We recently connected with Brock Benson and have shared our conversation below.

Brock, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

My mission is to use cycling to enhance the culture and prosperity of the West End of Colorado without betraying the roots of our small towns and the families that built them with their bare hands. I also want to get every kid in my community on a bike. The West End of Colorado has been economically ravaged by the decimation of the uranium and coal mining industries. I see cycling as a tool to help create healthy culture, sustainable tourism, and contribute to the economical bounce back that this area desperately needs. My approach is to use my bike shop, Paradox Cycle, to lift up and support the families of the West End by refurbishing donated bikes and giving them to the people of this community who would otherwise not have access to a quality bicycle. In the last year I have re-homed over fifty bikes to children, teens, and adults alike. Through these kind donations, I am able to leverage grant monies to create the Paradox Cycle Trade Skills Program, wherein I use these donated bicycles to teach high school students how to build and maintain their own bicycle. They leave the program with valuable trade skill knowledge in how to use hand tools, scientific and mathematical problem solving skills regarding small scale mechanics, and a bicycle that they can use to help maintain their physical and mental well being. This year, I was rewarded a grant through the West End Pay It Forward Trust that will allow me to expand the Paradox Cycle Trade Skills Program into a scholastic work study program through Nucla High School. Qualifying students will spend several hours each week inside the bike shop learning the trade of bicycle maintenance while also earning work study credits applied toward graduation. They get a professional Park Tool Kit to keep after they complete the program as well as a bicycle which they will have built themselves. Last semester I also sponsored five students in a small PE class with donated bicycles and we spent the month of April riding bikes together. It should also be mentioned that I am the Director of Performing Arts at Nucla High School and I teach two acting/production classes on campus. This semester I am still teaching theatre while also helping to support and expand a new outdoor fitness program which will feature cycling, archery, disc golf, hiking, paddle boarding, fishing, and other outdoor sports opportunities relevant to the culture of the West End. And finally, when I have time, I write and produce a podcast about the history and culture of the West End. It’s called WEcast Colorado and you can find it on Apple and Spotify.

Brock, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born and raised on a cattle ranch in Nucla, Colorado and I grew up in the West End when coal mining was king. The Uranium boom had already busted and the town of Uravan was wiped off the map when I was about ten years old. Coal mining kept a viable economy alive so that families could stay in the West End and not starve. Ranching and coal mining were the two industries that sustained our economy and over the past thirty years one of those industries has been decimated and the other is getting harder and harder to sustain as politics and corporations seek to destroy small farming and ranching families in America. I was displaced by my parents divorce in 1990 and was able to finally find my way home in 2021. I knew the small towns of the West End had taken a hit economically but I was not ready to accept what I saw just under the surface of these once vibrant communities after I moved home and got settled. Nucla High School, the same one I used to attend had shrank to less than half of the number of students that were there in 1990. The grade school that I went to is being rented out to mormon polygamists who are using it as a sewing factory so they can provide income for their fundamentalist colony. Crystal Meth and poverty have moved into a lot of houses and property values in the Nucla and Naturita town limits reflected that. Some neighborhoods have become absolutely polluted with condemned housing, run down vehicles, piles of junk, all sizes and manner of relics from he past, hanging around waiting to have value again. Naturita was in especially rough shape. There was a commercial building on Main St. that had been boarded up for over twelve years and was for sale. It was the same building that I bought my very first hunting license from (it was a sporting goods store) when I was in the fifth grade, so I though it would be cool to bring the building back to life and put a bike shop in it. I honestly did not see myself running a bike shop when I moved home but after seeing the work that had been done by pioneers like Paul Koski and the West End Trail Alliance it was clear that cycling was about to move into the West End in a big way and I didn’t want anybody from the outside world who was out of touch with our culture to move in and try and capitalize on the foundation that they had no part in creating. We have a very rich and documented history here in the West End and it’s important that cycling does not betray the spirit of hard work and family values as it becomes a bigger part of our community. Being located in between Telluride and Moab, our towns are in danger of becoming bedroom communities to people who can’t afford to live in towns that are ruined by the upper class of tourism. We are also in a very strong position to catch a lot of the traffic that passes through the West End on the way to either one of those destinations. In doing so, it is important that our identity and culture be built into the brand of cycling we are creating out here. The biggest attraction of the West End is the vast amount of wide open spaces, forgotten roads, and back country trails that were left empty and abandoned by the mining industry. Also, the views. The views of the mountain ranges we are protected by are second to none and the chances of crossing paths with another person when you’re wandering around in the back country out here is very slim. It’s not easy living out here but the rewards we attain by having a close relationship with nature, as well as our neighbor, are worth the sacrifice and the adventure you create for yourself when you come visit will reflect that. And if your bicycle breaks down or you want something cool from the West End to take home with you can call 970-275-8310 or come on by Paradox Cycle and say Hi. I also offer AfterHours and Emergency Service to cyclists in need. Just call 970-275-8310 and I’ll do what I can to save you.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

This business it that pivot. I wanted to come home to the West End and live up on my mountain property and manage the forest while raising bees and maintaining the cabin and property. I had become burned out working as a cycling mechanic in Denver. The low pay and the culture of the industry in the city became pretty toxic. I met some great people, and made great relationships, but you will never get ahead in life working for someone who wants to keep you in poverty and could care less if you die tomorrow. Then Covid hit in conjunction with the worst administration in the history of the US Government running the show and it became quite apparent that the US Government is actually in the business of killing people and that unless you are generating enough money and willing to bend the knee to destructive ideologies you are going to have a very hard time with your identity and place in this world. I decided to move back home and fight to protect the last sacred vestige of hope that we still have the freedom to invest in. Our true culture.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner is also my life partner. We net twelve years ago at an event in Denver. Troy Masters works behind the scenes in everything I do and I could do nothing without his support and wisdom. My mother always said, “I know it’s going to be hard to find a person smarter than you. If you can, always marry someone who is smarter and has more money than you.” This is the best advice I’ve ever received in my life and it’s currently working very well for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.paradoxycle.com
• Instagram: Paradox Cycle
• Facebook: Paradox Cycle
• Other: WEcast Colorado (podcast) on Apple and Spotify.

Image Credits
Brock Benson