Ope! Bikes. with Mike Weiss.

My guest today is Mike Weiss, owner and founder of Big Shark Bicycle Company located right here in St. Louis, MO. If you ride or race bikes in St. Louis there’s a very significant chance you’ve come across an organized event or race that is sponsored and supported by Big Shark. With three store-front locations in the St. Louis area Big Shark’s mission has always been to share the adventure and passion of cycling with members of all age groups. Not only is Mike the owner and founder of Big Shark but he’s also a founding member of the American Criterium Cup, a Professional Crit Series composed of several races held across the United States.In this conversation Mike and I talk about the history of Big Shark, how it was founded, and what motivated Mike to take the leap of opening the shop at 23 years of age. We also touch on the oral history of cycling in St. Louis, the people who laid the foundation for our community, we hit on some of Mike’s personal racing experiences, and lastly we wrap up the conversation with the history of Gateway Cup and how Mike sees criterium racing, and the American Criterium Cup, evolving in the coming years.It was a pleasure sitting down with Mike for this conversation however I felt like we simply scratched the surface of the stories, history, experience and knowledge that he possesses.