Several days a week, Gerald Johnson leaves his home early to join other top executives from Holmes Murphy & Associates Inc. for a regular morning meeting at Bike World West. The time is approximately 5:15 a.m. and talk of work is kept to a minimum.

Before many people’s days have begun, Johnson, a senior vice president for Holmes Murphy, Doug Reichardt, the company’s chairman and CEO, Nick Henderson, its chief operating officer and Jim Swift, its president, met up with a handful of other cycling enthusiasts for a challenging ride into neighboring towns. By the time the group returns to West Des Moines around 7 a.m., they’ll have ridden at least 20 miles, sometimes as many as 40.

“Last week, we were in Adel, Minburn, Altoona and Ankeny,” Johnson said. “We’re like Forrest Gump on wheels, covering all these towns.”

Even though it’s still dark out, early in the morning is an ideal time to ride Henderson said, because the traffic levels on the county highways where the group rides are relatively low. Each cyclist has lights and reflectors on his bike to make them visible to cars. The riding season is typically from early March into November, but the group generally follows a “40-degree rule” with the temperature and would not ride during rain.

“We’re all very competitive people and have gravitated over the years to the cycling sport,” said Johnson, who is 36 years old.

Henderson, 50, said he started cycling a couple of years ago because it was good workout he could do regularly with minimal pain afterwars. Reichardt, also 50, echoed Henderson’s sentiments as to why he took up the sport about four years ago. Although cycling helps keeps the extra pounds off, these men said there’s a bigger reason fitness is so important to them.

“In order to perform at a high level in the business and corporate world, you have to be in great physical and mental condition to have the stamina to compete at a high level,” Reichardt said. “Whether it’s a meeting or presentation or one on one, you have to be able to put energy into that, and the way you get energy is to be in good enough physical shape so that you can pull from it on demand.”

Reichardt said a few years ago, Holmes Murphy brought in a speaker who told the company that the secret to having a balanced life is to be in good shape. Having good health, the speaker said, builds a person’s energy, which can be applied to relationships, work and all aspects of life.

Johnson agrees that challenging himself physically carries over to what he can accomplish in other parts of his life.

“One tends to drive the other,” Johnson said. “It’s a complete structure of trying to be successful in many different areas – as a father, husband, bike rider and employee – and the only way you can really do that is to be in tune with who you are and be able to manage your energy.”

For the past two years, the Holmes Murphy cyclists have taken a four-day trip to Tucson, Ariz., in March to ride across the desert. And when they travel for business, they sometimes take their bikes along. Exercising with co-workers can make the routine more interesting, especially when the participants are highly competitive, Johnson said.

“We compete with each other on those morning rides,” he said. “Doug and I are always going at each other to see who is stronger and who can go faster. It’s really intense, but it’s a blast. In the wintertime, we get goofy and we compare the workouts each other did with their trainers.”

When one of the cyclists misses a morning ride, he can expect to receive some ribbing from his compatriots. “If you don’t show up, you get a lot of grief,” Henderson said. “There’s usually a voice mail waiting for you. You have the accountability to one another.”

During bike rides, Johnson said there isn’t much talk of work going on, or talk of any kind, for that matter.

“It’s hard to talk about anything when your heart rate is at 180, except how you are going to continue to pedal the bicycle,” Johnson said. “It’s not to talk about work, but to get out there and enjoy yourselves together. It gives us a common link to share with each other while enjoying the outdoors.”