Cultivating Relationships I’ve been thinking a lot about brain health lately. About how my mind is like a garden that when cultivated, it flourishes. My brain grows when I invite people to share more deeply in my life. From a male perspective, I’ll admit this hasn’t always been easy. Like many men, I was taught that strength meant self-reliance, keeping my emotions in check, and not needing much from others. That worked for a while, but now I'm sort of retired, I realize that the viewpoint of...
14 days ago • 3 min read
I’m Going Out to Play. “Move off the step and get out to play!” Mom urged us. I still remember the feeling of that urging — not just in her voice, but in the strong nudge of her bare toes, trying to wedge my little butt off the front steps of our rural home. “There’s nothing to do,” I complained. “Come on, you’ve got that whole field and forest. Get out there and play. Or I’ll find some work for you!” I scrambled away, rounding the house and heading down to watch the minnows dart beneath the...
21 days ago • 2 min read
I’ll Take the Stairs I think I’ll avoid the elevator; I’m choosing to climb the stairs more often. These days, as I write posts and feel my age, I’m more aware of that contrast. The elevator moves me quickly. The stairs? I look up the stairwell, feel the treads on the balls of my feet, and hear my breathing. This way is slower, and it’s visceral. Why are elevators always front and centre, while the stairs are harder to find? Elevators work best in a world that prizes information and...
28 days ago • 1 min read
Designed As a Kite Building a small startup team is more than just finding smart people who know about the product. You need people who move fast, work hard, and genuinely care. Also, some early team members have to be kite flyers. Kite flyers are people like Sam in the early 1980s at West Point Cycles, Geoff at Rocky Mountain, or Daniel at Reconcile. They gripped the line while I caught the wind. These aren’t just employees or even partners; they’ve been stabilizers in my flights. Looking...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Caution: Freeriders Ahead! Back in the '90s, the mountain bike scene was very serious: With cross country and downhill racers dueling for top World Cup honors; it was all about lycra and lap times. Michael Carroll and Scott Schneider were marketing the Rocky Mountain race teams in those years. A couple weeks back, Scott and I were reliving the birth of Freeriding; when a few snowboard, ski and bike riders just wanted to get out and have a little too much fun. Nobody had yet figured out what...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Hidden Side of RaceFace I groaned then crumpled, head on the boardroom table. I was sitting in a weekly investor meeting being grilled about the company’s financial position and prospects. “What’s wrong with you?” Murray asked. “I am so overwhelmed.” I sighed. Murray Sinclair* was a key investor I’d brought into Rocky Mountain. We were short of cash in the early’ 90’s; the exposure numbers were in the millions. I had taken responsibility for some bad financial missteps; but I never seemed...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
I Felt Like a Kid, Who Was Trespassing in Someone Else’s Story. 1989 EuroBike trade show in Friedrichshafen, Germany. I stood under the bright lights of the BIKE magazine show booth, waiting for my appointment with Uli Stanciu, the renowned editor and founder of the magazine. I arrived in faded jeans with an inexpensive colourful, printed shirt, billowing wide over my slim torso. Uli was impeccably dressed in an open-collared crisp white shirt and dark blue slacks, exuded a breezy air of...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Creativity Lives in a Dark Place, In the Mystery of Not Knowing. I had the torn-out Yellow Pages for "bicycle shops” spread across a Montreal city map on the passenger seat of my rental vehicle. In the back of the Chevy wagon, jammed in beside my luggage, was our first Sherpa “all terrain bike.” “There’s the next store. Why do I feel so nervous?” I muttered, turning into the slushy curbside parking spot. I hoisted the Sherpa over a snowbank onto the soggy sidewalk. A young guy held the door...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Dangerous yet Wonderful - My First Venture as an Entrepreneur I was a restless fourteen year old -- school wasn’t inspiring me. My family gave me security, but I was searching for something more – my own money, my own sense of control. Mom paused, turned from the sink to face me, potato in one hand, peeler in the other. “Why? What do you need that for?” We were a family of savers, and I knew just what to say next. “I want to start saving, start my own bank account.” Her answer was...
2 months ago • 2 min read