Speeding silently across a busy Wisconsin Avenue onto West Mifflin St., a rider approaches. His tall, gaunt figure is a notorious shape for those who have put on the miles, and he sits astride a 1947 Brooks saddle bike seat that resembles the texture of an ancient baseball mitt. It is clear at once that Gabriel Milliette-Bell, “Gabe,” is not a common bike commuter, but a devoted cyclist. The high-end yet classic Trek helps to reinforce that assumption.
“It’s kind of considered an antique these days,” he said although the bike is only a 2006 model. Wrapped around the frame is an extra heavy chain, not just to secure his most prized possession but also for the “training purposes” the additional weight adds.
Milliette-Bell, 25, has recently returned to school from a four-year hiatus. Previously he had studied Renewable Energy Technologies and Engineering at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.
“I quit the program to pursue full-time employment,” he said, but he became a Madison College student this semester after realizing his dream would need the knowledge taught in the college’s small business entrepreneurship program.
Milliette-Bell is currently delving into the business world and has already launched his own company. Organic Mind Foods, or OM Foods, is an organic food distributor founded on four principles that form the acronym SOAL. Sustainable, organic, affordable and local are the company’s watchwords. His goal is to take online orders and fill them with locally and organically grown foods at an affordable price.
Since biking is willfully interwoven into all aspects of his life, he will be offering bicycle delivery of the produce for those that do not want to pick it up. OM Foods will begin taking orders early in 2014, according to its website.
So it is no surprise that Gabe would take his two passions, biking and food, and use them to network his way into the industry. Last weekend he peddled away on the Wisconsin Food Festival Bike Tour. The tour is a 75-mile, five and a half hour trek from Madison to Delavan. His tie to was not just riding. He also organized it.
He said the course is “no iron man race,” but rather a leisurely ride avoiding all highways with little elevation change.
Those who purchased the bike tour ticket also received, among other things, a jersey he designed with obvious homage given to the Packers as well as admission to the Wisconsin Food Festival. The food festival itself was an event focusing on Wisconsin artisan food producers and the companies that sell their products.
“The bike tour was a small success for its first year,” Milliette-Bell said. “Only a couple of other people rode with me, but the weather was beautiful with only a little headwind for part of the day.”
Milliette-Bell had actually predicted the minuscule turn-out. Initially, he had organized the ride to be part of the Organic Valley Country Fair, but had to cancel after the Organic Valley headquarters sustained significant fire damage.
“I contacted the woman who hosts the Wisconsin Food Festival, and she jumped on board,” he said.
Milliette-Bell will continue to promote cycling events because it could be said it is in his blood.
“When I was a junior at high school in Viroqua, I participated in a 1,300 mile tour from Natchez, Miss. on up,” he said.
He also tells of his trek from Olympia, Wash. through Seattle to Eugene, Ore. and back to Olympia. “I’ve put almost 4,000 miles on this bike,” he said as he mounted it, adjusted his backpack and departed for class.