On today’s show I sat down with Tom Hanley, a Marian University alum and four-time track cycling national champion who founded Indianapolis nonprofit Nine13sports to get kids active and teach life skills through cycling.
Hanley shares how he got into cycling as a kid, Marian’s prominence in collegiate cycling, and his elite racing path before a tragic party-bus crash on his wedding day killed his best man and left Hanley with crushed vertebrae and a brain injury, ending his cycling career.
He explains channeling grief into launching Nine13sports in 2012, including the Kids Riding Bikes in-school simulator program and a Kids Building Bikes workforce program, reaching 50,000 students in 2025. During the pandemic, Nine13 created Nine13 Logistics to move and deliver millions of pounds of food, emphasizing collaboration to scale nonprofit impact.
If you like this episode and want to hear more Get IN. episodes where I interview Hoosiers making a difference, visit getindiana.com/podcast.
You are going to learn about:
The Launch and Mission of Nine13sports
Kids Riding Bikes and Kids Building Bikes Initiatives
The Creation of Nine13 Logistics to Combat Food Insecurities
Thank you to our partners:
Elements Financial
Check out these great clips from the show:
01:39 Guest Introduction: Tom Hanley, Nine13sports
02:54 How He Found Cycling
04:35 Racing Before Lance Armstrong Boom
06:25 Marian and Velodrome
09:04 College Titles and Pro Dreams
12:34 2010 Party Bus Crash
16:04 Turning Trauma Into Purpose
19:53 Launching Kids Riding Bikes
21:24 Bike Freedom and Opportunity
24:55 Scaling and Building Bikes
28:46 Kids Riding Bikes
28:55 Scaling to 50k Students
29:28 New HQ Before COVID Hits
31:32 Pivot to Food Delivery
33:06 Building Last Mile Logistics
34:14 How Food Distribution Works
37:04 Running Two Divisions
38:45 Impact Footprint and Growth
39:31 Nonprofit Leadership Advice
41:10 Why It's Called Nine13
41:48 Future Plans and Food Hub
43:30 Solving Food Insecurity
46:52 How Hoosiers Can Help
47:54 Why Indiana Feels Like Home
48:48 Rapid Fire Bike Wisdom
50:59 Velodrome Racing Explained
54:03 Final Indiana Questions
55:43 Guest Recommendations
