it’s a fashion show, and don’t think of it as anything less. Have some self respect [smiles]
Arya
And a strong stance on ankle socks.
Ronnie
Absolutely. Because I love all that stuff. It’s culture and we should be celebrating rather than putting it down. Which is why the only scenes we do put down are triathlon and modern mountain biking [laughs].
cyclespeak
That seems fair.
Ronnie
Yeah, right? There’s no culture there at all.
cyclespeak
Through your advocacy and passion for life and living, what does it mean to be the touchstone for so many people invested in riding their bicycles? Is it a burden, a privilege, a little of both?
Arya
I’m very happy that people connect with what we do as that makes me feel less lonely in a big lonely world. The photos don’t lie and our Strava activities speak for themselves. But I don’t think about it as a burden or a privilege. Maybe because I don’t see us as the touchstone of anything. I hope everyone has their own sense of self in what they like. And if what we’re putting out resonates—if they want to come join our circus—then that’s good enough for me.
Click an image to open gallery
Ronnie
I think this is always where I wanted to be but never thought that I could get here. I’ve had such longstanding, strong opinions—you could say I know what I like—from my high school years when I was the only cyclist my age that I knew. And I raced the cross country mountain bike scene back in the 90s—wanting to fit in so badly—but I wasn’t terribly good at it and would end up at the back of the pack. And even my heroes felt a little distant in that pre-social media world—the closest you got were magazine stories and photo spreads—so there I was, not particularly academic, wondering what I could do.
cyclespeak
Which was?
Ronnie
I was slightly obsessed with working for Specialized. And that maybe—like in Good Will Hunting—if I started out as a janitor I could work my way up [laughs]. Which is why—considering these were my fantasies—my being where I am now and working with the heroes I had from that era is so satisfying. People like Frank the Welder who worked at Spooky Cycles which was based in Connecticut and the brand that all the cool kids wanted to race on. Not to say it was all planned out but it was definitely a desire to have a voice in the lifestyle that I love so much.
cyclespeak
You record each episode of Alt Bike NOW! sitting across from each other at your kitchen table. So what do you see in the person opposite you? The person you’ve chosen to share your life journey.
Arya
I’m always looking at Ronnie.
cyclespeak
You are?
Arya
I look at him a lot because he’s very beautiful and I like beautiful things. The UltraRomance character that he has is very much him but there’s so much more going on beneath the surface. He has incredibly kind eyes and I usually know how he’s feeling just by a single look. There’s this incredibly gentle spirit in him that the Buddhist in me really appreciates. And I love seeing him ride a rigid bike over trails because he makes it look so easy—which it’s not—and he has really nice abs as well. You can’t see it with his shirt on but his abs and his legs are extremely good.
Click an image to open gallery
cyclespeak
Ronnie, would you like to reciprocate?
Ronnie
When we’re at our best, we can radiate love from a mile away. Just an incredible feeling I get when we’re enjoying life together; a life of our own design that lets us thrive and be who we are.
Arya
What about my beauty?
Ronnie
I’m getting there [laughs].
cyclespeak
Please continue.
Ronnie
Arya is extremely intelligent—she runs laps around me—which I find really attractive. I like her curiosity and dedication to self-improvement; the way she’s always working on herself is very inspiring. And now we’ll get to beauty by saying I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful in my entire life. I’m obsessed, she knows it, and works that to her favour whenever she needs to. All that physical connection—the hand holding and snuggling—we’re way into it.
cyclespeak
And when you get to ride together?
Ronnie
That combines the two things in life that I love the most. I often pinch myself that I have someone this special in my life to share the day-to-day with.
Grateful thanks to Ronnie and Arya for sharing their stories.
Feature image taken by an unnamed 80-year-old passerby on Ronnie’s birthday bike tour. All other photography by Ronnie and Arya or credited individually.
cyclespeak 