I'm going to tell you a story about a bicycle enthusiast named Milo. Milo loved bicycles and thought they were a great solution to reducing fossil fuel consumption, carrying heavy loads from place to place, and having fun with friends. Milo was committed to sharing these great tools with the world!

The first stop - a small town that had never heard of a bike before.

When Milo arrived, they brought 100 Basic Bikes. The bikes didn't have any bells and whistles, but they were reliable and sharp looking.

Milo thought: “This is a simple bike that anyone would want.”

So Milo opened a store front and put out a sign that said: “Hey, everyone, come buy a bicycle!”

Because people had never seen a bicycle before, nor have they ever ridden one, they didn’t know what to make of this mysterious newcomer. So basically, they ignored the shop and went on with their days.

Milo was perplexed - they thought this was such an obvious boon to anyone who cared about the environment, wanted more ease, and liked fun! So Milo started asking folks in the town: “Hey, why aren't you interested in my bicycles?”

And instead of Milo starting the conversation with the obvious proclamation like:

“Don't you see how this could solve all your problems? You don't have to carry your bags. Which before now, was probably causing you terrible back pain, which was probably leading to your marital conflict.”

Or

“And you don't have to drive your car anymore! Which before now was causing such extreme harm to the planet and probably really messing with your karma.”

Or

“There's just so many benefits to a bicycle. It solves all these problems you didn't even know you had. You are a fool to not buy one.”

Nope, instead of doing any of that, Milo listened and asked questions about what kind of challenges the townspeople faced in their daily lives that might be connected to transportation.

—

Through those conversations, Milo started to build relationships with people and the people got curious about Milo + these Basic Bicycles.

The Townspeople would see Milo carrying lots of things, they noticed that Milo didn’t have a car, and they noticed how fun it looked when Milo was riding their bike to and from work.

But they still didn’t know how to ride bikes, so they mostly kept on with their days.

Luckily, Milo was paying attention and they started to understand the townspeople more than when they arrived (obviously).

Milo realized that there was a barrier to entry and that the risk of buying a bicycle was not equivalent to the opportunities one might gain.

So Milo started hosting Saturday morning learn-to-ride classes that were free for anybody in the community.

Milo prepared by getting some Scoot Bikes. The Scoot Bikes didn’t have pedals or gears, so they were great for learning how to ride. Milo also purchased some extra helmets for participants.

When it was time, Milo put out a sign that said: “Free Learn to Ride Workshop on Saturday”

Milo personally invited all of the folks who they had interviewed over the past bit of time and those folks were, of course, the first to show up for their lessons.

Milo hosted a number of Saturday morning get-togethers and shared their knowledge generously as they supported folks to learn how to safely ride a bike!

Milo was pretty decent at teaching folks how to ride a bike, it's not a simple thing, but Milo actually got even better at explaining it throughout this process.

—-

Milo noticed that the townspeople really liked the Scoot Bikes and purchased extra bikes in case anyone wanted to bring them home with them.

After each class, Milo offered a small discount for anyone who had just learned how to ride and some of the townspeople purchased them!

The townspeople had a great experience with these lessons. They remarked:

“Oh my gosh, I didn't know I could do that.

“Gosh, I can see how a bicycle could be really helpful in my life.

“I feel so empowered to ride a bike.”

Overtime, Milo started to see folks all over town - scooting from place to place. And Milo knew that if the townspeople learned how to pedal, and if they had gears on their bikes, they'd be able to go further and further.

So Milo continued to host learn to ride courses for the townspeople. Milo also started developing their workshops to teach even more skills to the people who had previously attended the workshops and were already riding bikes through town.

This time, when Milo put out the advertisement for the original BASIC bike that Milo had brought to town so long ago. People were like:

“I have been waiting for this! - this is so great”

“I can tell that if I use gears and pedals, it's going to be even easier to ride my bike”

“Wow, this is so cool.”

—

So Milo is happy and the townspeople are happy. They're like throwing money and bicycles at each other. In a friendly sort of way.

But Milo has run out of the basic bikes - and they are miraculously no more on the way. So the townspeople start sharing or selling their bikes to their community members - when Milo realizes there might be a few specialized bicycles that could really help a few of the townsfolk:

Some people need to carry a lot of things and they actually probably need a bike that can carry even more things.

Whereas this other person seems to just go from here to the beach or back they probably don't even need gears.

A few of the townspeople could use a little extra boost every once in a while, when they get too tired to ride, so they might love having an engine.

So Milo started to order and build specialized bikes that were perfect for what each person needs and they started to carry them based on what was needed in the community.These well equipped and customized bikes were just what the townspeople needed.

Some time later, Milo realized that folks are running out of storage for their bicycles, and they don’t know how to maintain them, so they are starting to be difficult to use.

This time, Milo explores starting a bike share program. One where there's a whole network of bikes throughout the town. And people can just buy a membership and use those bikes to go wherever they are going. Part of the program includes maintaining the bikes, so they stay in good shape.

Suddenly the community is totally connected through bicycles!

You can imagine what would have happened if that shop owner had come to this town and offered a bike share program on day one would have been a complete flop.