Fifty-seven-year-old Lou Barone may or may not have known what he was getting himself into when he met his future wife on line through a dating service.  Growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin and drawing on his experience as a ten year Category 2 (mostly criterium) cyclist, he was fit from riding the 6-8 %grades and racing in his home state.

His future wife was a captain of her basketball team growing up and a later a sales manager for Dilavie Diamond Company in Thailand.   Four years ago, at 36 years old, she did not cycle in her home country because she would have been taking her life in her hands had she done so.  

But the two of them met, married and combined their professions as an owner of an Anytime Fitness (Lou) and a Thai food catering business (Zom) in Dodgeville, WI.  

What Lou learned in the meantime was that to finish a sentence or to achieve another person’s attention away (even momentarily) from his wife, he would have to be competitive in a way that he could not have previously imagined.  Zom has overwhelming energy and a personality that could light up a skyscraper.  They work the situation out in a dynamic fashion and are entertaining in the process.  

Their ultimate short term goal is to cycle across the country.  In her mind, Zom is already in Arkansas.