Surprise! It's Twotone in your inbox on a Tuesday!
We're 53 days since the start of 2021 and I can imagine this newsletter isn't the only thing not running like clockwork in your life. But, hey I'm not here to make excuses just making conversation. (And music suggestions.)
In fact, as the subject line suggests, I intend to talk about shredding (not literally, really I mean playing) until you're dead (yeah, I mean that literally).
Well, two weeks ago, Amsterdam was still covered in snow and I got out to sled with two of my fiance's kids and decided to bring an all-terrain skateboard we have at the office along too. Local photographer & new friend of mine, Will Lounsbury, caught the action.
"The opposite of play is not work — it is depression." – Brian Sutton-Smith
Well, of course, I slammed. But I got up and did the run again. That should be no surprise as I'm not bombing frozen hills because I'm wise.
My point?
It's gratifying to muster the gumption to go for the gold even when you're 'old'. And I'm only 36. Certainly an age compatible with pursuing a second career in extreme sports, haha! I know people ~15 years my senior that are shredding exponentially harder than me! (Here's lookin' at you, Mike Frazier!)
So, the next time you're second-guessing sending it, I say: opt to go full send. Your younger self will be proud you did and you'll still feel like a kid. (That is until you slam) 🙃
as always, thank you for reading,
Jon
p.s. Share the stoke & please pass the newsletter on to your friends & colleagues via a tweet, a post on LinkedIn, or a share on FB.
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❄️ 📷 : banner image courtesy Will Lounsbury
Riding
Inside / Out at Ted James Design
I'd debated not going to visit Ted of Ted James Design and just compiling the stories people tell about him. The chronicles of SuperTed! The stories people tell can seem fairly fantastic, however, worryingly most of the time they’re true. I sometimes wonder how Ted is even alive? If I were more superstitious, I’d say his spirit was too big for his body and so it spends all of its time trying to get out. There’s something in his eyes like the sort of superintelligence and frustration a sheepdog has about being domesticated, as though any room that he’s in is somehow too small, so his eyes dance about searching for exits.
📷 & ✍️ by my friend Petor Georgallou aka Dear Susan.
ride for a reason – orbit360.cc
The next Orbit360 opportunity to 'ride for a reason' starts on Saturday! Who's joining?
Pelago Launches Two New Front Racks
Long-time Twotone tradeshow party pals and clients over the years, Pelago Bicycles recently announced two new racks that look like solid options for 'basketpacking' or hauling mini panniers.
And you know what else is cool?
Pelago's Jaako Ojanen just had a skate edit featured on Thrasher! And they recently interviewed local Finnish framebuilder Antti Grundstén.
Learning
Stay Out of the Wind and Away From the Back
Ken Norton learned a lot about product management from bike racing. One lesson? Your “position in the field” matters and in Ken's case that applied to PM’ing at a big tech company.
When I read this (especially considering the cycling analogy), I thought of Bike Rumor merging with GearJunkie, Switchback Travel & others as well as Pocket Outdoor Media acquiring Outside Magazine, Outside TV, Gaia GPS, athleteReg, and Peloton Magazine in the same week.
Hardly the same micro-scale metaphor, of course, but made me think that both the teams at Bike Rumor & Peloton are now comfortably outta the wind further from the back than ever. Super stoked for both Tyler & Brad!
How content marketing offers a foundation for your PR strategy
Spoiler alert: consistent content marketing is the key building block for getting noticed by the press & getting in front of your target audience. This PR Daily piece by Josh Inglis, the founder of Propllr, a Chicago-based PR & content marketing agency, is an obvious yet relevant as ever reminder underscoring the importance of telling stories to drive credibility and awareness:
- Use blogs as proof of thought leadership.
- Send your latest blogs as an FYI to stay in front of reporters.
- Use webinar and podcast appearances to get speaking engagements.
- Let your customers tell their stories.
“PR” is corrosive; “reputation” is not.
“PR” is a corrupt concept, in the sense that if you try to “navigate PR concerns” about yourself / your organization / your cause area / etc., the concept will guide you toward harmful and confused actions.
In contrast, if you try to safeguard your “reputation”, your “brand”, or your “honor,” I predict this will basically go fine, and will not lead you to leave a weird confused residue in yourself or others.
Some great food for thought in the article and it's more than 85 comments.
More food for thought: LessWrong dot com is the origin of The Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), a nonprofit organization based in Berkeley, California that hosts workshops on rationality and cognitive bias. The author of this article is CFAR's co-founder and current president.
Whether you go for PR or reputation management, I suggest you slow down & write better emails either way!
Changing
Cycling Industry Pledge Survey Key Findings
In December 2020, Radical Adventure Riders conducted a 42 question survey with 123 responses from cycling companies, non-profits, and organizations that signed the Cycling Industry Pledge. The main areas where change and action are most needed?
- Workplace diversity
- Accountability mechanisms
- Engagement initiatives
Ritchey Staff Local Rides - Jeff Lockwood
My friend and Ritchey international marketing manager Jeff Lockwood wrote about combining and changing his few local rides in and around Antwerp together during the pandemic lockdown. Looking forward to riding with you again in 2021, Jeff!
Relive is hiring like crazy!
Relive was founded in early 2016 by three friends. (One of them, Yousef, is a friend of mine and former Twotone client at another company he co-founded)
Relive is now growing and changing rapidly with 30+ colleagues in & around Rotterdam. They're poised to double in size to better serves the over 11 million cyclists, runners, hikers, and skiers who use their service. Relive one of the fastest-growing startups in The Netherlands!
Inspiring
Dan Zoubek's 2020 BBB Coverage
I get that this may feel more inspiring for me as it's nostalgic personally and I'm planning to head back here this year but objectively, I think these images of the Bohemian Border Bash this past summer evoke what anyone who is stoked on gravel dreams of.
Incredible work, Dan!
And thanks for bringing us all together, Ondrej!