Fast learns, slow remembers. Fast proposes, slow disposes. Fast is discontinuous, slow is continuous. Fast and small instructs slow and big by accrued innovation and by occasional revolution. Slow and big controls small and fast by constraint and constancy. Fast gets all our attention, slow has all the power. – Stewart Brand
Hat tip to Stowe Boyd for inspiring this week's intro theme with his nod to Stewart Brand's notion of Pace Layering:
Stowe's point is that, despite the widely held trope that the world is moving faster, "as if the planet were spinning more energetically around its axis." It is just a metaphor, or is it? 😓
"Culture has increasingly ceded authority to systems that mistake information for understanding and speed for judgment." – Yonatan Touval, The Iran War Is a Failure of Imagination
The rate at which we witness more bad decisions at ever-higher levels is sobering.
No question that the rate at which things (good or bad) hit our screens can make our heads spin.
I believe that a 160km day on the bike Saturday and a Sunday, spent reading and writing, is my own small win.
What does this idea mean in practice?
- 😴 Sleep on it – take longer to make decisions. Anything worth anything can wait at least a day.
- 📆 A Week Turnaround is Ok – hell, anything worth anything can wait a week! Give yourself time to research, prepare, consult, and consider!
- 📱 Turn alerts off – Stowe points out that the frenetic pace of our lives diminishes our ability to achieve flow state. You've gotta be able to lock-in to win!
- 📵 Airplane Mode – I have a no emails on rides rule. Shooting with my Fuji means my phone stays in my jersey even more! Maybe even stay on airplane mode on airplanes. We don't really need wifi in the sky!
- 🤔 Reflect on it – At Twotone, we keep weekly journals in an internal Worklog channel across the team and document progress and plans similarly for clients that are reviewed weekly. Take the time to percolate on the ground you've covered & where you're trying to get to.
Kinda puts a whole new spin on the phrase 'look pro, go slow', doesn't it?! ; )
thank you for reading,
Jon
p.s.
🎵 Some old releases last week that I've had on loop: Neutral Milk Hotel Live in 1997, The Replacements in '86 & Minutemen in '86!
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April
- 🇳🇱 14 MAAP Amsterdam PRIME Early Ride (6:45)
- 🇳🇱 14 False Flat Tuesday After Work Ride (5pm)
- 🇳🇱 15 Wheelrunner Wednesday AM Ride (6:30am)
- 🇳🇱 16 Gregario Gossip Club Thursday AM Ride (7:15am) & Fridays 18:45!
- 🇳🇱 17 Victoire & Distance Day at Gregario
- 🇳🇱 17 Kamu in Breda Turns 10!
- 🇳🇱 19 Noordt Bike Fest in Rotterdam
- 🇬🇧 23 Bespoked Pre-Show Mixer hosted by Quirk Cycles
- 🇳🇱 23 Mechanics of Joy
- 🇬🇧 24-26 BESPOKED London
- 🇳🇱 26 King of Amsterdam | Monster Cash-Up BMX Jam
- 🇳🇱 30 Technical Terrain Documentary Screenings at Workspace 6
May
- 🇪🇸 1-3 The Traka
- 🇳🇱 8 Bike Gear Swap | JOOP Schoorl (vintage MTB special)
- 🇳🇱 8 Dox Under The Tracks Nº15 w/ Sam Newbound
- 🇳🇱 9 Bright.nl E-Bike Party with TMD Locks
- 🇳🇱 9 Bike Gear Swap | Vogelfrei Utrecht (The OG-party)
- 🇳🇱 15 Bonanno at Echelon Cycle Sport in Amsterdam
- 🇩🇪 15-17 Fenderfest
- 🇩🇪 30 Mini Bike Fest w/ OMNIUM
Bikes
Post Carry Co. Premieres its Loomer case at Sea Otter 16-19.4
Omnium X Laser Launch 17 April
Claire Jencks Raced the 2025 Tour Divide. Here’s What Nobody Tells You.
Claire
A lot of wisdom in here & getting me in the mindset to start planning seriously for Taurus Mtn. Race later this year! Great write-up, Claire!
Ideas
“Abuse of power comes as no surprise”, one of the most iconic lines from Jenny Holzer’s Truisms series (1977–79)
It’s Just a Workshop: How Ciclofactoría Found Strength in Simplicity After Change
FC HYENA Is Turning 10 & Raising Funds For Renovations
Friends
Technical Terrain Documentary Short Film Screenings: 30.4
Jeff’s Indy Fab Crown Jewel Singlespeed
John Watson
Jeff has impeccable taste & this whip is no exception! He's also the first homie I sent the Aadam Jacobs story below to!
Aimless NYC features Jason Monroe
Radness
From Early Nirvana To Phish, A Chicago Fan’s Secret Recordings Of 10,000 Shows Are Now Online
Christopher Weber, Associated Press
When I saw this, I was like: whoa! And diving deeper, There are roughly 10,000 tapes with approximately 3 sets per tape so the archive likely is 30,000 separate performances! 😮 First one I listened to is below, a 1985 Minutemen show. (Then, The Replacements!) What an incredible accomplishment, digitized with the help of volunteers. I haven't watched the documentary about Aadam but it is here. More of the story. And the recordings themselves! (tip: sort by 'creator' (bottom left) to find bands you recognize.
I was a teenager in the 90's & early 00's but feel like I coulda been a teenager in the 80's! ; )
Thank you for reading!
Here's to learning fast & remembering slow this week!