josh whitney

Soon.

2012-02-10T09:18:00.000-07:00

Winter certainly woke up from its leisurely slumber over the last few weeks, with Phil signaling a long haul to a steady spring. Two feet of snow remain around the streets and hills in Boulder, temps are in the 30s, and while the skiing is good in town (literally), I can't help but look forward to days in the dirt.

10 Things I have learned about Mountainbiking from Filme von Draussen on Vimeo.

Georgetown character shots.

2012-02-04T15:17:00.001-07:00

See the full gallery on Posterous

be FearLess and...

2012-02-03T11:47:00.001-07:00

Courtesy of Georgia Hill's winning design for COMMON's "Do Shit That Matters" typography challenge.

Coal - a musical fable

2012-02-02T10:03:00.001-07:00

A client today forwarded me a fascinating link to a project that provides a unique and creative take to the typical gloom and doom discourse of climate change, flipping it around through a multi-media inspiration oriented live action theatrical tour. Its the kind of thing I will expect to see FastCoExist profile in the coming months and is a perfect signal of our times where the virtual world meets the physical, to tell a story, capture the imagination and compel the audience to action.

COAL: A Musical Fable TRAILER from Littleglobe, Inc on Vimeo.

Bravo. And not-surprisingly, she's in Boulder today.

Learn more about the project at littleglobe.org.

turning up the base bass

2012-01-29T16:19:00.000-07:00

Fantastic day out on the 29er HT, possibly the last ride on her before its sold to make room for the black mamba. Great to be out in the fresh air high above Boulder, on dirt (and occasional snow and ice) with good friends, turning pedals at a medium pace for as long as we could. Funny how just a few weeks off the bike and some solid "cross training" on ski's makes me appreciate and love the bike even more. Never seem to remember that and its always so refreshing. On the bike and in life, variety is spice.

2011 bike rap.

2012-01-23T22:02:00.004-07:00

In the lead up to the last few races of my 2011 cyclocross season, I had reminded myself a few goals that had eluded me thus far: a top 10 finish and a complete, non-lapped UCI race, oh yeah and to keep smiling and enjoying this thing called the bike well into the dark cold days of December.

Thus far the fall into winter transition proved quite dry for the Front Range of Colorado, but that all changed in great fashion the first weekend of December, as temps dropped and an upslope storm dumped 8 inches of heavy snow across the region just in time for the Louisville race. Aptly named the Dustbowl, or Bowl of Death, for the terrain and typical CO conditions (dry, fast and dusty), race conditions got flipped upside down and we were treated to a serious case of hardman's cross. Upon getting to the venue to go through the normal pacings, I caught a jumping with joy Greg Keller cheering on the women's open racers. I'm all for racing in epic conditions, and it even caters to my strengths coming from the mountain bike and years of grinding away in the cold of an open air hockey rink in the dead of winter, but it does take a serious leveling of focus. Aided most effectively by embrocation too.

The race itself was total chaos from the gun, with some guys choosing to run at the start for the singular track that had just barely been burned in from previous races. I found myself at the front and managed to hold on for dear life, bombing and swaying through the snow, muck and mud, keeping each action as smooth as possible to counter the reaction overly emphasized by the conditions. A viciously long run up and through section caused by the freeze, melt mud really pushed my limits, but through the 60 minutes found a way to take 8th on what ended up being an incredibly fun and extremely rewarding race. Shower beer of joy.

The following weekend I took my first (air) travel trip to a bike race, packing the bike in a borrowed case bound for Bend, OR, with my two good friends Scott and Allen. Having never visited the eastern Oregon mountains and the town of Bend itself, I figured the last round of the USGPcx was a great excuse to make the trip out, and I was able to line up some work meetings in Portland and even got to visit with some old friends. After spinning out the legs on an urban assault tour of downtown Portland and along the gorgeous Willamette river, I picked up the boys in a tricked out minivan and drove West, through the temperate rain forest, over the shoulder of Mt. Hood and into the high and dry desert to Bend. Allen hooked us up with an amazing host family right in town and on the infamous Mirror Pond (one of my most favorite of beers) and suddenly it was race day.

Back to back days I pulled nearly the, and then actually the, last start number, not like I needed the extra challenge of chipping away through a field of 60 guys. But I had great legs, a positive mind and my boys with me to talk shop, and ended up racing super hard and having my best results of any UCI race weekend to date. All the training and preparation paid off with a peak performance and overall incredible experience racing with the nation's best. After getting taken out on the first lap of day 1, I managed to claw back to a 34th finish and the following day, taking no prisoners and in a rare 'totally emptied the tank' moment, took 27th on day 2, passing some seriously fast guys in the final few laps and finishing my first race with the leaders. The course in Bend was tremendous, well designed and to many dismay, quite similar in conditions to a Colorado race due to the lack of rain, but suited me just fine. The crowds and weather made for a great racing environment and Bend now has a supremely special place in my heart. The weekend was capped with the end-of-series party at a local bar, which while it started slow, suddenly mach'ed into a full fledged sweaty dance party with the pro-ho's cutting seriously loose, powered by shots of cinnamon whiskey and bad dj'ing. Props to Kabush for his moves, Nicole for her sultry samba and my condolences to Driscoll for his - good thing he's fast on two wheels.

I'd hoped to ride the emotional and physical high from Bend straight into Colorado States, but it wasn't meant to be. While racing is a lot about training, maintenance, and perseverance, it's also guided by the principles of luck. And at some point it runs out. I'd had a great 'bout of luck through the entire mountain season and into cross, but it caught me over the Boulder Cup weekend, rolling a tubular, breaking a spoke on the spare wheel then flatting on the backup's backup wheel during the race. I'd regained composure though through the month of November and found gear, form and performance hitting its stride through the Bend weekend, but that all came to a hault on the last day it mattered.

I'd had a good start to the race and was working my way through the top 10 into the first few laps, but something inside didn't want to make the pedals keep turning. I thought of Jens, nothing. I thought of all the work I'd put in to finish strong, that gave me another lap, then nothing. Lost a few places. I was going through the motions but not racing. I thought of friends in the muddy sidelines cheering, screaming and wonderfully heckling me on, yeah, that'll work for a bit, then psssssssst POP. The stars aligned just ever so right and I was done, slashed a sidewall on my rear tire, just on the wrong side of the pits, effectively ending my race for a good finish. Lady luck was out of the building.

But where some give up, I have to say I'm proud of myself for digging deep, shouldering the bike and running 1/2 the course back to the pits to grab a wheel and continuing on. The entire season, thousands of miles and hours, of trips with friends to far away places, to lunch time rides between meetings flashed across my mind as I hobbled my way through the course - did I mention I hate running? As I continued, my cadence increased and I started full on running, thinking further back to years spent on the rink with my Dad in the stands and what we as a family attributed to be the greatest impact my commitment to hockey gave me: dedication, desire, discipline, the 3 D's of hockey - converted into my current perspective, passion and outlook - have shaped my whole existence to what I do and how I do it. Appreciation. Wonderment for the connections through life.

I crossed the star/finish, Larry G. announced my misfortune to the crowd, the shoulders shrugged and I continued into the pits. Keller, god bless this man of cross, competition, and kinship, with a shop apron adorning a mud suit, orange construction gloves and perfectly clean Oakley's yells to me "where's your pit bike!?!?" I shout over, "yeah like I have one..." Without hesitation someone finds my extra wheel and the guys go to work swapping out the flat for a freshie, grateful, and off I went to finish in the best way I could what has been a tremendous year.

What a year. 36 races, amazing trips, new friends, exceptional growth, incredible fun. A big W started the season out in Fruita, an upgrade to Pro capped the mountain bike season and 3 months of non-stop cross, community and camaraderie kept the fires stoked late late into my best, and most fun year yet. Thanks to my team RockyMounts~IZZE and our other sponsors, thanks to my friends, work for trusting me to deliver, and our cycling community here in Colorado and beyond. Training and planning for 2012 is off and running, here's to another wonderful year.

For 2012, Corporate Sustainability Leaders Focus on Employee Engagement and Supply Chain

2012-01-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Where will your company focus its sustainability initiatives in the year ahead?

New survey results from corporate sustainability research and advisory firm Green Research show that, looking ahead to 2012, the majority of the businesses polled have decided to devote significant time and financial resources on two initiatives above all others: employee engagement and supplier sustainability performance.
The in-depth survey of nearly 50 top North American and European senior sustainability executives found that:

88 percent of companies plan to invest in employee engagement in 2012.
73 percent said they will focus on improving sustainability performance of their suppliers.

In addition, Green Research discovered that sustainability spending will rise significantly in 2012.

50 percent of those polled said their firms will increase spending on sustainability initiatives.
33 percent plan to add staff to their sustainability departments.
25 percent reported they will increase budgets of sustainability departments.

The report also includes insights regarding:

Carbon accounting
Ecolabels
Life cycle assessment
Corporate reputation
Sustainability reporting
Environmental credits and offsets

And interestingly, Green Research found that, despite there being several ranking systems available, the majority of sustainability executives rely on only two ranking indexes for measuring corporate sustainability: the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes.

As David Schatsky, author of the report, concludes, it makes sense for companies to concentrate their efforts on employee engagement and especially, supplier sustainability performance. A decade ago, concerns like these may not have been high on the corporate agenda. But now, in light of factors such as the volatile economic environment, increased supplier risk, globalization and climate change concerns, companies need to rethink their sourcing strategies to ensure continued success.

“Companies have good reason to focus on employee engagement and supply chain,” Schatsky said. “Engaged employees make things happen. And the supply chain is where the bulk of the environmental impact is for many companies.”

--courtesy of WSP's partner, Aravo --

For that 2:30 feeling.

2012-01-20T14:41:00.003-07:00

Scenery from inside the well appointed @oneononebike shop.

2012-01-18T16:53:00.001-07:00

To the snow line on cascade mtn. A good long day.

2012-01-15T22:15:00.003-07:00

further tease.

2012-01-10T19:20:00.003-07:00

dreaming of big winter lines. will they come?

Above Boulder, back to winter we go.

2012-01-08T20:48:00.004-07:00

Just off the back, of the front [w/ thanks]

2011-11-28T21:37:00.003-07:00

A belly full of turkey and my parents cheers and heckles somehow powered me to an 11th place finish at this past Saturday's Boulder Racing #4 at Westminster City Park - a super sweet grass power course with climbing, the grand staircase, bonus dirt and a deep field of Colorado's fastest dudes.

From the start, things looked promising. I avoided the obvious pile up around the first tight corner chicane, leaving a large tangled group. Half a lap in I was able to jump into the lead group of ~10 and we settled in, or at least they did. I was holding threshold tempo for dear life. Gaps formed over the next lap and eventually Tim Allen dropped back to me (wha!?) and Ken Benesh, my early season nemesis bridge up, forming a Feedback sandwich that lasted for the next 2 laps until the Wizzard caught us and formed a formidable chase group behind the lead train of Summerhill, Krughoff, JHK and recent Colorado transplant Russell Stevenson.

I presumed Pete had somehow got caught in the early pile up and was hell bent on chasing back up to the sharp end, and like the experienced racer he is, after catching on to our group, drafting off the back for a bit to recover, he attacked through the start/ finish uphill drag with 3 to go. I knew this was going to happen and knew I had to jump or otherwise be lost in no man's land. Somehow we'd put in nearly a minute to anyone behind us, and getting dropped here was bad news, and would have ruined what was otherwise a fantastic and damn fun race thus far.

The next lap, leading to one to go, resulted in my dangling, accordian-ing, slinky-ing, bouncing, whatever you wanna call it, I was on and off the back of those three guys a dozen times. Catching back on in the flat straightaways with what power I could push, flying up the stairs, hoping the HR would recover in time through corners in time to hammer again. Tire choice helped immensely through most of the course - the Clement LAS' were flying - but in the loose off camber back side section, I was getting dropped, slip sliding around.

Eventually, their pace increased (note the lap times) and my pace fell off. I'd pushed hard, real hard. Dug deep, fought back, gotten dropped then fought back again. Like a tenacious little focker I didn't want to give up, but with one to go, the elastic band snapped and after passing through the parents cheers, I cruised home, with a dirty mustache filed smile.

I cannot explain the joy, honor and profound happiness of having my parents watch me race. Flying through their cheers in a blur of pain and pride, it gave me speed I knew I had but hadn't yet harnessed. For nearly 15 years, my father, and most often mother attended every practice, every game and everyone moment of my ice hockey career. From the outdoor rinks of my youth, weekend road trips to tournaments, the 6am Sunday morning double practice sessions, tying my skate laces tight, a tap on the shoulders and a simple request: "watch you back". To the punk faced "I don't need you" years of my teens, playing on two teams, Dad was always there, watching the game, seeing my movements, looking and cheering on with praise. The ride home, a diagnosis of the day, offered time to reflect and bs about what could have been. And to bring this all back to the fray, to the front of both our minds and as a family an activity that we can all share together, win loose or draw, that is something I'm incredibly grateful and thankful for.

Cloud Computing Redefining Expectations of IT Sustainability

2011-11-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Back in September, I gave a presentation with one of my favorite clients, Peter Coffee of salesforce.com about the work we have completed together, and its impending impact on business performance, IT organizations within companies and sustainability at-large. Environmental Leader was kind enough to post up the video from the event.

Chain gang

2011-11-14T10:19:00.001-07:00

Well the hopes for a clean race were quickly squandered just a minute or two into the first lap of the race yesterday. My good ole chain came off again, making for a consistent performance, at the least. This makes about 6 or so races now that something has happened during a race on the mechanical side. Frustrating to say the least, but I know if I can just get this stuff squared, my form is coming around well for a strong season finish.

Slipping from 15th or so to DFL in a matter of seconds, I hopped back on, gritted my teeth and decided to work on my passing skills and down right hammering knowing that it would be near impossible to make it back up to the front of the group, even just on the first lap.

Training is definitely paying off though, and I was able to navigate my way onto the back of numerous groups of guys through the rest of the race, picking them off, sprinting ahead, recovering and then digging in again to get up to the next group, all against a heinous wind coming from just about all directions. I caught onto the back of Honey Stinger's Chris Brandt and we battled back and forth during the final lap, but I'd emptied the tank just getting back up to the top of half of the field and after the final uphill slog on thick grass into a headwind, I sat up for a surprisingly respectable 13th. Fortunately the chain didn't come off again. Seeing the final results sheet though, I knew this was my race for a top 10 finish and that realization stung a bit. Oh well, that's racin'. Big ups to Spencer Powlison who's on a tare at the moment, finishing second on the day.

I immediately headed for BCS to figure out once and for all how to get my damn single front ring set up correctly, and identified that the spacers are ever so slightly to thick on the outside. An extra link has been removed from the chain and new thinner spacers are on order, I will be damned if this isn't fixed for Sunday's Castle Cross.

[photo courtesy of Jim Heuck @sixdegreestoslush]

Cowbell saison update

2011-11-13T10:39:00.003-07:00

In a blink of the eye the seasons shift. A dozen race numbers litter the workshop shed floor, each progressively more dusty, dirt stained and muddy. Work's been crazy [good] resulting in a challenging travel schedule across coasts multiple times for mid-week meetings and presentations. The team is growing and demands more attention. Hours in the office chair cranking hard, powered by espresso and a vision for our business to grow and realize positive change for our clients.

Riding continues to serve as an equalizer to the madness of the day to day. Squeezing in rides between calls and meetings, flights and sea-level hotel gym spin bikes. Even more, the cycling community, my friends and competitors, inspire and embrace each other: at the mid-week throw down, from the start line, finish and to the bar where we relive the glory of the day, our own battles far from the sharp end as insignificant as they may be. Its been a blur of a September and October, and where now into the meat of the season, where the moderate temps and dry courses are a memory, replaced with mud, snow and spicey embro to turn on the legs.

Competing in the Open field has taught me a lot of lessons over this season and last. Mainly that I've got a lot to learn. While the mountain bike body of knowledge can be distilled down to hammer up and drill it down, cyclocross requires a quiver of skills that balances brute force against delicate finesse. Understanding the mechanics of racing and riding, pre-race rituals, course previews, warm ups, eating and diet, wrenching. This shit takes time, and practice, and making mistakes. Techniques so fine that they can cost you seconds and energy, multiplied across 7 or 8 laps and speaking nothing of endurance you make your own race a success or failure by bobbling a corner or barrier. Weekend mornings spent cleaning bikes, dialing in shifting and brakes, swapping wheels and rubber in my shed, tunes on, mind wandering between the present task and the laundry list of life. Ritual.

Much like the progression I've experienced from Expert to Pro on the mountain bike, the Open field in Colorado, leaves no room for error. A second row call up and top 10 start means nothing when you slip a pedal, miss a remount or flail in the sand. 20 guys are right there waiting for any mistake to take advantage and make a pass, creating rivalries for years to come. But that's what makes things so exciting, so action packed, damn fun and hard. Even more so when there's friends, family and fans cheering hard, heckling and only wanting you to succeed. Progression.

My goal this season is for a top 10 finish, and damn I've come close. With the season more than half over, and my peers only getting faster and another big UCI-elite weekend ahead, I may not achieve that goal, but its far from an indicator of performance or satisfaction. Just being out there with the community, my friends, toeing the line, battling it out and giving everything I have is often enough. Riding bikes just makes me happy and that is a beautiful thing. And having an elusive goal just barely within reach keeps motivation high, because this is a life sport, activity and pastime.

Hoping that today I can race clean, transition a good start into a sustained effort, have no dropped chains and that when, not if, I get passed, I jump hard, maintain contact and finish strong.

Frisco CX Day 1 - Chasing Mike Friedberg up the main, steep and loose climb for 13th place

Interlocken - Everyone has nightmares about the powersucking grass - mine was a living horror with a 27th placing implosion preceded by a great start but huge dab on the long off camber section

USGPcx Fort Collins Day 1 - Temps hovered at 40, rain blasted the course all day creating a muddy slip and slide epic battle to not get lapped by the nation's best. I did, but walked away with a grit filled smile and redemption on Day 2.

Boulder Cup - Flat tires, broken spokes and a total loss of my mental sanity resulted in a rough go. Not to mention the hardest course I'd ever ridden to date. With an early winter storm dropping enough snow and precip to create every course condition imaginable, Valmont Bike Park delivered beyond expectations.

Boulder Cup - Motivation on the 5280 stairs

Colorado Cross Classic - Put on by our team, the day went well and the course might have been the best yet at the Rez. Full on suffer face trying to fend of a chasing Ross Holbrook for my best UCI result to date, 34th

Schoolyard CX - After a mental, emotional & physical reset, my expectations were let go and I had one of my best races of the year, dangling in and out of the top 10, finishing 11th on the day.

[various photos courtesy of Mountain Moon Photography, SportifImages]

a taste of winter, flatirons in early morning light

2011-10-28T10:18:00.000-06:00

Big Bad and now likely mostly MUDDY - Boulder Cyclocross UCI Weekend 2012

2011-10-26T16:45:00.002-06:00

The biggest baddest weekend of bike racing is back in Boulder and your attendance is requested. My team is putting on this Saturday's race out at the Boulder Rez, with Sunday's race at Valmont Bike Park. Both days should be fantastic, with great weather predicted and the precip/snow from this current storm is going to make things muddy and very exciting for the fans and challenging for the athletes.

Both days should have 1000+ fans, film crews from cyclingdirt.org, world class announcer Dave Towle, tasty delicious and gear filled expo/ vendors, a kids fun zone with all-star athlete time, you name it we got it. A former Belgian national champion, former US champions and the nation's top professionals will be racing in a field of 80+ guys, including yours truly at 3:50pm (Sat) and 3:40pm (Sun). The women's side will be equally world class with KFC making a special appearance, most likely at the sharp end of the field.

I, and my fellow Colorado-based elite, but "day job" racers will need your cheering, heckling and cowbell ringing help not to get lapped, seriously.

Its bike racing at its best, its free, it doesn't get more local, and if you can carve out 2 hours of your weekend to check out the madness that is cyclocross, I promise you will not be let down.

There's Belgian Waffles to be had, frites to fry and beer to drink: Saturday is BYOB and Sunday there will be a special brew from Boulder Beer on sale just for the day's festivities.

Hope to see you out there!

change & reflection

2011-10-06T21:58:00.000-06:00

Yeah its that time of year isn't it? Summer to fall to winter in the blink of an eye.

It makes sense then, that this is a time of change and reflection, rather than in the middle of winter. In the Jewish religion, this is our new year, when we're supposed to look back at the year past and assess who we were, what we've done and what to do next. Its a natural state supported by the seasons and obvious. Less obvious though is the mental and emotional process, of forcing an act of reflection, slowing down, stopping to think. Pause and assess one's life. Easier said than done.

I've never been religiously observant nor ever found solace in such a thing as God, finding instead a connection with nature and its innate ways of providing inspiration and direction. Work life continues at its rapid pace, rarely offering time to take stock. We switch from fat tires and suspension to knobby tires and cross bikes, from the endurance pace in the high country to a frenzied pomme-frite filled crowd pushing full gas for an hour. Obvious signs but again, lacking process.

But in Judaism, there are these traditions we keep that provide direction for a good life lived. For example at this time of year, we use the Shofar, an hollowed out rams horn that the head Cantor blows to a certain tune to awaken the soul and engage. Pretty bad ass I'd say, and this was always one of my favorite things to hear, even though it meant sitting through hours of temple service as a kid - a ritual connection though nonetheless. The process that follows is simple and straightforward, and I find it hard to deny as just being a good thing a person should do:

- a self-inventory, reviewing our deeds of the past year;
- identifying sinful behavior in our past and feeling remorse about those deeds;
- asking for forgiveness from those we have wronged either intentionally or inadvertently;
- forging New Year's resolutions to improve ourselves; and
- being aware when the same circumstances arise in which sinful deeds occurred, behaving differently toward both others.

By following this format, our tribes heritage enables the reconnection back to our [better] selves, to re-establish relationships with others, and to become re-charged in defining our path forward.

Righteous stuff indeed.

[photo courtesy of Mountain Moon Photography]

Its time!

2011-09-22T08:01:00.000-06:00

Switching gears, changing bikes and seasons. With a month + break without pinning a number on a jersey, the start of the cyclocross season came fast and hard, in line with the speed at which season's turn here in Colorado. Turn your back for just a second and the nights cool from the 70s and to the 40s, and the efforts go from long slow twitch to massively fast spikes. Giving it a serious go this year in the Open field, trying to leverage a successful mountain season with guidance from FasCat's coach Teton and en-cylco-pedia brittanica @mudandcowbells.

First up, the premier of Valmont Bike Park's cyclocross course, a testament to the rich and dedicated community we have here in Boulder. Full on fans, amazing, demanding terrain and a solid finish.

Back to nirvana

2011-09-17T19:22:00.000-06:00

Somehow, someway, I managed a trip to Crested Butte this summer, sneaking it in before a hairy 3 weeks of work and wedding travel, and aligned with the arrival of the US Pro Cycling Challenge. This, along with perfect temps, weather and wildflowers galore, made for a sinful and gratifying combination.

From my first trip to these mountains they have captivated me. No matter the season, no matter the toys brought along in the car, and even in this case, when the play is balanced by work in the coffee shops on Elk and conference calls in the 4runner, this place rocks my world.

It was a trip made solo, something I hadn't really done before, and proved to be a restorative experience. Pedals turning, mile after mile amidst the wildflowers, high peaks and aspens, mind clear; camping out and watching dusk turn to night, stars emerging from the a crisp sky, all quiet but the bubbling Slate River.

First on tap was the oldy but goody Reno-Flag-Bear-Deadmans and then I tackled some of the bigger routes I'd dreamed of: linking together parts of the Crested Butte FatTire 40 course (definitely on tap for next year), and then the piece de resistance on Tuesday that combined 403b and the full 401, completed just in time to watch the boys attack each other up the final climb to Mt. Crested Butte. A big burrito from Teocali's, some email to and fro and I was on my way home back to Boulder.

compete [kəmˈpiːt] - complete.

2011-08-20T08:29:00.000-06:00

After I purchased my first mountain bike, a 2003 Stumpjumper hardtail with heinously squeaky Avid mechanical disc brakes, and competed in a my first some of fun, Sport level, races in Northern California, the idea of racing at the top end of the sport was another dream. Having long, long given up my childhood ambitions of playing in the NHL after an unsuccessful tryout with the Junior A Port Hope Buzzards (of Ontario, CN) and receiving my first, and only to date black eye, being a Pro in anything other than a desk job seemed beyond reach, different decisions made and path's taken. But for a variety of reasons, proving oneself through (primarily) physical might continued to demand my attention, fill my thoughts and push me to exceeding the limits I thought were possible. My parents never pushed me to be #1, only to participate, compete and have fun - that mindset helped me to excel and push myself, on my own terms. I think part of that positive support without expectation also enabled me to pursue my own path, in sport, in my travels and career.

During my childhood and through college, physical competition and participation in sport easily trumped homework, academia and the real world. Maybe its just a guy thing, simple enough, maybe its a deeper drive. As my college year's bled into the 9-5, sport became a release, a sanctuary and place where I could direct my energy, and in most cases, more 'fun' than whatever email I had to respond to on a given day. Lacking the structure of ice hockey and the 15+ years I'd played, and college ultimate frisbee where camaraderie and team work (and beer consumption) is second to none, I needed something. And that something was my bike.

But simply riding the trails around Santa Cruz wasn't enough, yes the soul of the sport had me, intimately and deeply, but I needed more. I had to test and push myself against something, I needed to know where I stood against my peers, I needed a community, I needed to compete. But I didn't need to win. Competition after all is actually about participation, from the latin competere, to come or strive together (something a mentor and now colleague of mine recently just told me). I didn't need or want to crush my competition, merely embrace the beauty of the sport in a fixed, concentrated manner. This is a deep down desire, and a complex one at that, the depth of which I've only scratched - usually in the pain cave when I question myself and find, at least part of the answer to continue with the next pedal stroke or lift of a ski towards a loft summit.

I've found, that my need for self-identification and worth on the 'field' comes from the core, but in a very different way from the desire to find direction and success professionally. Both can be strong and share traits that reinforce each other, but yet remain separate entities, values, and expectations. In a yin-yang kind of way for me, I need both and I need them both to be full, challenging and progressing resulting in a balance that some just don't get.

And so in the midst of my 30th year, with a business to run (and grow by double), I set an equally challenging goal of upgrading to Pro on the mountain bike. A dream I've entertained for a handful of years, always unsure of the possibility but sure that the journey would be worthy. And so, following 2 seasons on racing in Colorado with some of the most talented guys in the country, my best, and personally satisfying year on (and perhaps off) the bike yet is unfolding. And with a 3rd place finish at the US XC Championships last month, I got a wonderfully concise email from USA Cycling, indicated an automatic upgrade to P-R-O. Mission accomplished.

Two weeks later, as the whistle blew and the Pro field started up the 40+ minute climb at Crankworx Colorado, the leading out the pelton was driven by JHK, an phenomenally fast Scott Tietzel and handful of other regional top Pros like Mitch Hoke and Tim Allen. 20 minutes into the climb, the group had dropped about half the of the 40 man field and as I looked around to see who was left, I realized it was me. For the next 10, I steadily hung on to the tail end of the leaders, half surprised in myself looking down at my HR and seeing that I was still on the right side of my threshold. Sure enough as the climb pitched steeper and more technical they got away, but knowing that somewhere in there I had the legs to compete, to participate at the sharp end, was my reward for the day, if not the season.

stoke the soul

2011-08-07T22:40:00.001-06:00

Its prime time in the high country, after months of waiting for the big lines to dry out from this past season's monsterous winter. And so with my mountain bike race season wrapped up, goals achieved and growth exceeded, the time is now to squeeze the summer sun, don a pair of baggie shorts and big camelbak. Leave behind the HR monitor, fill up the big wheel, call the friends and head out for long days in all the glory the mountains of Colorado can offer.

On the heels of the US Nationals XC road trip (still need to post up a recap on that one), the last 3 weekends have been made up of mostly epics. Full of adventure and fun. Following yesterday's Neditation with senior Cody, Spencer and Boulder's Fasted Jew, Joe (he took the day 3 points to my 1), today was the big-un summer treat, Kenosha Pass to Breckenridge, via Georgia Pass and West Ridge. 30+ miles of glorious singletrack, all about 10,000 feet with two of the single best descents that only fitness can deliver.

Is cloud computing the green IT solution for the 21st century?

2011-07-25T11:56:00.000-06:00

[note, a colleague of mine, Tim Albinson, beat me to the punch on this blog, so we'll call this a guest blog]

According to a survey released last week by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), cloud computing can both save American businesses billions of dollars in energy costs by 2020 and help their information technology (IT) operations run more efficiently.

The study, Cloud Computing–The IT Solution for the 21st Century, polled 11 global firms that have used cloud computing services for at least the past two years. This new research, conducted by Verdantix and sponsored by AT&T, includes analyses that demonstrate how business can use cloud solutions to decrease carbon emissions while simultaneously improving the bottom line.

For example, the data shows that:

Cloud computing can reduce carbon emissions by millions of metric tons. When one food and beverage firm transitioned its human resources software system from a dedicated IT platform to a public cloud, it slashed its CO2 emissions by 30,000 metric tons over five years. If all U.S. businesses with revenues of over $1 billion spent 69 percent of their IT infrastructure on cloud services, that would be a total reduction of 85.7 million tons of CO2 not sent into the earth’s atmosphere by 2020.
Companies would benefit financially, too. According to the report, US businesses with revenues of at least $1 billion would together save $12.3 billion in energy costs by 2020 if they adopted more cloud computing solutions.
Cloud computing can provide a positive net present value (NPV). Can’t convince your CFO to green light more sustainable technologies? CDP estimates that a typical food and beverage company that moves its HR application from a dedicated IT platform to a public cloud could reap a $10.1 million NPV over five years, with the payback period only under a year.
Business efficiency is a tangible result of investing in cloud computing. Increased organizational flexibility and business process efficiency are sizable non-monetary benefits that result from an investment in cloud computing, according to CDP.

With cloud computing expenditures set to increase from 10 percent to 69 percent of companies’ total IT infrastructure spend by 2020, the potential to reduce carbon emissions while increasing operational efficiency is welcome, indeed.

Like CDP’s Executive Chairman, Paul Dickinson, I see cloud computing as a significant positive advance with multiple benefits. “The carbon emissions-reducing potential of cloud computing is a thrilling breakthrough, allowing companies to maximize performance, drive down costs, reduce inefficiency and minimize energy use–and therefore carbon emissions–all at the same time,” Dickinson said.

nirvana:ketchum

2011-07-15T20:23:00.001-06:00

Last summer was Crested Butte. This year its Ketchum, Idaho.

This place is like no other and I know I'm just scratching the surface in between pre-riding the surprisingly challenging XC Nationals amateur course. Today's ride to spin the legs out was a dreamy mix of super buff six inch wide wildflower filled mountain biking goodness. Twisty, turny, flowing through creeks with inspiring views of the Sawtooth Mountains all around. The contrast of classic pines, rocks and steep mountains against smooth rolling grass filled hillsides (without a single tree) is a unique dichotomy.

Racing tomorrow for a jersey, means a lot to me. But the satisfaction and freedom from whipping the bike around these trails racing or for fun is reason enough to be grateful to be here, reason enough to return.

Season at the solstice, update

2011-07-03T10:23:00.002-06:00

Full gas! In the build up for a shot at the XC national championship (Cat 1 30-34) and achieving my 5+ year goal of a pro license, 2011 has been a phenomenal year of growth. Off the bike, on the bike, the year thus far has taught me a lot about myself, my friends and peers and about what's important. Here and in the now, and over the horizon, the hours in the saddle under clear blue sun, smoke, cold rain and snow have provided time for reflection and a break and refresher from the ever increasing stress and opportunity of things at WSP.

With excellent guidance from FasCat's Jon Tarkington, I've mixed and matched a combination of road and mountain races this spring and early summer, keeping things fresh and fun. All in all, expectations continue to be exceeded and goals achieved, raising the bar for more. Highlights thus far include the week long 'training camp' to SoCal followed by our team camp in Fruita, my first win of the season at MSC's Rabbit Valley Rally, taking 3rd in the super fast and technical downtown Louisville Crit, a hard fought 5th at the Teva Mountain Games and a top ten finish at last weekend's Winter Park Superloop in a big Pro field. Long on my road trip list, I also finally made it to Durango to ride the amazing trails around town and race the return of the Iron Horse Bicycle Mountain Bike race, which included lining up with Deadly Nedly and Hall of Fame'r Travis Brown and a trip through the Steamworks Brewery during the race.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully be serving up a big plate of redemption at the Firecracker 50, following last years uber bonk on lap number two. With the parents in tow, a few races and rides remain around Boulder, fine tuning the form before what I hope will be a introspective and rewarding trip up to Idaho for Nationals.

Among everything else, its summertime and the living's easy.

Isolation in the woods

2011-06-26T21:14:00.001-06:00

In the sweet spot of summer, the mountains remain cool and quiet. With no one around, the sound of the woods, aspen leaves flickering in a subtle breeze paired against a steady rhythm of pedal cranking and breathe let my mind melt away.

The trails around Nederland continue to amaze me. In my fourth summer spider-webbing my way in and around them I continue to find more of the goods whenever I set the dial to explore. Today's bounty now enables a perfect loop around the East Mag trail system. Even with the map below, the entry point for some extra special 6" wide singletrack (furthest East) remains hidden for all but the most discerning.

Prepping for Telluride Bluegrass

2011-06-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

It was 4 years ago on a road trip to 'test' out what life in Colorado could be like, that I first entered the Telluride valley. It was an incredible jaw-dropping, singletrack riding, hippydancing experience comprising 5 days of pure amazement. Following just a matter of hours in the state, the trigger was pulled and I haven't looked back since.

In preparation for this year's return to Telluride and to the Bluegrass festival itself, bachelor man Wilder provided me with this extra special 101 primer on the all important Telluride tarp. Consider yourself educated.

CU short track is back

2011-06-06T08:49:00.005-06:00

Every Wednesday now through mid-August the local mountain bike community gets together and throws down hard for 30 lung busting minutes in the dirt. Its fun, its hard and it brings together the full spectrum of competitors, families and friends for a mid week evening of fat tire thrashing. Sponsored and organized through the CU cycling team as a fundraising series for their team, fields of 20-30 beginners, single speeders, experts, Pros and even kiddies on strider's kick up the dust at the CU Research Park as the sun sets behind the Flat Irons.

We're fortunate to be able to put a number plate on in the backyard and roll down to the start line via bike path, a real treat when most races are multiple hour drives away. Best of all the talent comes out, pushing each other's limits in a positive, community building kind of way.


Seems I'm always chasing a Godby, usually its teenage rockstar Zane, but this time I traded lap leads with strong man and Dad, Tim. - by RufusPhoto -

Infographics

2011-05-31T15:21:00.000-06:00

For the longest time, I've been mezmorized by the visualization of data. Where adding a creative stroke to the presentation of technical, complex information makes the confusing all of a sudden clear, and beautiful. For a recent client project, we helped turn a complex array of sustainability data into an interactive display which conveyed in the simplest of ways how the company's core product avoids carbon emissions over a business as usual solution. When you google images for Cloud, Carbon and Sustainability you often get an image like this, which while informative, is far too complex to digest in one sitting - so I'm proud of our team for getting this right.

All that work got the juices flowing on finding best infographic creator's out on the web, which conviently enough Fast Company just recently compiled, with two of my favorites on water and carbon.

Chasing brown pow

2011-05-18T14:17:00.001-06:00

It's late May and RMNP is calling for another 6-12 inches of snow today and the weather outside my office window looks more Pacific Northwest than Rocky Mountain - grey, wet, and cold, the kind that sinks in through your bones and stays long after a bowl of tomato soup and grilled gruyere cheese.

This theme for May, apparently, struck a chord on yesterday's opening of the Benjamin Trail in Betasso Preserve. At just over 3 miles in length, this doubles the singletrack deliciousness that sits just a few miles West of Boulder, making what has turned into an auto-pilot type training option something far greater, with more trail and linkeage options to come. The trail's 3-foot wide spread and smooth track means its accessible to nearly any level of rider and its design allows for some excellent flow, both up and down. Exposure, views from all directions and some tight evergreen tree sections make for a smile-inducing ~15 minute loop. Following a perfectly timed early afternoon storm cycle, the trails were just the right amount of tacky and soft, with cool air funneling through the 'fresh' forest, reminscent of the Tamarancho loop above Fairfax, CA, and secret trails behind UCSC in Santa Cruz, weaving through loamy soil and redwood trees.

With all that, it makes this video teaser for Inside Out feel right at home on this rainy day.

From The Inside Out - First Look - More Mountain Bike Videos

Vid from Dragon's Tail

2011-05-13T16:55:00.000-06:00

Full credit to my amigo Felipe!

Rocky Mounts~IZZE in 2011

2011-05-11T21:20:00.000-06:00

As president of the Rocky Mounts~Izze cycling team for 2011, I’m tasked with helping run the backend logistics of sponsorship, team management and events, in addition to a near full schedule of racing on the road, mountain and cyclocross. A board member for the last 2 years representing the mountain side of our 5 legged house (road, mountain, cross, track and triathlon), its been a fun experience and I’m excited to set up my commitment to the team as the fall guy for all things good and bad.

For 2011, we have a phenomenal group of sponsors, many of whom continue with the team support year in year out, as well as welcoming a few new folks to our family.

This year we have also significantly ramped up our womens team both in numbers and talent, with the great work of Kristen Moegling recruiting a diverse group of ladies who have already made a name for themselves this season in sheer presence at races and on the podium. Our mens road team has grown as well with some newcomers to town providing some much needed presence in the P/1/2 and a real strengthening of the bench in the 35+ and Cat 3 squadra. Mountain-wise we continue our depth from previous year’s with racer’s lining up for SS, endurance and the local Winter Park and Mountain States Cup race series. The Tri team continues to grow its top notch athletes too, and board member Dave Sheanin recently coached the CU Triathlon team to a National Championship. And finally, our Devo squad quarterbacked by Greg Pent continues as our foundational focus with a strong group of athletes who continue to receive national level exposure, and results.

Last month we held our annual team training camp in Fruita, CO with our gracious hosts from the Stonehaven Inn, who fed us well each morning and allowed us to camp on the front yard as we tallied 32+ one night. It was a great weekend of riding, cooking and eating and was if anything, too short.

My team goals for this year are to improve our operational structure and financials as a team, activate our team in volunteer events, strengthen our Devo program with alignment from other emerging U-23 programs in the area, and establish a better racing and recognition system that balances our team’s core mission and values with the evolving racing focus of our team.

With the season in full swing, we're already off to a great start with 7 wins and 32 top ten results - and its only May!

Aesthetic alpine descent, check.

2011-05-08T22:25:00.004-06:00

Sunrise over Rocky Mountain National Park. Bluebird. Still. Early May.

Flattop Mountain trail gives way to a sneak peak of the Dragon's Tail Couloir. Peering over the edge Mark gives me the nod. We're doing this.

Dragon's Tail Couloir is an iconic ascent and descent and has been on my list since moving to Colorado. Sustained 40+ degrees for 1700 feet with a puckering entry and the first few hundred feet nearing 55 degrees enclosed by towering walls and a ~30 foot wide choke. Re-inspired by @aMichaelCody's vid of a mid-winter attack, armed with beta from a friend/ guide at CMS and with a free Sunday in the deepest May in who know's how long, the conditions turned corn to perfection by our mid-morning summit.

Can't really describe the line down, other than it needs to be done again, and again. Taking that first step into the run, big deep breathes, enabled the shifting of body weight down hill cutting fast turns. The alley gave way to a spreading apron down to Dream Lake, a 1,000 feet perfectly steep alpine goodness. Far and way the biggest line I've ever skied. Lots more to do.

And in a smoke'm if you got'm style, a sunset session up and over Hall Ranch aboard the 29er seemed like the only sensible thing to wrap yet another amazing weekend here in the Rockies.

Thank you Colorado.

Its fall somewhere, right?

2011-05-06T13:59:00.003-06:00

With the leaves just starting to pop, the tulips in bloom on the Pearl St. Mall and temps finally reaching 70, the thought of crisp nights and autumnal harvest is a long ways away. There's a whole summer of trips, travels and adventures in the lush highcountry ahead of us.

Nonetheless, this 6 minute video is a beauitfully put together illustration of the beauty, pain and community that's nurtured by cyclocross season in Colorado - and even includes a few shots of yours truly chasing down the big guns at various races from over the season. After watching this last night I couldn't help but try on this year's new team skinsuit in anticipation.

Colorado Front Range Cyclocross from Celin Serbo on Vimeo.

Start your engines

2011-04-30T09:24:00.001-06:00

I’m already two races into the 2011 season and I can barely contain the excitement for what’s to come. After 3 months of cold, grey training rides counting watts and miles, the weather is finally turning warm in Boulder. And while riding in the rain is never fun, it’s a welcome weather change which signals the start of spring, turning hibernating flora into thriving blooms of color. The good work of base building has been done, the time for testing legs and lungs is here.

With a fantastic training plan, a dialed peak and valley schedule and performance analysis by FasCat coach Jon Tarkington, my fitness showed great form at the Louisville Crit. Riding at the front of a 60 man field for the full hour, attacking around corners and chasing down breaks, it was an excellent hard hour of effort with a reasonably strong sprint finish. It was fun to be back in the pack again and race with teammates, particularly Aaron Bouplon, who’s Ulrich like power I could not hold onto as he rode away from the field with 8 laps to go and took a top 5 spot amongst the break-away group.

The following week marked the first Mountain States Cup event, held in at Cheyenne Mountain Park in Colorado Springs. Site of last year’s Pro XCT, the course offered a really nice combination of fast and flowy singletrack with some very technical, rocky sections that thinned our group out quickly on the first lap. Cool weather greeted us in the morning and fortunately the sun came out to warm things up by our 11am start. Racing in the 30-39 group for the first time, my expectations were modest, knowing that this group typically holds the fastest guys overall outside of the Pro’s.

Nerves were subtle, perhaps chilled by the weather or maybe by experience and confidence in myself. Now in my 2nd focused season of racing in Colorado, my training and racing regime is getting dialed and it feels good. After some appropriate start line chit chat, mockery and bullshitting, we were off. The course started with a short mellow climb, quick descent and then the technical rocky deathtrap called Medicine Wheel which if you didn’t have a clean line meant you were walking it. The group got off to a surprisingly slow start, and I moved into 2nd wheel and settled in. After dancing through the rock gardens, I held onto the wheel of the leader until we hit the final section of the climb, and he was gone, never to be seen again. For the next 2 laps I rode a steady tempo, just under Threshold and focused on breathing steady – something I feel has really improved through my Yoga work. Suddenly at lap 3 I saw a few riders approaching at the start of Medicine Wheel and realized there was a race behind me for third or better, and that many a strong man often starts slow then can ramp up on pace. I dug deep and created another 30 second gap but on the descent, I was caught by a blazingly fast Trek Store guy. I’m continually impressed at how guys can go faster than what I feel is the theoretical limit on the downhill – always more work to do. I held on for a solid third after four laps with a time of 2:10 and happily raised by hands on the podium.

This Sunday marks the return of the Rabbit Valley Rally, featuring a super long and rugged 31 mile XC course that pushed me to my limit last year, including a broken Ti rail on my saddle and a de-screwed small ring, jangling all the way home to a 4th place. Given a very solid build over the last 3 weeks and a good week of recovery (albeit in planes, trains and hotel rooms), I’m hopeful for another podium even with a nagging sinus cold.

Face time

2011-04-29T19:24:00.000-06:00

No not the iPhone app, but real, honest press the flesh face time. Its irreplaceable and essential to building meaningful, long term and successful relationships. Over the course of this multi-city week, face time has been the focus and it never ceases to amaze me its importance in building new relationships and maintaining existing ones.

As I type from a cramped airplane seat, elbows jacked awkwardly into the back of my chair, knees tilted up, laptop on, errr. lap, the frustration of (business) travel can be almost overwhelming. But value of face time, if used wisely typically wins out. Nothing replaces seeing (if not enabling) the smile on my dad’s face, the embrace of my mother’s hug, the grip of a colleagues hand shake after a productive and much needed catch up or the exchange of a business card from a new contact at a conference.

Technology enables communication but it doesn’t replace it.

The Cloud's Green Advantage

2011-04-19T11:54:00.000-06:00

Sound interesting? Sign up for a webinar I'm giving the first week in May to learn more.

meet the Tarmac Pro SL3

2011-04-01T17:25:00.006-06:00

Following two season's on the Specialized Tarmac Pro SL, my first ever carbon framed bike, I upgraded this year to the SL3 after numerous discussions with the good folks and sponsors at Boulder Cycle Sport, Ubikes, and my teammates. To be perfectly honest, it didn't take alot of convincing, no humming and hawwing really. Off went the SL to Craigslist and just a few weeks later, arrived the SL3.

Aesthetics aside (the matte black paired with our RM/ Izze blue is flawless), this is one incredible machine. I wasn't convinced I would notice the difference in frame stiffness, power transfer of the BB30, lightness and overall ride quality from frame to frame. But on that first ride, it was incredibly, surprisingly evident that this was a whole new animal (15.3 lbs with Speedplay Ti pedals). Snappy on acceleration, smooth on shifting, heavy on speed, I was in love. And with over 400 miles in one week, I'm happy.

The first thing I noticed is that there is a lot more white and 'blue' on the frame than the side-view alludes too (see pictures for reference). This treatment of matte carbon against the popping white and aqua-marine blue makes for a real looker, but beware of that blue, its not your standard blue. Parts-wise the Tarmac Pro SL3 is mostly Dura-Ace with a couple of Ultegra parts thrown in the mix. You get the Dura-Ace shifters, rear and front derailleur, but the brakes, chain and cassette (11-28 for the mountains around Boulder) are Ultegra - not really an issue save for the cassette in terms of weight, maybe.

The rest of the components are Specialized-branded, which has dramitically improved over the last few years: the FACT 53/39 crankset is a very light, stiff option that works perfectly with the BB30 bottom bracket design. I was very skeptical about the Roval Fusee SL wheels and was planning to swap them out with a Ksyrium up front paired to a Powertap rear, but it turns out they are very, very nice and roll nearly as smooth as the Mavic hubs (thanks to DT Swiss). The carbon case on the front hub is a nice touch as well.

Spesh also came out with a new saddle, the Romin, which is working really well for me. Its slightly concave which allows for a 'locked in' feel, aggressive feel. I'm a big fan of ergo handlebars and for some reason Spesh stopped making them this year, so the only component swap I made was there with an FSA bar. Finally, I replaced the DA grips with some softer, sticker and brilliantly white Hudz to round out the bike.

And so, another horse enters the stable.

Pond hockey

2011-03-28T20:47:00.002-06:00

A true image of my childhood from one of the local ponds where I learned how to play a game that held me close for nearly 20 years. From dusk and into the night, with the lights on, hours and hours skating circles on the ice. The smell of a fire at the edge keeping my parents warm. The sounds of sticks slapping, metal carving into ice, and children yelling and laughing.

It all seems like a long, long time ago.

Gone coastal

2011-03-22T22:08:00.002-06:00

The life of a domestic pro roadie must be hard. Not only on the body but the mind. Flights with bike boxes, building bikes, prepping food, cooking food, traveling around to and from a start, cleaning up and hitting the repeat button, day in day out - not to mention 4-6 hours a day crushing pedals.

After living a self-imposed near mirror image for 9 days, even in the ease of southern California in perfectly warm temps, I was ready for [well-earned] break. That is, however, not to say, I enjoyed every single minute of it. Rather, just that this year's spring 'training camp' further reinforced my appreciation for the double life I often get to live.

A rented house in Oxnard, CA just a few steps from the beach proved a perfect launching pad for assaulting the mountains above around Santa Barbara and Ventura, as well as the serpentine canyons above Malibu. While we couldn't ride from the house every day, this mix enabled a really nice balance of flat days, bumps and full-on HC climbing. For anyone thinking about where to head for a week of hard riding amongst palm trees and surf, this area has everything you need.

Must do highlights that we sampled include the standard Lake Casitas loop; a huge 3+ climb day in Malibu including Mulholland, Latigo Stunt and Piuma Canyons and two of the steepest, sustained climbs I've ever tackled in Santa Barbara, San Marcos to Painted Caves and Gibraltar to El Camino Cielo. Amazing stuff really. As the hours and miles piled up each day, my legs surprisingly felt good. I couldn't say stronger each day, but the fatigue delivered each day some how was relieved by the next morning and I continually pushed the pedals hard up every climb. Must have been a combination of more stretching, skins and New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream.

Where to next year?

Our 8-day odyssey via topo profile:

Route specifics can be accessed below, along with some in-route photos.

Lake Casitas loop - San Marcos+Painted Caves - Thousand Oaks+Decker Canyon - Ventura+Santa Paula+Ojai - Malibu Canyons - Santa Barbara loop - Gilbraltar+El Camino Cielo

Training Camp, take 2

2011-03-07T23:05:00.002-07:00

For the second year in a row, Brandon, Jeff and I found a week in March to sneak away somewhere warm with lots of great riding. This time we chose the amazing hills and roads of southern California, between Santa Barbara, Ventura, Agoura Hills and Malibu.

A house on the beach, hooked up through my housemate Kevin, offers rides in every direction except, and appropriately, West. We're putting in hours like pro's and eating like kings. The good life...at least for the next few days.

Day 1 here.

SwissStop Silencer

2011-02-28T21:10:00.004-07:00

This is the sh*t.

Makes any hydraulic brake system buttery smooth and super quiet. It does its job to complete perfection, eliminating hissing, squealing and chattering brakes.

$30 and worth every penny.

The other other TSAs

2011-02-27T21:12:00.000-07:00

Popularized by Horace Greeley in the 1860s, the phrase "go West, young man" provided a definitive mantra for my twenties. Fleeing New Jersey and upstate New York for the California coast and later Colorado, proved opened my eyes to a whole new experience, culture and challenged what I'd thought of as opportunity.

Washington is not a place to live in. The rents are high, the food is bad, the dust is disgusting and the morals are deplorable. Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country.

Pretty much spot on.

Within the microcosm that is Boulder and specifically focused on mountain bike trail access, however, its go North, East or South, not West. Following the incredible work of OSMP and BMA, thousands of hours of deliberation and community advocacy on both sides, the verdict is nearly in on new mountain bike access for the future of the West TSA, the most popular and controversial section of open space in Boulder County. Its an incredibly complex issue, with valid points all around the table amidst increasing user rates of all types. And while its looking like the wish-upon-a-star dream of a north-south connector trail linking parts of Chautauqua Park with Eldorado Canyon is not going to happen this time around, two new trails have nearly been given the official go ahead (with a final vote on 3/15).

So while mountain biking from home to trails on the West side of Boulder remains limited (notwithstanding everyone's go-to-favorite Betasso Preserve), the options North, East and South continue to, and will more so into the near future, satisfy the soul when time is short and the tires fat. And for that we should be thankful.

A few classic view from the top, representing just a two of many options (featuring double track, faux-side singletrack, singletrack, gravel pave, dirt roads, bike paths and o.g. pavement) that can be linked together...

South Boulder loop (~30 miles from downtown)

North Boulder loop (~20 miles from downtown)

ohm shanti

2011-02-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

Yoga works.

The mind, the body, the soul.

Walking out of a hot yoga class, the legs are loose, my breathing is smooth and the mind clear with purpose. Its an amazing, unique feeling. To be sweating so profusely by a sheer lack of, rather than from, movement. A refreshing change and challenge from the bike. Tension held longer, then released and controlled through breath, bound by rhythm and the flow of movement to pose. Repeated.

a bike season in the review

2011-01-20T23:54:00.006-07:00

Looking out the window looking out at below freezing temps and inches of newly fallen snow, the season is long gone. With the benefit of a light last semester of b-school, a great training plan and some good old fashioned motivation, early season rides translated into solid form when the mountain season kicked off in April.

By early June I'd notched two podium finishes in the Mountain States Cup race series aboard the phenomenally svelt S-works 29er and had achieved a personal goal of staying hooked into the lead group on the weekly Tuesday bus stop ride, all the way back to Boulder even after the long climb up St. Vrain. The ground work was laid for a great season. I also got my first taste of stage racing with the renewed Superior Morgul Classic race over Memorial Day weekend, missing out on the win in the criterium by half a bike length, and then nearly the same the following day in the road race when I popped the chain off in the last 50 meters. The energy of a near win against the agony.

Teva Games crushed me as usual though I managed a top 20+1 finish. A few days after my 29th birthday I recorded my first ever win on the mountain bike, at the Winter Park Super Loop course, in a fantastic battle with just one other ride that lasted the entire race until the final big climb and descent. An excellent script. In July I reached new highs and lows during the Firecracker 50, pushing my mind body and soul further than I'd even thought possible, and recovered in time for a solid finish at US Nationals, despite a terribly timed pre-race crash.

Toeing the line in the Pro field at Winter Park races, my confidence grew along with tolerance for threshold pain. I'd had this goal of racing at the Pro level since I started racing in Santa Cruz, maybe even before that in college when my best friend turned me onto mountain biking way back in New Jersey, as I tried to keep up with him on the local trails aboard his old Schwinn hard tail with a busted RoxShoxx accordion style fork. Achieving a big, hard earned and slow burning goal is something few get to realize. I know I'm fortunate, but also know its mostly from hard work and dedication to a sport I love and an inspiring community that supports me here in Boulder. Its amazing how being surrounded by talented athletes and exceptional people who also want to see you succeed along with them can enable you to dig deeper and exceed your own expectations. And of course with all that there is luck and there is timing, some days you wake up and just know its going to be a good day (or not!).

In early August, following a perfectly timed trip to Crested Butte to recharge the engines and remind me what the soul of the sport is all about, the parents joined me in Keystone for the Colorado State XC Championship race. Sure enough, it was just one of those rare (good) days, and from the gun it was on. I went to the front, set the pace up the first climb and didn't look back and then I was alone. An hour and 45 minutes later I crossed the line nearly 6 minutes ahead of second place and hardly had the where-with-all to realize I'd won, but not for the announcer calling my name. Once the heart race dropped to conversational pace, my excitement was only surpassed by that of my parents. Having them there on that day, was something truly special, something I'll never forget and am grateful to have been able to share. I gave my Dad my gold medal to hold on to, as I stepped to the podium and got to participate in a ritual few are rewarded with. Lucky. Humbled. Proud. Zipped up the jersey, with hands now raised high, I could see in my dad's eyes the sheer joy only a father can have for his son, and of course in my moms, the simple relief I didn't hurt myself (again).

Having spent a good part of the mountain season at the front, my psyche was in for a rude awakening as the seasons changed and the smell of waffles, brauts and beer filled air along the Front Range's cyclocross courses. 12 races in the Open field did a number on my body and mind. I'll be honest, it was really hard at times to stay motivated coming off of my best season ever in cross country, to be just another ambitious face on a Ridley with Dugast's 4 rows back from the start line. And I got worked, race after race, churning pedal over pedal for just barely a top 20 finish, but nearly always with the support, cheers and sounds of an exceptionally large cowbell from my girl (thank you). There were some great battles, a handful of truly satisfying finishes, new friendships were formed and others strengthened by this amazing community we have here. And I learned a lot. About myself, about my priorities and how to balance (all) of them, and the sport itself. Not just the techniques, the training, the recovery and the lust for more, but the beauty, sometimes expressed as split seconds surrounded by suffering or at other times, just to absorb the sounds and sights you experience when stopped in the middle of the woods. Its just you, your bike, your breath, and thoughts weaving together amongst the mountain forest.

In a season where I exceeded all of the goals I set for myself, I learned a lot. How to win, how to loose, how to fight just to finish, how to battle in the trenches, how to descend with speed and how to wrench. I also realized I have a ton to learn:

I can always go harder, always.
Lay off the brakes, use the trail and set a line that keeps your speed up. Even in a race that I won, I got passed by a girl, on a downhill section (no offense to the ladies), and couldn't stay on her wheel.
29er's do make a difference, and are perfect for the stereotypical Colorado XC race.
When racing a 4+ hour race, eat, drink and set a pace like its a 4+ hour race, not a 2 hour all out sprint or suffer like no other.
Recovery is king. Repeat.
Autopilot is the kiss of death, treat any trail (or in my case a loose gravel dirt road) with respect.
Surround yourself by people that are faster than you when ever possible - you'll get faster, learn a ton and will be inspired and encouraged.
Surround yourself by people that are slower than you - sharing trails and a day with friends at a different pace can provide for an equally satisfying ride in a way that makes training days even sweeter, and remember #4.
I love cross, even when the season is long, cold and straight up hard. I truly love this sport.
Give back, cycling is a self indulgent, obsessive sport. Carve out time to create and build the community, share and expose the sport with others and be grateful for the tireless work that others do for the greater good.

A quick shout out to my teams phenomenal group of sponsors - a serious thanks for your support.

rocky mounts - izze -specialized - sram - boulder cycle sport - university bikes - training peaks - peak sports chiro - mountains edge fitness massage - justin's nut butter - dales pale ale - enve composites - optical centre - boulder running company - giordana - skins

Here's to setting even harder to reach goals and exceeding them again in 2011. And to those that follow this thread. Thanks!
2010 Season Summary:

7 road/ crits (2nd place Colorado State Criterium Champs C4, Longmont)
10 mountain bike, 2 wins (Colorado State Champion C1 19-29, Keystone)
12 cyclocross (16th On the Cross Open; 44th Boulder Cup UCI Elite)

%maxtime...

2011-01-13T20:47:00.000-07:00

If the first two weeks of 2011 are any indication, its going to be a very busy year.

First turns

2010-11-30T17:50:00.001-07:00

[scattered flurries] from felt soul media on Vimeo.

Bring on the snow! The ski season has gotten off to a tremendous start this year, with incredible early season snow levels across the entire state. Hopefully the trend will continue and we'll have a banner year in Colorado for cold smoke. To make sure the reports were true, along with a solid crew I hiked up to the Windows chutes at Breckenridge last Friday to scope out the conditions. Sure enough, on my first day back in the, err saddle, I mean chairlift, I found an untracked couloir filled with shin high pow. There's really no better way to start off a winter season than with powder turns and while my legs are strong from the bike, just a few runs was all I could handle before the thighs were a burning from the beauty that is a deep telemark turn. Just a few turns was I needed to get the juices flowing and winter stoke brewing, similar to the way this video leaves you wanting more.

In the flow/ Work-Life

2010-11-23T18:31:00.002-07:00

Riding the 29er today, everything was in complete and total sync.

Work, life, balance. One-ness. Clarity. Flow.

Up before dawn to finish a pitch deck for a new client (awarded later in the day), meant the big percolator took the glamorous duty of brewing up Amante's Primo roast. Crisp clear weather, brilliantly bright blue skies and a delightfully clean bike, recently tuned by the magicians at BCS and detailed in the man shed started things right. Buzz through town and onto the Creek Path headed for Betasso, the legs felt good, the mind felt good, grateful when it all comes together. With the coming storm, the trails were eerily quiet, devoid of any human life today, just the creaking of pines against each other and birds packing away food for the winter.

Clockwise route today. Up, down, up, repeat. Two perfect laps, 15 minutes a piece to clear the mind, flush

the legs, satisfy the soul. The north facing backside featured just the perfect dusting of snow, making it all the sweeter. I had made plans for a dawn patrol backcountry ski recon this morning, but work obligations required the last minute bail out, and while I had hoped for a first of the season powder day, this alternative isn't so bad. While not technical in any way, Betasso's serpentine track provides a perfect rhythm if your in the right space where bike and body melt. Today was just one of those days.

Conference call in the chamois, lunch at the desk, cranking of another kind beyond dusk. Professionally Boulder.

Heart of the CX Season

2010-11-16T21:40:00.000-07:00

Deep in it. In the span of three weeks, the CX season here in Colorado has shifted from the insanely warm and dry weather to the more appropriate and inherently more challenging muck, mud and frost that is the heart of the season. When the mornings are icy cold, when conditions make the roadies turn their nose and all but the hardest men and women hang up their bikes for the season. I'll admit it, after racing for 8 months, my longest and most intense effort yet, I'm on the verge of burnt-out-ness. But having taking a good refresher in late August/ early September, and being surrounded by amazing athletes who are now friends, and a truly flourishing scene, its hard to call it quits as the season gets real. Its too much fun, its too hard, the end is in sight and a few goals remain out of reach.

The NACT weekend (Oct 30/31st) up'ed the ante, in terms of course design, level of competition and crowds to a point I'd not even contemplated I'd ever reach. Toeing the line (row 8 of 10 granted) with the heroes of our sport, guys I've looked up to, read articles about in magazines and watched movies about since I started riding; it was a truly incredible experience and for me an achievement in its own right. Todd Wells, Geoff Kabush, Ryan Trebon, Adam Craig, Tim Johnson, and more, legends of the sport, and then me smirking in the back row, trying not to freak out. With the blast of the whistle, another marker was passed: I was racing with them (though not necessarily against, yet).

That's TJ, Jesse Sargent, J Pow, Driscoll, Wells Kabush, Summerhill and Adam Craig, oh yeah, and me.

Saturday's course was a phenomenal redesign of the classic Boulder Reservoir. Weather was unseasonably warm, in the 70s and bone dry, making for a dusty and frenzied chase experience from the back of the pack. Standard to any race at the Rez, sand was a big factor with 2 separate and long sections that required stamina, balance and technical skills to navigate. For most of the race I was able to sneak through unscathed, but of course when I didn't, the biggest cycling magazine in the world was there to catch me in my humbled glory. I'll take that though as overall I felt pretty good and was racing strong until an orange metal barrier jumped out at my knee, ending my day in a solid amount of pain.

Lap 1+ first 180 turn = men down. Krughoff from BCS and I sneaking around an aspen.

TJ, Todd Wells and Danny Summerhill show the huge crowds how to bunny hop.

Sunday's race brought 'cross to the masses by creatively designing a course into a small park at the Flatirons Mall. Humongous crowds, incredibly slick grass and a massive run up were the highlights of the day. I heard estimates of maybe 2,000 people and can certify to the noise, heckling and excitement the entire scene brought to the main event. I got lucky with a prime starting position and used it to my advantage, somehow staying in the top 30 or so for nearly the entire race until I slide out on the off camber S-curves, dropped a chain and effectively blew up. I got pulled with 3 laps to go and considered it a tremendous victory. It was truly amazing to race with hundreds of people yelling at you to go faster, cowbells ringing, and friend calling my name. It makes you go faster and faster and dig deeper than you think you can.

Amazing stuff. For year's I'd always wondered a) how the pro's are so fast and b) how I'd compare. I guess the days are now gone when I'd try to back calculate my average time on 2 laps of an XC course against their 3 laps. Now I now exactly where they, and I stand. Even amongst the top field in the US, its amazing to see, experience and be a part of the breadth of talent, and to watch the true Elites shine.

With the following weekend reserved for fun mtn and road rides only, I felt pretty recovered and excited heading into the penultimate race weekend here in Colorado, the US Gran Prix of Cyclocross/ New Belgium Cup in Fort Collins. Apparently someone forgot to pay the heating bill last Tuesday, as we moved from week upon week of mid 60s sun to an immediate and quite brutal change in weather. Tuesday saw temps pullet to the 40s with the arrival of two winter snow storms that left a few inches of snow across the Front Range. The Fort got its fair share resulting in the first weekend of 'proper' cross conditions.

While I knew it was going to be wet, muddy and cold, apparently I, nor my gear was fully prepared when I took the start line with the 2/3's at 9:30am. So many more things come into play when the conditions change like that. Technical skills, tire choice, tire pressure, lines, cadence and pacing, passing, bike changes, time of day, sun exposure. All things to consider, but ultimately if your engine doesn't show up, none matter. It was a bit of mixed bag for me on both days, conditions were truly brutal for our race both days, the course went from rock solid ice pack 5 minutes before we started, to full on greasy mud, snow, swamp melt just 2 laps into the race. Chaos, bodies and elbow's flew. I had some great battles with a few of the strong C2's and the rockstar tweens of the C3's, and hovered in and out of a top 15 spot both days. On the one hand, my starts and positioning are getting noticeably better, as is my power out of turns. On the other, my poor tire choice left me flailing and flying all over the place at times. I think I hit the deck 3 or 4 times on a lap on Day 2 and eventually pulled the plug.

For the second time this year I threw in the towel. Mentally beat and physically frustrated. But I regrouped back at the truck, cleaned up and treated myself to a few stacks of waffles, chocolate and beer, cheering on the next round of racers as the day unfolded. The USGP event was really amazing, a phenomenal course, epic conditions and serious competition at all levels. I really hope we get it back here next year and I'm able to give it a go with the Elites.

Just a few weeks remain in the season, at least for me. Time to refocus, rest up and train right. Maximize the daylight hours in between the momentum that has ensued at the office. Finish strong.

And then go skiing dammit.

Transparency and Innovation

2010-11-09T22:47:00.001-07:00

UPS has nailed it spot on in their latest advertisement in this month's current Fast Company magazine. Signaling a change in corporate reporting, transparency, values and service innovation, the colorful two pager hits home where their business has come from and where its headed. It also speaks to how far companies have come in voluntarily disclosing and marketing to consumers their strategy for reducing their impact and results they've achieved to date (for better or worse). Look back just five years and its incredible to take stock of this sea change.

Ups

View more documents from josh whitney.

UPS is on track to achieve some pretty ambitious sustainability goals and they are doing it optimizing their fleets (air and ground) as well as using information & communications technology (ICT) in new and innovative ways. While the former is quite logical (optimizing routes, better fuel economy, etc.) the latter, leveraging ICT can yield incredible efficiencies for their (and infinite others) businesses. In a report we just completed in partnership with the Boston Consulting Group, we developed a methodology for capturing the carbon emissions impact that ICT solutions, realized through activities like logistics planning can have in marketplace.

According to GeSI’s ground-breaking SMART 2020 report, published in 2008, ICT solutions have the potential to cut global greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 15% and save up to $750 billion by 2020, quite a market opportunity for existing players in the space. The follow-up methodology we produced provides specific guidance on how to identify and quantify the potential benefits of an ICT solution. Now comes the hard part, converting this work into practical and real case studies and engaging the ecosystem of ICT companies to realize the potential and actually reduce carbon impacts while creating operational efficiency and long-term top-line growth opportunities, such as those highlighted here by UPS.

Double Double, Animal Style with grilled onions

2010-10-28T23:18:00.004-06:00

Those from the West Coast know this refers to most amazing-est of burgers known to man, the In-n-Out burger, doubled up, with secret special sauce and their grilled onions. Nearly every time I travel now to to California, my first stop is some how perfectly oriented and in striking distance of the burger joint.

More front of mind however, the double double in my world currently refers to racing back-to-back on Saturday and Sunday. We're in week two of three straight weeks of prime time racing along the Front Range, culminating with this weekends NACT Series 5 and 6. Then a brief respite before the USGP arrives in Fort Collins in mid-November, with a final wrap up (at least for me) the first weekend of December with the Colorado State championships.

Numerous conversations lately have centered on how much damn harder CX is than my other mainstay, mountain biking (hours and miles shorter, yet so very much more demanding). No more has that been felt over the last two weeks then on Sunday, heart racing, looking down at my Garmin and then seeing 5 laps to go. Saturday's, however, have been awesome. And when I'm on form, I've had some great results and am really feeling like I'm almost able to really mix it up properly in the Open group.

And while I'm not dueling it out for a podium like I was on the mountain circuit, there have been some incredibly fun and challenging mid-pack races within the race. At the Blue Sky Velo Cup, lap after lap, Grant Holicky and I traded pulls, with the announcer calling us out each time we came flying through the start/finish. It was pretty cool. Even cooler was having so many folks out there heckling and cheering us on. Hearing your name definitely helps make that extra dig some how just slightly less painful. I was finally able to pull ahead of Grant and a pack of other guys, taking advantage of my MTB skills on the back section which included two bunny hop sections and some technical twists and turns. Sunday's on the hand have been rough. I rolled my front tubular at the Aspen Lodge race, and had to run all the way back to the pit to trade out my spare and at the Louisville Bowl of Death course I actually had to pull the trigger with just a few laps ago, yielding to incredible back pain and my first self inflicted DNF. That one hurt the soul.

Doublin' up ain't easy, but its given me a great base to build on, and with proper rest in the middle of the week, including some serious body work by my new best friend Sarah at Mountain's Edge Fitness, I'm hopeful I can take the lessons learned and fitness forward.

Lots of fun media below. One of the great aspects of 'cross is its spectator-friendly orientation, resulting in fantastic photo sets by Dan Reiber, Dejan Smaic, Mountain Moon Photography and Jim Heuck and even some great video.


Aspen Lodge CX - yeah that's 14,255 ft Longs Peak in the distance

Aspen Lodge CX - headed down a loose, off camber descent, thinking where's my mtn bike?

Aspen Lodge CX - staircase 1 of 2

Blue Sky Velo Cup - leading the chase group

Blue Sky Velo Cup - keeping momentum on the grass was clutch

Boulder Racing #3 Louisville - in the drops, in the pain cave

The big show comes to Boulder

2010-10-27T22:32:00.003-06:00

This weekend marks the return of the North American Cyclocross Trophy tour to Boulder, Colorado. Over the past few weeks the community has been buzzing in anticipation following a few weeks now of solid back to back weekends of racing across the Front Range. The weekly #WednesdayWorlds ride has headed to the Rez now for two weeks straight to burn in Saturday's course, the Colorado Cross Classic, working in the corners, brushing out the goatheads and getting the flow dialed in. I can tell you after today's ride, under crisp full on fall conditions, its looking good. Cheers to Pete Webber for designing a different take on the classic course. Hope the extra prep will pay off.

Dueling Ridleys at Wednesday Worlds from Mat Barlow on Vimeo.

Sunday heads to a new location for the Boulder Cup...the Flat Irons Mall. I think a lot of folks have been a bit skeptical about the location, but if anyone can pull of an amazing day of cross, its DBC Events. Grealish and co. know whats up and the entire day looks solid, culminating as usual with the Men's Elite race. Based on watching the course preview, it looks like a lot of grass, some steep climbs and a decent amount of pavement. Bring on the watts, and the costumes.

On both days, I'll be doing my best to keep pace with the big guns. Come on and check it out!

Looptworks - upcycled outdoor apparel

2010-10-25T10:28:00.000-06:00

A little under 2 years ago, I was working on a business plan for Feasibility course focused on identifying opportunities within the outdoor apparel industry to innovate. Many of the idea's came from working with the great folks at GoLite who were in the process of developing their own sustainability product index and label. While we were able to develop a good business concept, we decided we didn't have the immediate capability or desire to implement. Fortunately, a handful of businesses are dead focused on this opportunity.

Looptworks is one such company in start up mode, and after checking out their site, philosophy, and design aesthetic, I ordered up a few items and have been really impressed. Quality and design are fantastic, the product came packaged in a resuable, compressible tote bag and there was zero excess packaging filler or materials. Prices for their more lifestyle oriented clothing fall in between high end folks like Nau and Patagonia to Horny Toad and The North Face. And that's impressive considering the sourcing challenges and detail they go to, to manufacture great looking clothing from scrap materials.

The next time you need a new piece of kit, check them out.

Its in the air

2010-10-22T16:09:00.000-06:00

Last night I cracked open the season's first issue of Backcountry magazine, full of glamour powder shots, big alpine turns from lofty peaks and the good word soul satisfying nature that only earn your turns skiing can provide. It means the seasons are changing and another big season in mountains, soon to be white, has nearly arrived. The forecast this weekend further reinforces this change, and the hope that this year La Nina will pumel us with all her might.

While on a truly delightful CX ride earlier this week around the bike paths of Boulder, up and over Poormans and back again, the air was filled with that perfect fall smell of slightly damp leaves, rustling in the wind, kissed by the autumn golden sun. Its a scent deeply connected to a childhood playing spent outside in our backyard, chest high in leaf piles raked and blown together by my dad. There's something about that scent that is incredibly powerful, nostalgic and exciting, perhaps because its here for only a few weeks and signals a transition of seasons, light and activity. Perhaps more because it evokes wonderful experiences long burned into memory.

Crunchtime for Cleantech

2010-10-14T15:43:00.001-06:00

If your search stream in Twitter includes #cleantech, its been completely overloaded recently with news, insight and opinion on the tremendous opportunity that this sector represents to a multitude of stakeholders: venture investors; clean and green entpreneurs, utilities, corporations, economic growth, and last but not least, the earth. As the markets are slowly, almost reluctantly returning to some form of regularity and progression (up and to the right), many are re-focusing their attention on clean tech as the 'next' key growth area. Even more, its not just talk, companies (i.e. Google putting $5B into off shore wind), investors, university's and even policy makers (at least at the State level) have recently, and will be within the week (focusing now on Colorado below) announcing some major plans and initiatives to further stimulate and nuture this opportunity to do well, by doing good.

This past Tuesday in Denver, the Clean Tech Open announced three Rocky Mountain Regional semi-finalists' who will go on to compete at the National event in November. CTO has been tremendously successful at generating multiple forms of support (i.e. social capital by engaging mentors on a volunteer basis, significant capital in terms of prizes and in-kind consulting services) and partnerships at both the regional level and national scale to bring great ideas to market through the tradtional business plan competition model. Joel Serface, former KPCB/ NREL entrepreneur-in-residence, turned Boulderite provided a great overview of the current and future clean tech paradigm, signalling that if we are to get 'it' right time around, the ecosystem needs to think and act differently. Citing some great examples of how investors got it wrong the first go around following the IT bubble through the 2008 crash, cleantech 2.0 needs to be about sharing innovation (instead of being in stealth mode), acknowledging incremental advances as opposed to being focused purely on breakthroughs, be about engaging customers early and as partners rather than when the flashy new widget is finally out of R&D, that products and services that fit into existing processes can be as successful if not more than stand alone solutions and finally that cleantech can happen anywhere, not just in Silicon Valley.

My only addition would be that energy efficiency will remain the go-to starting strategy for most companies and technologies that offer an EE play, will continue to yield the best ROI's for investors and those implementing the technology. Its not the big sexy supply side that attracts headlines but the inertia required to adopt such massive projects into our existing infrastructure make less capital intensive and shorter return horizon technologies all the more attractive; and will help further grease the wheels of future investment in this space for those much larger and more complex technologies that will hopefully change the game. Citing Kevin Genieser of Morgan Stanley from today's GoingGreen conference at Stanford, the cheapest energy is the energy that is never used."

That said, no where do we have all of the right ingredients for success than in Colorado. Everything, however, except venture dollars. Yet, the Rocky Mountain region, and particularly Colorado, receives the most federal funding for clean technology R&D than any other area. Citing some anecdotal research from a colleague, the average Fed funding to Venture funding ratio in regions like the Bay Area and Boston hover around $1.50 (for ever $1 of Federal funding to cleantech, VCs are pumping in $1.50), in Colorado its more like $0.10. This is less of a 'how do we fix this and more of a well what do we do with it situation, and has been something I've personally been playing with at the periphery for some time now, first at NREL last summer, and now with a handful of potentially high impact projects with players in the Corporate and venture space.

Adding perhaps more meangingful fuel to the non fossil fuel-based fire, we'll here next week about Colorado's clean energy and investment plan, followed by the Colorado Cleantech Industry Association's Awards event on Tuesday, which then dovetails straight into the 23rd NREL Industry Growth Forum where the nation's leading clean tech companies and investors will converge. That's a lot of activity going on here within a one week period. Here's to the hope that it will lead to meaningful action.

Towing the line (the back of)

2010-10-11T22:05:00.003-06:00

Leaves are turning, temps have significantly dropped, and there's just the slightest touch of snow in them there hills. Long gone are those hot summer nights, long days in the saddle and quiet moments in the forest turning pedal after pedal on a 2+ hour cross country course. Its nearly mid-October, which means cyclocross season is now officially in full swing here in Colorado (click here if you're new to this whole 'cross thing for a simple, yet effective primer).

To cap off the season, this means shorter, but incomprehensibly harder races, switching out the solitude of singletrack for the rowdy, beer-clad revelry of 'cross heckling, trading barriers, sand and grass for the monotony of flat office park crits. For me, its turned into the highlight of the season. Its refreshing, its spectator friendly, its incredibly hard, and it combines the best of what I love about road and mountain. Best of all when the season wraps in December its just another beautiful transition back up to the high country for a few months of righteous skiing with friends.

Having spent a good two weeks off bike over Labor Day which included an epic East Coast tour (from Maine to New Jersey) and another three weeks slowly building back the base, both emotionally and physically, I zipped myself into the skinsuit and took my standard six deep breathes before the whistle blew to signal to the start of my 'cross season at Frisco CX in Frisco, CO. Having received the big upgrade on the road and mountain this season, I got bumped into the Open/Pro group in CX. One part blessing, one part pure disguise. Number 1 goal of the day, don't get lapped by Jake Wells. 60 minutes later, I crossed the line surprisingly mid-pack, with a fantastic last 4 lap battle with a few Mafia guys which made an interesting end to a great first outing.

1st lap mayhem at the back

This past Saturday marked the return of the now near classic Interlocken CX race (for course map, stats), featuring the appropriately dreaded and supremely plush grass and the super steep double run-up, double sand pit, all former MBA classmate Brian Hlud's creation. Check out Allen Krughoff's write up at 303cycling.com which also includes some great video, as well as the good folks at Mountain Flyer who both did a great job covering the action up at the front of our, and the Women's Open/Pro race. Props to many of my fellow Rocky Mounts/ Izze women, who made an impressive showing in their race. And while there was some seriously good racing action at the front, let me say that the action off the back was pretty tight too! 62 starters made for quite a brutal first 30 seconds of the race, with a wide open start funneling into a 4 foot wide sidewalk, followed by the run-up/ sand pits. With the grass just perfectly saturated to the point of a scary resemblance to velcro, the first few laps had me dueling it out with a dozen guys mid-pack including one of the best women riders in the US, Georgia Gould. Before long she somehow effortlessly moved her way up the field and the race was quickly separated by a stellar group of 5, way off the front.

While I tried to keep the pace up, a poorly inflated front Dugast made things really brutal. Tire pressure is a tricky thing, often a make or break item that racer's can obsess over. Having run a few laps at what I thought was the appropriate pressure, I succumbed to two things I shouldn't have, peer pressure and nervousness. Overhearing too many conversations about how soft the course was, and the multiple psssssssssst sounds from guys way faster than I around me, at the last minute I released a few PSI myself (apparently too many) at the start line, and thus had the pleasure of rolling around the corners like a fat man in '85 Oldsmobile. A few Dale's Pale Ale's on the sideline and some serious Cat 4 heckling later, I resolved myself to move on, lesson learned.

Fortunately the beauty of 'cross is that this coming weekend will offer redemption 2x. Till then.

Photo credits to Dan Reiber and Dejan Smaic

Change of Pace

2010-09-20T19:47:00.001-06:00

My legs are sore in places I'd long forgot about. Heels, shoulders and hips are tender to the touch. 12+ miles of backpacking will do that to you, especially if you haven't done so in nearly 2 seasons. While the weight of my pack was relieved a bit with help from the cattle dog of cattle dogs, the 2 bottles of champagne I carried up there for a surprise knee dropping ceremony made the trip both sweet and an honorable challenge.

Colorado in September is a special time. Summer's steady heat gives away to cool nights and mornings. Thunderstorms with a better on-time schedule than United are absorbed by perfectly deep blue sky days. The sun is still warm, but the air keeps a constant, refreshing breeze. And of course the leaves of change signal the constant movement of time. The Jewish new year occurs during this time period, and interestingly for me too, this transition time from summer to winter induces some retrospection on a summer well spent and planning for the coming winter season and further out, 2011.

While the fall foliage season in the east coast drags along for a number of weeks and even months, offering a depth of the color palette unsurpassed to any other region, the Colorado aspen season comes and goes nearly in the blink of an eye. And that makes all the more sweeter when your able to pull away from the day-to-day grind and find a perfect place to capture one of the purest expressions of change in nature.

For the last 7 months I've been dead focused on flying (nearly successfully) past trees, rocks and roots on two wheels. That speed, the near miss, leg searing burn and blur of the physical world as I float through it is a rush I crave. But that same blur keeps tiny moments hidden, the rustle of leaves on the trail, the creaking of two aspens together, which each help to make a somewhat slower pace similarly meaningful. I always said that the pace of the bike is near perfection. Never too fast to miss most of the details, never to slow to limit boredom. After two days on the trail with only my feet as guides for pace, I think I can now confidently say that there is something equally special about the hiking pace. For not only what it allows you to see, but what it allows you to think. There are those moments on the bike where you can space out and think deep, about that nagging assignment you have or to merely ponder some eccentric thought, but they are fleeting, pace (and often sharp, looming rocks coupled with an off camber exposed loose over hard pack sharp right turn) keep you focused on the moment. Hiking, however, allows for the ebb and flow of thought and experience in a different way. And while I'm not trading in my bikes for the latest La Sportiva hikers any time soon, it was incredibly refreshing to be in the mountains, active, and in a new way.

Change, they say after all, is good.

driving towards eco-innovation

2010-09-01T14:36:00.002-06:00

The last post on sustainability matters focused on a recent client experience and realization of a market dynamic where eco-efficiency, or a savings-only mindset has successfully pervaded corporate America. In general, the proverbial 'we' are increasingly working with companies to prove the business case for efficiency with an environmental slant. And its working, this is great, right?!

As I recently experienced, however, the concept of eco-efficiency is not enough. We, and the companies that we all work with, cannot be purely satisfied with achieving a few savings percentages here and there. This approach either results in proving that the sustainability lens works and can lead to further innovation and adoption of new ideas or it leads to the law of diminishing returns, where its harder and harder to squeeze savings and efficiency out of the business; eventually marginalizing efforts to the back of the capital expenditure bus. Further, taking an incremental approach, while measurable is not itself going to result in a scalable evolution in business models, products and services - all of which will not only provide new jobs but also dramatically reduce emissions.

In thinking about this issue, both from a macro perspective and within the context of how we develop our own corporate sustainability practice here in the US, its clear that we need to provide both efficiency-focused services as well as innovative services to clients: those that help the bottom-line directly through cost reduction and those that contribute to the top-line, either directly or indirectly through brand building and revenue generation. Yet, its not always appropriate to provide both at the same time, and often it doesn't always make sense to follow a linear path from efficiency into innovation. The model and repeatability of applying sustainability is that often, there is no one default standard.

One of our key strategic partners, leading sustainability guru (and one of my initial inspirations for getting into this whole field) Bill McDonough calls this concept, eco-effective, but I'm inclined to use the term eco-innovation, applying that certain spark of ingenuity and creativity to concepts of sustainable development. That said, his often quoted statement, 'being less bad is not being good' strikes a deep deep chord here.
The two might be considered as evolutionary stages of corporate sustainability. Eco-efficiency is, for a corporation, the perfect introduction to sustainability thinking. It's low hanging fruit, and offers almost immediate payback - which emboldens further corporate action. Eco-innovation, on the other hand, is the stage a corporation enters when it has pushed eco-efficiency as far as possible. Whereby a siloed focus for design or ROI only on financial terms simply is not sufficient. It moves beyond looking solely at corporate operations and activities within the four walls, and extends into how the products the company makes, the services it provides and role 'it' plays with customers, partners and the indirect environment. It's definitely fruit that's higher up on the tree--harder to reach, but tastier for the effort.

The two can also be differentiated by linear vs. lateral thinking. Eco-efficiency is about discovering a source of inefficiency, then trimming out the wasted resources, pollution, and energy. It's math, it's science, taking applied thinking to how a business is operated, built, maintained . Contrast that with eco-innovation, which relies more on invention, creation and intuition and is a pathway towards strong brand growth. Like any other form of innovation, it can be wildly successful when executed properly - but it doesn't offer the same degree of certainty as efficiency. It also requires engagement from senior leaders across a business; its often systemic and results in a complete repositioning of the business or the launch of a new product line. The power of eco-innovation is its capacity for constant reinvention, improvement and iteration, and not surprisingly is the very lifeblood of a vital, dynamic brand. In many ways this thinking drastically moved beyond the realm of environmental consulting to straight up business and strategy consulting, with, oh-by-the way, environmental benefits.

What does eco-innovation look like? Here are a few indicative examples and methods that we're working on:

Energy - Forming partnerships with energy companies to be create their own or be part of a renewable energy portfolio, using waste products from manufacturing as internal fuel sources to create biomass-to-energy plants or biofuels to be sold directly to a local utility.
Repurposing - Repurpose products, manufacturing plants and other existing systems for higher demand products or services. For example, a commodity product like sugar can, through hard work, time and certification, be repositioned in a higher value chain as a carbon-free organic product. An experience like clean hotel towels can be repositioned from reduce your consumption to use as much as you want - our towels are 100% neutral.
Embracing technology and closed loop design- Nano-tech, Bio-tech, ICT, etc. are enabling new ways of designing products to truly be faster, lighter, cheaper and...more effective. Sometimes they even taste better too. For example, use technology to convert waste corn-based feedstock into packaging for your polenta flour, all which is powered by biomass leftover from your harvest.
Go outside - I hate to say it, but gaining perspective from beyond one's own desk can really expose opportunities that otherwise have gone unnoticed or under-appreciated. Be that on a long walk, trail run, bike ride or by engaging with outside experts.
Collaborate and tap the network - Often, the best innovation comes from things that don't initially seem to fit together or between the unlikeliest of partners. We're seeing this in the ICT industry where entrenched competitors are sharing information for the greater good and for better innovation as well as in the apparel, textile and CPG sector, where IP and certification methodologies are being shared and released open source to accelerate product and material innovation.
Make many small bets, instead of one big one. The ideal innovation portfolio is spread between three areas: far-off R&D, fast-failing exploratory innovations, and enhancements of current platforms in operations, products and services, to make necessary strides forward to stay relevant. And if possible, have a blend of all three, at various stages in your 'innovation pipeline'.

The Cross Season Cometh

2010-08-28T19:09:00.008-06:00

There's something quite liberating about hoping on a cyclocross bike and knowing that you can pretty much ride wherever you want. Singletrack or doubletrack, gravel, dirt or grass, even chip-seal. Its a refreshing break from what has been a long (and fantastic) mountain and road season and I cannot wait for the sound of cowbells, screaming fans and mud sliding between my tires and v-brakes to begin.

Props to Keller highlighting the amazing capability of mapmyfitness.com's new 3D fly-in tool. Make sure you've got the Google Earth Plugin installed and enjoy this tour of Boulder county's 'pave' roads and double wide trails. You can zoom in and out, and up and down by using the navigator at the top right while the fly over continues.

Heaven

2010-08-25T20:37:00.008-06:00

Every summer now since moving to Colorado contains a trip to the nirvana of mountain bike land, Crested Butte. This year marked the first road trip with the 4runner, the first on 401 (finally) and Reno-Flag-Bear, and of course a mandatory run up/down Doctors Park on the way out of town. We hit 6 rides in 4 days and drove home wanting more, as it should be.

Beyond the last of the low-hanging fruit

2010-08-24T21:31:00.001-06:00

In 2003 when I entered the working world with the goal of bringing sustainability thinking to the business community, the concept of sustainability had just begun to enter the lexicon of the C-suite and was just barely a misunderstood concept. You mean tree hugging, philanthropy or compliance right? Yes, and….Around 2006/07, the market began to shift from thinking of the environment as a periphery business risk and cost bucket, to one of an opportunity. It was, and continues to be an exciting time and a transition economy. One-dimensional CSR reports touting a recycling program and employee carpool incentives gave way to an additional focus on developing new products and services that are not only ‘better’ than their peers, but more efficient (either in their manufacture, their use, their recyclability or how they impact the user). And while nearly anyone can now given you their own definition of sustainability and the majority of corporate America and beyond has put in place some statement around addressing environmental and/or climate change concerns, it is an understatement to say there remains a lot of work to be done.

On a recent client engagement, two things dramatically struck me and our team as we began an operational assessment of their business using the lens of sustainability to identify opportunities to implement efficiency projects.

The client had been extremely diligent at identifying and implementing nearly every piece of low hanging fruit, all the while without calling it green, environmental or sustainable.
Yet, in light of this the client was unwilling to flex their operating strategy and business fundamentals to move beyond the ‘easy’ stuff and create meaningful change to their business which could unlock significant savings (financial and carbon), not only for their business but for the greater good.

It was a very challenging situation, and one that I’d not yet encountered. Here’s a business that is brutally focused on driving out cost and has successfully done so for over 30 years, and yet the idea of extending hurdle rates and creating business goals that have a dollar and carbon metric tied to them is simply not possible. For now, we are at a stalemate until we can position both a strategy piece and project roadmap with a senior manager who can shepherd the initiative and garner the Board’s support. We've found opportunities to reduce here, save a little there, but the big ticket items that can really drive impact remain out of reach. One thing is clear, with out setting clear targets for reducing carbon, investment in this area just won't happen on its own.

It’s an interesting time out there in the market. Some companies are still coming to the sustainability table with an empty plate but a big appetite, others have been diligently implementing projects and programs which reduce impact while also creating value for their customers. Still others are waiting for the flood water to literally rise and are simply not interested, and in my opinion will simply become extinct. In most cases, I think the days of walking into a new project and assuming there will be a few easy quick win’s are pretty much over. In others, however, maybe sustainability simply isn’t the right strategic fit for a client’s business. Or maybe it is, but requires such a change or external market driver that until that occurs, evolution is not possible nor even warranted (Case in point, see the WSJ's provocative article on the case against CSR and TriplePundit's response). In the case of our current engagement, adding additional risk by tying up capital on longer burn projects may not actually be a good fit for the culture of the business.

This is both exciting and frustrating, and means systemic evolution in happening in the marketplace. But it also signals that in order to move beyond sustainability 101 or even 201, we’re going to have to work harder, think deeper and act more creatively than ever before to drive further adoption of sustainability thinking in business. I hope we’re all up to the challenge.

CU Short Track mini vid

2010-07-16T09:53:00.000-06:00

Curteousy of Yuki Saito of Team Topeak/Ergon. It's rare to get a full on view from the racer's POV, so enjoy...Short track is 30 minutes of pedal to the metal racing around a short...(single) track. Positioning is everything on the first few laps, otherwise things get strung out pretty quick and then getting lapped becomes an issue from the front handful of guys. So far I'm two for two in getting lapped with 1 lap to go by Brady Kappius and Bryan Alders, with only 2 more chances to see if I can hold them off. We're super lucky to have the option of dropping into these races any Wednesday from June to July, thanks to the CU cycling program.

Boulder Short Track Men's A 7/14/2010 from Yuki Saito on Vimeo.

Learning the difference between racing and surviving

2010-07-07T22:53:00.005-06:00

Within the span of 7 days, I got to experience both of these mental and physical states. How incredibly different they are, opposite sides of the spectrum, and yet both offer a lot to learn about how one's body and mind react to these situations.

At Winter Park last week, things couldn't have been going any better. My new (4)wheels brought be to the resort in style and with sufficient warm up time to stretch the legs after a week in Seattle office spacing it with the best and brightest at MSFT. After a fast start and climb up the cat-track I had the pole position and quickly made time on the descents. Pace-lining it on the fire roads with another racer it was a mano-a-mano test on the final climb and descent back into the park. With the lead always in reach, we traded back and forth on the last climb. But I was confident, I felt good, believed in myself, and drew upon reserves I was nearly sure I had and found a way to summit first and tack a straight line through the last single track, raising a fist in the air for the first time atop fat tires.

A week later and 24 miles into the Firecracker 50, I thought I was in much the same position. Feeling strong, nearly 1 of 2 laps down and in a very strong position for an honest run at US Marathon XC title. All of that came crashing down to a dizzying, nauseating and bonking hault as we started up Boreas Pass for the second time. Problem was, I had ate, drank and trained for a 25 mile race, and accordingly, my body was done, ready for the post race beer and legs up lounging. But we had another 25 to go, and apparently whether I could go with it was up for discussion. For the first time I was truly bonking, in a way I had never every experienced, and as the 6 mile, 1000+ foot climb continued, I was the poster child for Phil Ligget's classic commentary, "he's going backwards folks","his legs have turned to rubber and his effort reduced to mere survival", "He's really having to dig deeply into his suitcase of courage", and finally, "his suffering now like he's never suffered before".

This of course all as the road tipped up and I desperately tried to keep a cadence, pushing back thoughts of quitting, puking and a comfortable bed. If I could just get to the first aid station, that'd be enough right? I could quit then. Two waters, three Gu gels and 15 minutes of panting, head down staring at the ground later, I sat on the side of the trail, watching riders of every category and age float by. The single speeder in cut off jeans and wool sleeveless jersey, the 40+ and eventual Master's winner Pete Webber who started 20 minutes behind me, and dozens others. I've never experienced anything like this before, never suffered so hard, never been so depleted of oxygen, carbs and fluids that my body shook and all I could do was stare at the ground, lean against my bike and wait, with the hope that I could muster the energy to continue on.

But the body and mind are amazing things. With a little break, the right fuel and fluids, and a centered, and focused mind, you can achieve incredible things, things that you thought were not possible. When I reached that first aid station I thought to myself, there is simply just no way that I could get back on the bike and ride another 18 miles, up 25% Illinois gulch and 23% French gulch and Sally Barber...impossible. But sugar and determination can do a lot for the mind body and spirit. Sure the day had turned from a race to mere survival, but that in of itself was a worthy challenge, and one that I was sure to test. So leg over the saddle I went, huffing and puffing, breaking when I had to (only once more before the French Gulch section where I once again thought, no way could I go up anymore) to get through the rest of the course. Eventually I found my rhythm and managed to set a steady pace, though I never could regain any leg power nor raise my heart rate above 160, a very strange feeling.

On the final pinball section down to Carter Park I felt nearly the same amount of joy and sense of accomplishment that I did when I crossed first the week before, but for all different reasons. Racing in control is a great feeling and is a testament to training and focus to the sport, but racing at and beyond the limit builds more than just aerobic capacity and endurance, it builds character.

One month in; One month out

2010-06-12T13:16:00.001-06:00

Speed, pace, cadence...Intensity, clarity, vision...Synthesis and change.

All are adjectives that could easily be applied applied to racing the bike, but over the last month, these word's have been the driving theme as I move from student back to professional (worker). Just over a month ago, the parents were in town and we were celebrating over a phenomenal Frasca dinner the completion of 2 years of hard work and incredible experiential learning that was CU's MBA program. After a spring semester filled with tremendous opportunities to practice the skill's I'd developed during the program within my three focus areas (clean technology, venture capital, and software/ web 2.0), it was time to pick one of those red hot irons in the fire and dive into the deep end.

Reflecting a bit on the entire process is staggering, and speaks to the level of activity and breadth that I'd covered in my relatively short time in Boulder. So before the recent past fades into the haze that is now all I recall from my years at Skidmore, the list below cover's some of my favorite, impactful and fun things that I accomplished:

somehow surviving the first year's finance, accounting, statistics and decision modeling courses, and even managing to learn and apply material in, dear I say, real world situations
program coordination and planning for Elevate! Climate Change and the New Frontiers of Urban Development, CU's first conference focused on sustainable development
skiing across Colorado's best resorts and exploring with a great group of friends the amazing amount of accessible side and backcountry, averaging ~25 days of high quality knee high goodness
raising and training an incredibly bright, high-energy frisbee catching, trail running and powder loving Blueheeler named Isaac
connecting deeply and often with incredible mentors and new colleagues in Boulder, Denver and beyond
developing a feasibility plan for Syndicate Design Works, a concept 3BL-based outdoor apparel business with 2 other talented students (and knowing when and how to #FAIL)
disconnecting from WSP and working independently and as a partner in Entrepreneurial Solutions as a ninja-self styled consultant/intern with some of Boulder's best and most promising companies (GoLite, Startup Smart, Nexajoule, Espritdent, Wild Charge, iNews, TechStars, NREL, Green Garage and Lijit)
helping to launch a complex, progressive software business & network and then writing its initial business plan
creating a new MBA student and community-focused group to recognize and accelerate town-gown engagement in the Outdoor Industry
collaborating with 2 amazing mentors and the extensive network we engaged with to research the feasibility and business design of a new, innovative venture fund focused at catalyzing growth in promising smart, sustainable and Colorado-based startups
learning the ropes of the venture capital and private equity industries, managing dealflow for CU's Regional hosted VCIC competition, earning a coveted place on VCIC team to compete at Regional's and making it to International Finals, only to be the bridesmaid, yet again
helping to relaunch the Deming Center Venture Fund, a student-lead venture-styled fund that makes small investments in local startups, organized through a new course in the MBA program
riding my bike(s) on average 8-12 hours a week; racing road, mountain and cyclocross and rising through the ranks and categories to be on the verge of 'pro'; serving as a Board Member on my sponsored team, RockyMounts/ Izze cycling
successfully navigating the post-MBA option pool with the help of a dozen+ friends, advisers, mentors, parents, excel spreadsheet's and decision tree's
reconnecting with WSP and taking an incredible position within the business to redefine the Corporate Sustainability Strategy practice and drive growth in new, potentially game changing ways

The result of all this, is that I'm now firmly planted in the holistic Colorado ecosystem and loving every single minute of it, for all of the opportunities that abound, the culture and lifestyle and all of the amazing people, businesses and idea's the germinate, co-locate and thrive in this unique corner of the world.

So one month out from all of that, and it feels like just a dream, as my day's now are rapidly spent tapping on keys, running to meetings and chatting through conference calls and LiveMeetings with clients and colleagues across the world as I try to help companies align their business goals with the sustainability ethos, creating value from systems-design thinking and applying the sustainability lens to business decisions and operations.

Sitting in one place for 8+ hours, focused on a few tasks for 5 days in a row is definitely a challenge to adjust to coming off of 2 years spent working from mostly from home, coffee shops, classrooms and working collaboratively with a diverse set of students and colleagues on dozens of projects at once. Four weeks in, I think I'm really now starting to hit my stride, generating some fantastic buzz and a few excellent wins for our team. While driving up to Ned on Wednesday for a soul-sanctifying mountain bike ride with a buddy, I commented that I was totally buzzed and energized, not from caffeine but from t he sheer volume of productivity of the day and excitement for what's to come. Even though I miss the student life, this whole work thing ain't so bad.

Closing out the 09/10 Ski Season

2010-04-13T23:10:00.002-06:00

Late March / early April, has for the last few years, proved to drop some of the deepest snow of the season in Colorado. This year stayed par for the course with a number of big storms dropping back to back, even on Fri/Sat for 4 weeks in a row, most importantly in Summit County region.

But timing is everything and everything had to do with luck for a hut trip that a few friends and I booked a year in advance.

Our destination was the Peter Estin Hut, perched at 11, 200 feet in the Mount Holy Cross Wilderness. The hut was touted as having some of the best backcountry skiing access in the whole division, and boy did it not disappoint.

Not only did we arrive to 8-10 inches of new snow (admittedly on a few weeks of sun crust), but it proceeded to snow 6-8 inches each day AND night during out entire stay, making for a truly deep and memorable experience. I know we'll probably never have conditions like that again, man was it good.

So courtesy of Wilder Daniels, please enjoy the video below (for a full on trip report with some great pics, check out his post). It wasn't shot in HD, but you'll get the point. I've blipsnip'ed it again, which really does make for some easy viewing. I really couldn't have asked for a better way to close out another great winter tele season. 12 days backcountry, 14 resort. Can I get a second MBA!?

Tucson wrap up (with video)

2010-04-06T15:04:00.011-06:00

After some serious editing, I'm proud to showcase below some of the riding that we did over spring break down in Tucson, AZ. Armed with a demo GoPro HD Hero Helmet Camera, I took what amounted to be a few hours worth of footage over a week long tour of Tucson's finest road and mountain trails (the details of which can be found at the bottom of this post).

I've been taking shoddy video for the last few years on a hand held 6.3 megapixel point and shoot Fuji camera, and while the footage hasn't been terrible, I've constantly wanted to try out the latest in HD helmet cameras. Following a review of the Hero cam by Greg Keller and another feature of what's hot today, I decided to give the Hero Cam a try. Its an easy and anywhere mounting device, packed with 5 different HD settings and a waterproof, crash proof case that easily uploads to your viewing software of choice. In my case, uploading to iPhoto and eventually editing via iMovie was really easy - and ultimately led to some fun (and late) nights making what I hope you'll find is a fun little movie.

Best of all, you can skip around at will to any of the pre-selected points in the movie by using a new software product called BlipSnips - I hope to feature the product a bit more, talk about the team and more in another post soon as seen through the lens of the Boulder startup community and via the Deming Center Venture Fund class, both of which are in full-on fun and fast startup mode.

For now, enjoy.

Trip Details:

Day 1: Mtn, Fantasy Island, 46 miles
Day 2: Road, Mt. Lemmon, 66 miles
Day 3: Mtn, 50-year Trail, 22 miles
Day 4: Road, Gates and Picture Rock Passes, 72 miles
Day 5: Mtn, Arizona Trail, 41 miles
Day 6: Road, Colossal Caves Loop, 49 miles
Day 7: Mtn, Fantasy Island, 19 miles

Feel free to reach out to me for any details on these routes if you happen to find yourself in the Sonoran desert.

Site reDesign 2oh

2010-03-26T12:01:00.007-06:00

While completely sucked into the patio chairs after Wednesday's ride out and over Gates and Picture Rock Passes west of Tucson, I used what energy I had to move my fingers on the keyboard and installed a new site template which I'm kind of excited about. Having been on the Blogger platform for since 2008, I didn't really know what was possible from a layout perspective, thinking things were really limited to the standard templates offered. And if I did want to spice things up and personalize the site, I would have had to have migrated over to WordPress.

Thanks to Deluxe Templates, those using Blogger.com's standard templates can now easily upgrade their own site layout plates for free and enter the web 2.0 world. Along with nearly a hundred different options, many of which are leveraged from the WordPress platform, the site also offers a straightforward self-help section for how to install the template, add sub pages and install other minor edits to the layout such as fonts and colors. For those looking to take the look and set up for their blog beyond to the next level, but without the need for more serious web and HTML editing skills, this is a great go between.

I still have a few changes to make on this site, including adding some more sub pages and fixing the search functionality of the site (keeping Lijit as the main search tool), but let me know what you think.

And finally, in a similar vein, I'm helping to organize a mini-WordPress bootcamp for Leeds MBA students, hopefully on the afternoon of April 15th. It looks like we'll have the local WordPress camp organizer (thanks Tim) on hand to guide students through set up and customization for not only a blog but also for building a more traditional business type website. And now that I've found a great way to further customize Blogger sites, we'll probably add a sub section or post-meetup for Blogger users who want to keep things simple.

Tucson Training Camp - mid week update

2010-03-24T12:01:00.003-06:00

In the spirit of heading south for anything under the heading 'spring break', a few weeks ago I made plans with a few riding buddies to hit up some sun and truly get the legs warmed up for the coming season. We were all tired of riding in Boulder in full on winter mode and while temps had just broke into the 60s for a few days, another big storm was headed to town and we agreed it was time head south. This being my last spring break of the MBA 2-year program, I figured it appropriate to continue the trend, and perhaps up the anty, of increasingly active and fun week-long adventures that only an academic calendar can provide.

After a few hours of recon and some calls to local bike shops in Tucson, AZ, I easily booked a nice little casa with views of the Catalina Mountains and had miles and miles of both road and mountain biking routes picked out. Brandon's Jeep looked down right sexy with 6 high-end road and carbon bikes mounted to the top and back and we made the drive in just about 12 hours, celebrating with some seriously strong margarita's and some local Mexican food.

We arrived to a near perfect weather report, 70s and 80s all week with nothing but sun forecast for the week. Sunday was filled with a big breakfast from a local cafe, a fun session of bike maintenance to clean off the bikes from the road, snow, and grim of the drive and a fantastically fun intro to Tucson mountain biking at Fantasy Island - an 'in town' oasis consisting of a 20+ mile mountain bike specific trail network that was created a few years ago, made possible by a dedicated group of mountain bikers and one of the largest prickly pear cactus populations in the Southwest. The trails were super fast, flowing and FULL of cactus, making cornering a tricky proposition and the need to stay on top of one's game paramount, as any mistake would not only have you going down to the ground but most likely into your choice of saguaro, prickly pear or a handful of other gnarly looking types of cactus'. Riding from the house we did 1 1/2 loops and thoroughly enjoyed the 4 1/2 hour, 46 mile ride in the mid-day sun, soaking in the desert warmth. We followed that up with a huge salad + penne and meatball dinner and a viewing of 24hoursolo for dessert.

We woke up early on Monday to gorgeous blue skies and heat, making that days planned route up famed Mt. Lemmon all the better. 66 miles, 7000+ feet of climbing. Simply an amazing, breathtaking and inspiring ride. A coke and some fudge at the top made the hour long descent seriously enjoyable. Another big dinner, some PRO movie watching and I was out like a light by 10pm.

Lower temps and clouds found its way into the forecast for Tuesday, enabling us to sleep in, lounge around the house a bit and plan a more mellow mountain bike day to the 50 mile trail system just north of town. There we found a full complement of trail types, from loose and rocky climbs, to fast and sinuous rollers, to super technical, tight, thread the needle type climbs and descents, and the always present perfectly placed cactus at every corner. We all managed to get stung a few times by senior prickly pear though I think Jeff fared the worst. We completed our cycling movie trifecta with Off Road to Athens.

Fortunately, the rest of the week looks like the sun is back in action and temps are into the 70s. With an alternating schedule of mountain and road each day, and nothing else planned but sleeping, eating, and biking, the week is looking good. I'm also working on editing lots of great video taken with the HD Hero Cam, and will post that soon enough. Apologies in advance to my friends in snowy Boulder, and other more wintery locales.

A Colorado weekend

2010-03-06T19:59:00.007-07:00

With a low key evening weekend planned and good weather forecast, priorities shifted to day time activities aimed at exploiting some early Boulder spring day conditions. Sun shining and warmth in the air greeted a crew of 20+ to start the Gateway Saturday morning ride. I felt really good and managed to keep up with the Eckmann brothers all the way back to Boulder, of course cus I gots performance [link to video suggested].

Sunday featured a late morning assault at Berthoud Pass. Conditions were surprisingly perfect. Lots of sun, very warm temps and a cool breeze, topped off with a foot to two of deep deep in the shaded trees. Caught a little video:

Berthoud Pass, CO - March 7 2010 from josh whitney on Vimeo.

But while road riding and backcountry skiing have been keeping me fit for the mountain season ahead, I couldn't help but watch over and over again some of the amazing work that these guys have put in on the trails of BC. Enjoy.

Countdown to trail.

Steve House on free solo-ing

2010-02-24T16:27:00.000-07:00

Steve House just completed 2 (likely) first ever free solo's of classic routes in New Hampshire. That in itself is inspiring, but for me, more so are his words around what goes through his head before and during the climb:

"I wanted to climb them without a rope to experience these incredibly classic lines as purely as possible," he said. "But more importantly to me, I wanted to experience the internal dialogue that occurs for me when I decide upon, and then execute, a solo climb. If you want to find out what's important to you, decide to do a hard solo and see what you think about and dream about in the hours before you go."

This introspective approach is something that I can deeply resonate with, and I believe it extends far beyond the sharp end. Having had the opportunity to climb with Steve at the Ouray Ice Festival for the past few years, I can tell you that he climbs from and for the soul, and that this approach to life is something that inspires me. Either in other sports activities that keep me busy with potentially high consequences, but also within the world of grey slacks and sport coats, what goes on in one's head before a big event is something worth reflecting upon.

One of the things I love about life are those tiny seconds that can be captured, reframed and recalled hours, days and even years after they occur. It could be an image, a feeling or a smell, but recognizing these minute moments with a consciousness of one's own related thoughts is a really cool thing. Whether its right before a major steep, rocky and exposed descent on a mountain bike or if your just about to take the podium in front of huge audience, identifying what you think about and how your thinking about it can be a powerful tool for exploring what, how and who your are. All too often, we simply black out our thoughts in order to get through something painful, scary or uncomfortable. And while in many instances that same ability to black out one's thoughts and just focus on the most pressing of present actions (i.e. breathing) is also a considerable skill and one of the reason's I love getting after it in the outdoors so much, there is also something to be said for elevating to a higher consciousness during the most intense of activities, either before, during or after. That ability to switch back and forth, from zoning out on just one's breathing and pedal stroke, relishing the simplicity of human power, to turning the brain back on and dreaming about something far and away is in many way's what pushes me out the door.

Rising to the occasion - 1st Place @VCIC Regionals

2010-02-23T10:05:00.003-07:00

With amazing support from the local venture and startup community in Boulder, the CU VCIC team is returning victorious from our trip to LA where we competed at the West Regionals [insert badass picture].

Having spent countless hours perfecting how to due diligence an entrepreneur and her dream, model its financials and craft an attractive but fair term sheet with some of the Front Range's best investors and aspiring entrepreneurs, we were well prepped for the real competition which kicked off on Wednesday at 5pm. We were excited, stoked and confident and having left snowy Boulder for 70 degree sunny LA, it made the start of the trip even better.

36 hours and a lot of order in Chinese later, we had ripped apart the 3 business plans, developed an efficient and stylized question sheet for each and prepared 2 sets of final deliverables. Presentations by the entrepreneurs started at 9am on Friday morning with 15 minutes of Q&A immediately following. Practice and confidence paid off, we smoothly rolled through each of the sessions and as we walked back to our windowless conference room to finalize the deliverables, we were feeling pretty good. Two hours later we sat at the head of a large meeting room, with a term sheet in one shaky hand, Curtis from MyCypher sitting at one side of the table and a dozen judges (real VC and Angel investors) hanging on our every word, action and body movement.

VCIC is a pretty amazing experience. While its clearly an unrealistic portrayal of how real VCs operate (going from a first meeting to a term sheet in 2 hours), the process that we go through in preparing for the event really does map to the depth and breadth of skills required to be a successful investor. A classic example of the journey, not the destination, being the reward.

But beyond the skills and exposure gained though, its really a phenomenal opportunity to work with a small, very intense team of incredibly smart people, and to that extent I''m really grateful. Not only are we able to efficiently work together, dividing out effortlessly into our respective expert domains, but we have an incredibly good time doing so. This makes the 3am, 15 hour work sessions bearable, knowing that we're heading in the right direction while also keeping the atmosphere light. Its really a special thing to be able to work like this with your peers. And as stressed out as we all were, we were having a seriously great time during the entire event. We'll get the chance to do it all again April 8th at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Of course, dominating each session helped stoke the ego. Best of which was when our Q&A with the judges started (the last, and potential most heavily weighted portion of the competition), the judges used the first 3 minutes to complement our team on our completeness, style and overall delivery of term sheet negotiation.

Following the awards presentation, we boarded a private couch bus and bar hopped with the rich and [almost] famous at a few of Hollywood's trendiest clubs. As a result, the rest of the weekend was filled with hilarious re-cap stories, lots of laughing and some excellent food. By Sunday, we'd toured through most of LA, hitting all the classic spots including a fantastically stimulating walk down Venice Beach, and while we agreed the break from winter was much needed and fully appreciated, we were ready to head home.

Upon our return, I did the only rational thing I could, and drove out to Vail to ski 8" of fresh on Monday morning.

VCIC Regionals @ CU-Boulder

2010-02-14T17:48:00.001-07:00

This past Friday, CU-Boulder hosted the mountain regional event for VCIC, with 6 schools traveling to Boulder to compete for the opportunity to go to the international competition at UNC-Chapel Hill. As a member of CU's VCIC team, I'd been helping to organize the event and secure 3 entrepreneur teams, that latter of which came down to the wire. But we successfully lined up a really solid set of companies for the teams and judges to evaluate. They included:

Vidli - an online video licensing platform
Troppus Software - a dynamic customer support SAAS tool
SpyderLynk - an offline marketing tool that combines printed or static marketing with mobile devices

The competition not not only spans the US and the UK, but also India and Asia, making it a truly international competition, with 750 students (representing 50 business schools) and 150 VCs participating. Chicago took the top place at our regional alongside Notre Dame, Purdue, Wisconsin, Michigan and Kellogg.

In preparing for the event, the CU team really does have an advantage. Not only do we get additional due diligence practice with the companies, along with interaction with the judges, but we get to basically dry run the entire competition one week in advance. We can follow teams around as they go through their due diligence and term sheet negotiation sessions, taking notes on what questions they asked (or missed), how they drafted up their term sheets and how judges respond. Best of all, we get to sit in on the judge decision process, listening to how the judges evaluate not only the 3 companies but also the teams. This provides invaluable insight into their own decision making process (great of course for real world benefit, but even better for understanding how to succeed in the fabricated time sensitive world of the competition).

With just a few days to go before we head out for USC, the team is feeling well practiced and confident. I even shaved to keep up the image of the clean sharp VC and will be brining my stripy-est shirt, cufflinks, sport coat and dark denim jeans (no vibrams though). With a little bit of luck and a lot of work, we should be able to take home the regional prize and thoroughly enjoy the rest of the long weekend in LA, where temps are in the 70's and there's a surfboard with my name on it.

Entre-predators, Blending Value and the Next Big Thing

2010-02-05T14:20:00.005-07:00

Within the last few weeks there have been a handful of thought provoking articles I've read, that when combined with the conversations I've been having with colleagues around identifying the feasibility of and need for a progressive venture capital model for sustainable enterprises in Boulder, make for an incredibly rich discourse.

First up, Malcolm Gladwell's "The Sure Thing" piece in the New Yorker challenges the notion that entrepreneurship is not, in fact, about calculated risk taking, but more about calculated predation. The truly successful businessman (examples included Ted Turner, Sam Walton and others) is anything but a risk-taker. He is a predator, and predators seek to incur the least risk possible while hunting. Gladwell asks would we so revere risk-taking if we realized that the people who are supposedly taking bold risks in the cause of entrepreneurship are actually doing no such thing? I found it incredibly interesting how this perspective in many challenges what I've been learning in the MBA program at CU. Not so much that risk-taking is emphasized but that the predatory concept, and the supportive strategy that (should) follow isn't explicitly taught.

Fellow ecopreneur and community catalyst Greg Berry posted Jed Emerson's introspective paper assessing the real-time challenges of trying to operate at the intersection of sustainable investing and traditional capital markets. Armed all to well with the personal travails and experience from pushing LPs and deal flow at Uhuru, Jed sets out with this premise:

“As I learned more about how he approached hedge fund investing, I was struck by how many of the aspects of Fundamental investing (as described to me) were similar to investing practices of Sustainable finance. Not the same, mind you, yet quite similar nevertheless. Simultaneous to this internal dialogue, an external dialogue evolved with investors Uhuru was engaged with around our work. These investors raised a related question: While they appreciated the attributes of our core Fundamental strategy, they asked if we couldn’t create a truly “sustainable” fund of hedge funds product. What they sought was a “Long/Short” investment strategy pursued in a manner consistent with an investor’s commitment to Sustainability. Was such a thing possible?"

Questions like these, challenging whether a blended value approach is possible and could provide returns of financial, social, and environmental capital, remain a major hurdle and milestone for those of us trying to progress the way capital is deployed and businesses are run. The paper is encouraging and motivating for anyone remotely interested in the subject and offers a call to action, “what was once a fad is now a trend, [and] how that trend evolves is a future we have the potential to create.”

Finally, with my school and work projects now blurring the lines between the web 2.0 and clean/green space, I've been deeply thinking about developmental models for investment, mentorship, and requirements/needs to accelerate business ideas. More time (and sleep) is required to reflect on these activities than I can offer now, but one thing that caught my attention as a response offered by Peter Thiel when asked about the current US economic stagnation and where innovation could and should come from:

"how much more progress [in the Internet] is there going to be? How many big new Internet companies are there? In the ’90s we had Netscape, Yahoo, eBay, Amazon. In the past eight years there have been only two: Google and Facebook. The numbers suggest a maturing industry. The Internet may be culturally important, just as the automobile was culturally more important in the ’50s than the ’20s, as we got suburbia and built the Interstate Highway System. But the last successful car company started in the US was Jeep in 1941."

Thiel's placing some serious bets in the artificial intelligence and space, space, aligning with a handful of his billionaire peers (Branson, Musk, etc) and while these markets are exciting, I still wonder what is it that is missing in the clean technology and progressive business model markets (ie B Corps)? Not only are do these markets hold untapped potential to drive the economy forward, but they can inherently provide and are increasingly being designed to distribute multiple forms of capital.

Yet, the key ingredients remain illusive. With some great colleagues, I'm hoping to unravel some of these barriers and help weave them into something meaningful, contributing to the growth of the Colorado entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Day 1 of the 2010 cycling season

2010-01-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked the first day of training for the 2010 season. Conditions in Boulder at the moment couldn't be better with a huge high pressure system hanging over the state resulting in sunny days and temps in the 50s (though that will likely change next week, and so will my training focus).

That of course meant that every roadie in town was out on the bike yesterday and my lunch time spin up 36 and Neva looked like a late May ride, with dozens and dozen's of riders on the road. It felt great to be back in the saddle, with thoughts drifting to what this season may hold. This year marks the first that I will have a coach and I'm really excited about what a that will yield in terms of having a solid training plan, motivation and support. Add to that a stronger and more focused group of mountain, road, and cross teammates and I'm pretty optimistic. Just have to [make sure I] balance all this with the real world as this past Monday also marked the start of my final semester in business school.

Here's a brief recap of some 2009 training and racing data:In season (not including down time due to my sweet broken finger), I averaged 100 miles and 8 hours a week on the bike, with a peak of 174 miles (early season Gateway/Bus Stop rides) and 16.5 hours (Crested Butte birthday week). I competed in 24 races (10 mtn, 5 road, 8 cross and 1 triathlon) and finished 22, a pretty solid feat considering how many mechanical's, flats and bonks are possible. A top place finish in mountain evaded me but I was able to take home a win on the road (finally beating that pesky 13yr old :). Upgrades in each discipline were achieved and I really couldn't be happier with how the whole season wrapped up (minus a few pins in the finger).

The last big break

2010-01-11T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well somehow 3 weeks have gone by, though I can't say it wasn't my own fault. Within seconds of hitting send on my last final exam, bags already packed, I headed for higher ground, getting a few turns in at A-Basin and skinning up to Chuck's Hut at dusk for a night with friends at a most plush 10th Mtn hut. A few days of on piste skiing flew by, most notably getting the first real powder day out of the way at Beaver Creek, thought it did required ducking a few ropes. The parents came and went, staying with me at the new house for the first time. Baking, cooking, nashing and some damn good conversation about all the important things in life ensued: reflection, relaxation and the feeling of home.

But all that came to crashing hault upon the drop of the ball and the start of a new year. This being the last big break of my academic career, I thought it wise to exploit what Colorado has to offer in January: sweet powder. Though it didn't start exactly as planned (my NYE midnight ski with Wilder was trashed as clouds moved in over Vail valley) the rest of the trip was amazing and one I will not soon forget:

1/1: Mayflower Gulch backcountry tour - No hangover! Mild turns, high country, good stretch for the legs.

1/2: Berthoud Pass slackcountry - Truly fantastic day, 3 laps on floral park and 1 on hell's half-acre/ high trees with less than 3 minute 'lift lines', isaac was a champ, demanding we ski more and faster and Will popped his backcountry cherry.

1/3: Vail w/ 20+ inches - Headed straight for the back bowls, collected a sizable posse and slayed a new line on pete's chair repeatedly until the legs gave out, gorgeous sunset drive to CB completed with a stop at Teo's.

1/4: Crested Butte, Red Lady bowl - Many thanks to Dana and Louise for accommodations (via Terra) and a perfect tour of CB's classic town line, the Red Lady bowl on Mt Emmonds. I made a parking lot trade of 3 AAA batteries for some headstash (love those snowboarders) and we proceeded to skin 3 hours to the top (12,800 ft). The reward was a rich, creamy and completely virgin 1500 ft line.

1/5: Crested Butte, Snodgrass Mtn - Controversy on this mountain across from 'the hill' means that backcountry skiing and sweet singletrack may go the way of the dodo, but in the meantime Terra and I skinned our way up to the top and found some pretty deep, albeit slightly tracked out snow. The line reminded me of Colorado at Silverton, though with a skin instead of bus ride back. Another drive through the night and we made it to T-ride.

1/6: Telluride - Definitely wasn't blower, but with a coveted medallion (free hall pass) and patrol opening up the Black Iron bowl for the first time all season, it allowed us to do some nice hike-to terrain. Apres at the Gorrono Ranch mid mountain proved for a fun last run for Doug.

1/7: Silverton - Solid snow pack allowed for some serious hike-to along the ridge, including mid afternoon assault up to the Billboard and down a sweet 50 degree cliff walled chute.

1/8: Ouray Ice Festival - Few sports require more gear than ice climbing. After a few pitches I got the cobwebs out and we managed to set up at THE spot, a 180 foot WI5 climb with some mixed at the bottom. Bottomless pitchers of New Belgium, Enchilada night served up by Ouray's finest, a silent auction + gear demo and slide show by Steve House completed the night.

1/9: Ouray Ice Fest/ Red Mtn Pass backcountry tour - Ice climbing in the morning, skiing the afternoon. Nuff said.

1/10: massage and rest

1/11: first day of the last semester.

2010 Winter Break medley from josh whitney on Vimeo.

finally a ski movie with a mission

2009-12-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

Last year's TGR flick Under the Influence was full on ski porn. Devoid of any plot lines or any meaningful dialogue, it was straight up shot after shot of loud rock coupled wide angle heli shots of Sage ripping 3,000 feet of vert from some isolated peak in Alaska. Even 4 Hoppy Boy's at the Boulder Theatre couldn't get me into it. I thought to myself that perhaps I was over seeing ski movies.

Alas, with the smell of winter in the air I couldn't resist this season's new releases from Warren Miller and TGR, though admittedly they do stick to the same formula. That said, TGR was busy this summer putting together another film in associated with The North Face, Protect Our Winters and ClifBar called Generations (its offered as a free download). While short at 17 minutes, the subject is focused around raising attention and awareness around the impacts of global climate change on winter conditions across the US and Europe. Not only does the film walk the audience through images and stories from East Coast mountains, Tahoe and to the Alps, but there's a reasonable amount of drops, face shots and big mountain turns to keep the energy high and positive (caveat the kids thread was a little cheesy). Kudos to TGR for producing something with a higher meaning than the all mighty stoke.

Designing for thrivability

2009-12-07T10:52:00.000-07:00

I'm off to the races with a 2 fantastic colleagues on a research project to explore the feasibility of a Boulder-based, branded and valued sustainable real estate development and clean technology venture fund. Very exciting stuff.

While digging around for alternative operating models, I re-acquainted myself with Slow Money movement guru Woody Tasch. A recent article captured a fantastic quote from the former VC that deserves republishing here. While talking about how money should be treated and moved around, he had this to say:

"This isn't just about finance but the relationship of finance to culture." If investment decisions start to take into account what's best for local communities -- when small businesses borrow or get investment directly from their customers -- communities become stronger and societies become more humane. There is accountability in places where now there is none."

and

"I'm not alone when I say that we headed for a biological correction similar to the financial correction we just had. Why? You can't trick risk. The only way to mitigate risk is with diversity. Biological, cultural and economic diversity is the only answer for risk -- meaning lots of small-scale, diversified things of all kinds coexisting in a healthy relationship. We're talking percolation versus circulation; diversity versus monocultures, fertility versus profitability, and relationships versus transactions."

Inspiring stuff I'd say. Hopefully we can equally engage the right set of stakeholders and contribute to the movement, moving beyond sustainability to thrivability.

serious crunch time

2009-11-29T22:52:00.000-07:00

One 15 page paper down.

Only 2 more to go.....plus 3 presentations, 3 finance cases, 1 business plan, an online marketing project recap and a whopper of a finance capstone.

By far the most challenging 3 weeks of Bschool yet.

new kicks

2009-11-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

Amidst an insanely busy November and Thanksgiving 'break', its important to set aside some down time to breathe and reflect. While trails runs and casual mountain rides have helped relieve the stress, so does installing my zero cleats onto some new, incredibly svelt road shoes.

The Specialized S-Works Pro Road Shoe

Weighing in at 225g, these slippers are a full 2x lighter than my old shimano's, which were nothing to snuff at. Can't wait to give these a spin.

Thanks U-Bikes.

2010 Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon

2009-11-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking for this review, as I'm still pretty much speechless from this afternoon's ride. Simply put, this bike is built for F-U-N.

Climbing is a breeze, with adjustable front suspension ranging from slack 140mm to moderately aggressive 115mm to a down right attack mode of 100mm via the Fox Talus RL fork and a fairly beefy 2.2 Purgatory tubeless front tire. All this is of course supported by brain fade technology in the rear, keeping the Captain 2.0 tubeless firmly on the ground and any bobb/squish to an absolute minimum.

Today featured a new trail network for myself, but one of the most well known after-work standby's in the Front Range: Chimney Gulch-Enchanted Forest. Yes, I'm just getting to this now. The 40+ minute climb featured a steady singletrack grade, tacky over hardpack, lots of rocks and some snow thrown in for good measure. I set the Talus at 115mm and spun my way up and up, admiring the gorgeous carbon weave and views. This bike climbs as efficiently as my old Epic, no question about it (and its just about as light, if not lighter). Aside from my own inability to clear a few rock sections, the bike did all the work. SRAM X-0 triggers and shifting is super snappy and crisp through the derailleur (with BlackBox carbon) and the Shimano SLX front derailleur is more than sufficient. Moving up and down in the front was incredibly easy and fast.

At the top of Lookout, things heated up. The Stumpy performs well on the climbs, but anything remotely flat, rolling or straight up down is where this baby shines. Conditions weren't entirely ideal to let fully loose (we had numerous sections of the descent on Enchanted covered in snow) but when I could up on it up on full throttle, it rocked. Having never worked with so much suspension and an 185mm rotor up front, I was a little too heavy on the brakes and weight distribution (something to re-learn) and had some bigger than expected rebound (could be adjusted) on some of the descending sections. Otherwise, the ride was super fluid, incredibly confident and comfortable. Roots, rock drops, water bars, pretty much nothing stood in the way. On the final descent back to Apex, the trail was awash in golden sun and I bombed it with little regard for the 100+ foot drops on the hair pin turns because it was simply too much fun to slow down.
Hopefully, all this plush fun won't make me too soft for next season when a certain shy, slender 29er hardtail creeps out of the garage.

Blue Sky/ Boulder Cup Cross Weekend Recap

2009-11-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

October 31 - November 1 marked the biggest weekend in Colorado Cyclocross racing with the Blue Sky Velo Cup and Boulder Cup. Drawing top national talent competing for UCI points in the Men's and Women's Pro fields, the level of competition was deep through all of the amateur fields, which I definitely felt in the Category 3s with starting fields of 70+. Both events featured huge crowds, full pit crews (thanks to Mavic), huge vendor and rep tents and a yin-yang balance of epic conditions.

2 days before the whistle blew, the Front Range received 20+ inches of snow. By Friday temps were in the 60s an the sun continued to shine raising temps to nearly 70, which made for classic conditions on Saturday: soft, wet grass and peanut butter-like mud. I'd say nearly 60% of the entire course on Saturday was sloppy, soupy 2-4 inch deep mud. Technical skills and balls were rewarded. Amazingly, by Sunday the course at the Reservoir was almost entirely dry, making for a super fast course with just enough sand to keep it interesting.

Unfortunately, I had a case of the flats on Saturday, a slow leak in the rear followed by a blow out of my front Grifo tubular on the last lap. Luckily I wasn't battling out a podium position so it wasn't an entire loss and I licked my wounds and considered it good training. On top of that, it was the first time all season I had a mechanical and a DNF. That said, racing in the mud, snow and beer was super fun and challenging.

I sped over to Boulder Cycle Sport with the hope of getting the aero set patched and reglued in time for the next day's race. Fortunately, Dwayne was able to fit me in and the next morning I had a fresh front wheel waiting for me (the rear couldn't be salvaged). Can't say enough good things about the entire team at BCS.

Sunday I was out for revenge. Trouble was, the field was just as big, strong and after call ups, I was 7 rows back before the race started...the joys of moving up a cat. Nonetheless I raced strong, passing chunks of riders throughout the hour long race. With a few laps to go I was trading places back and forth with a handful of riders, one of whom was a C4 guy who'd just moved up with me. The race within the race kept things super fun and intense. It was great to have some teammates out there cheering me on and handing out water. Even had my MBA mentor, girlfriend + dog out there heckling me! I'd been able to get a good size gap on the frontside of the last lap but on the final sand filled turn just before the run up to the barriers, I lost traction, had to unclip and run through the sand which allowed Karl to pass me. Still managed to finish well above the top half (33/73) which I'm pretty happy with considering I've basically stopped training all together outside of weekend races (thanks B-school).

Up for this weekend is our team sponsored Schoolyard Cross which will probably be my last race of 2009.

Photo's are cool, but the video's below capture the true essence of the weekend, mixing conditions madness with the sheer speed of the Men's Pro field.

Cycling Videos on CyclingDirt

I love you, man

2009-11-04T09:43:00.000-07:00

The Bialetti percolator is something that I use just about every day, if not twice. It's cheap, cleans up in a matter of seconds, has no moving parts, no plug and produces the best home brew I've ever made: super rich, strong and with a crema. My morning routine wouldn't be complete without it.

French press, drip filter or new school pod-plug in have nothing on this guy. Sure, a full-on Alessi espresso maker probably can stand on its own but for the convenience and price, the Bialetti has my heart. Add to that Amante's Primo blend and I'm a happy caffeinated man. Sure I can't function without it, but the same goes for a few other things in life.

That's all.

Featured in Skidmore Environmental Studies Newsletter

2009-11-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

Totally humbled here.

At the end of the summer I received a call by one of my favorite professor's from undergrad to ask me if I would be interested in being featured in an upcoming student and alumni newsletter for the Environmental Studies program. I said of course.

Click here to read the article (pg 3). In addition to my feature, the Newsletter captures the amazing amount of activity, breadth of programs and in general, the strength of the Environmental Studies program at Skidmore, which only became a fully featured major at the school in 2003. A testament to the continuing efforts of faculty like Kim Marsella, Karen Kellogg and many others.

Made the team: VCIC

2009-10-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

Last week I found out that I made the University of Colorado-Boulder Venture Capital Investment Competition team. This is relatively big news and if merely volunteering at last years competition is any indication, it may be one of the best learning opportunities of my entire MBA experience.

VCIC basically turns the table for the roles of students in your typical business plan competition. Rather than compete plan for plan, students don their best sport coats, striped button downs with cufflinks and dark denim jeans and play VC for a highly intense (admittedly unrealistic) 2 1/2 day period, interview entrepreneurs, evaluate a handful of deals, and then negotiate a term sheet, all in front of a whispering audience of real VCs and investors. The team that works best together, selects the 'strongest' plan and negotiates attractive terms wins, getting the chance to compete at the International Finals at UNC-Chapel Hill.

The CU team will host the Mountain Regional Conference in mid-February, where we'll showcase 3 local startup teams and have the honor of working with a handful of the Front Range's best VCs. The following week we then travel to LA and compete at USC for the West Regional title. CU has historically performed very well so we have so big shoes to fill. Our ability to consistently succeed is truly a testament to the strength and openness of our VC/Entrepreneur community here in Boulder/Denver and the support that VCIC alumni and the Deming Center provide. The plan for this is year to finally bring home the 1st place prize.

Few professions are more elusive and desired than that of the Venture Capitalist. Its a great life and its great work. But to achieve the rank and profile that accompanies the ability to deploy capital all in the name of building great companies usually takes an ivy degree, domain expertise and previous entrepreneurial success. And, in addition to having good timing and a strong network, what I consistently hear is that VCs somehow stumble into their career, simply a case of (not dumb) luck. Competing in the VCIC will definitely be a great asset wherever my career path takes me, but its certainly no golden ticket. Fred Wilson, in his blog, while musing about his own career path, summed up VC career track quite well:

If you want to be a top tier venture investor, you must be recognized as one of the experts in the field you invest in. When I was at Euclid, I used to watch in admiration as guys like Bill Kaiser worked the enterprise software business or Paul Ferri worked the communications equipment business. They knew the business cold and if you wanted to start a company in their area of expertise you went to them first. That's what you have to get to if you want to make top tier returns in the venture capital business.

The way you do that is you work for at least ten years in the industry, getting operating experience, building a killer rolodex, and learning how the business works from the inside. Then in your mid to late 30s, you can make the move to the venture capital business, as a partner, not as a wet behind the ears associate who doesn't know anything other than how to push numbers around a spreadsheet.

I did it all wrong and got lucky. I don't recommend anyone reading this to try it the way I did it. If you choose to get an MBA, get a real job out of business school. Help to build a few businesses in an industry sector you really like. Become an expert in that industry. Then try your hand at venture capital. You'll be much better at it than I was my first ten years in the business.

Quite the sage.

Scrap the business plan, Implement and Iterate

2009-10-27T22:30:00.001-06:00

The other week I attended a presentation given by John Mullins, author of the new book, Getting to Plan B. Mullins is a professor at LBS and also the author of The New Business Road Test, which served as the backbone of our Feasibility course last spring. Hosted by the Deming Center for its bi monthly Board meeting, the presentation offered some insightful perspective on why entrepreneurs fail, particularly at writing business plans. The other point of significance was Mullins' use of a now classic skit from Da Ali G show where he goes off on a new business tangent for selling ice cream protective gloves. The point hit home - entrepreneurs blind themselves into thinking their idea is rock solid, all to often without ever testing the idea with actual paying customers.

Two other worthy takeaways from the up coming book include an acknowledgment that when your launching a business, you undertake a number of leaps of faith: be they around the product, the market, the business operation, and so on. Pick one to focus on and drive it home so effectively that you then have the pleasure of dealing with other issues. Spreading yourself too thin will lead to distractions and failure. The other sage of advice comes in the form of operation, or rather iteration. All too often, entrepreneurs spend hours and often thousands of dollars writing a business plan that when implemented, becomes very clear that it's not working - and yet the team stays the course. Rather, acknowledge that you were wrong, identify what needs fixing, develop a turn around strategy and implement it.

This concept, often called Agile Development (or lean, scrum) was initially adopted by the software development industry as way to rapidly and efficiently manage the design and development process. It has more recently been translated into other industries, from CPG to financial services as both a process management mantra and an operational ethos to follow much in the same way that Six Sigma and Kaizen evolved out of the telecom and auto industriesUsing iterations as a way to incrementally evolve the subject can dramatically sharpen the focus of the business and keep it moving in the right direction. I think this is particularly important for entrepreneurs to understand during startup, as the combination of so many moving pieces and variables is both challenging manage within the context of a developing a product and target customer. Its not silver bullet, but keeping these concepts at the forefront (or as I do, on a series of stickies on my desk) can help make sure whatever path your own, has lots of options rather than a long lonely straightaway to nowhere.

...and the beginning of something stump-tacular

2009-10-26T13:06:00.001-06:00

There is nothing quite like taking a new bike out for its first ride. The brakes are plush, the shifting is effortless and the psychological support makes hills both up and down unstoppable. Who knew 140mm of travel could feel so good and fast (on the climbs too!). 1 hour on the betasso loop and I'm totally convinced I made the right choice for my next bike. The shit eating grin that was plastered to my face as I descended the sinuous single track at mach speed was reason enough. I can't wait to take this out on some big mountain trails and am definitely going to plan for a some multi-day trips to Crested Butte and beyond.
Full review to follow after a few more rides: 2010 Stumpjumper FSR Expert Carbon.

In the meantime, 'cross season is in full swing and my fitness has carried over well, with a few top 2 finishes and enough points to send me into the viciously competitive and deep field that is the 3's. I'm really looking forward to testing my chops at the national level event this weekend, the Boulder Cup, right in my backyard. A few pics from the Frisco race and yesterday's epic-ly cold and snowy Boulder Res race follow.

The end of an [epic] era

2009-10-08T22:22:00.000-06:00

Last night, after a final wipe down, derailleur adjustment and brake check, I said goodbye to my Epic. Together over 4 years, 3,500 miles, dozens of races and thousands of feet climbed, we experienced some of America's finest single track and spent many an hour contemplating life while trying to ignore the pain of a long climb. When I purchased the bike, I was in such a completely different place in life then I am now, physically, emotionally and mentally. It's interesting to me that as the tangible items in life represent a static consistency unto their own, life is not, its constantly changing and evolving. And the items we hold onto over and through life experiences grow in value and serve to represent many different images and memories.

In 2006 the Specialized Epic was at the top of its class. No bike matched its weight, suspension brain technology and speed in the XC race market. And she was a beauty with full XTR and the amazingly light and stiff, just recently released Mavic CrossMax SL wheelset (the latter purchase made my housemate, best friend, and riding buddy slightly jealous). A huge step up from my first mountain bike, a hardtail Stumpjumper with mechanical disc (loud) brakes and beefy 2.35 velociraptor tires, the Epic signaled my first foray into serious mountain bike racing and culture. To some extent, I could have forecast my eventual deep connection to the sport, but I certainly couldn't have predicted where the bike would take me, the places I would see, people I would meet and memories I would create.

I'd just broken up with my girlfriend and moved in with my best friend into an incredible bachelor pad in the Marina. With excess cash and time on my hands nothing could have been more appropriate than to drop it on a fire engine red 26 pound machine. My first ride was on the perfectly sculpted 10 mile single track circuit at Camp Tamarancho in Fairfax, Marin County, the best, closest, and really only viable single track within a 20 minute drive of the city. While I'd already competed in a few races, it wasn't until the Epic that I was able to make a serious bid for a podium. The bike was certainly a factor, but I think it was more psychological than anything else. The confidence to know that I had what it took and the tools to get me there, coupled with the desire to be fast and first. Two 5th place finishes at Sea Otter and the USA National Mountain Bike Championships (sport), though humble, made a big impression on my own psyche and definitely lit the spark that still burns strong.

From the soft and flowy trails beneath giant redwoods in Santa Cruz to the Sierra Nevada high country, to the slick rock of Moab, the bookcliffs at Fruita, the fabled trails in Telluride, Aspen, and Summit County, and eventually the fantastically strong network of trails across the Front Range and in Boulder, that damn bike has taken me far and wide, and up through the ranks of the competitive cycling community, teetering on the verge of Pro. And now its gone. Gone to a good friend, but gone nonetheless.

I biked home tonight on my 'cross commuter, opened the garage and noticed an empty hook and felt, for a moment, sad, but then the memories of miles past filled my head. I flicked the light switch, closed the garage and moved on. That move on, of course, will be much, much easier once the new horses arrive and the stable is once again filled with fat tires (2 or 4 remains to be seen). But I'll never forget that bike. In the meantime, its snowing in October which means cyclocross season has officially arrived.

8 weeks to the day

2009-09-28T14:21:00.000-06:00

Thats how long or short (depending on your perspective) it took me to recover enough from my injury to feel confident enough to line up at a start line, ready to drop the hammer in a field of 80 riders. On Saturday, with temps well into the 80s, I suited up, swapped my wheelset with my new, incredibly svelt aero carbons, and managed to take home an 8th place finish.

(thats me out in front)

Cyclocross probably combines my 2 greatest strengths on the bike while also ignoring my weaknesses. With a big engine and strong technical skills, you can easily power yourself through a 45 minute race without fear of blowing up early or without having to worry about a huge field sprint or an impending final climb. It's a true combination of what I love best about both road and mountain, which is why I was so excited to be able to get back in form and test my race legs at the 1st Boulder Cross Series in Louisville. And now I've got that taste of dust and competition back in my mouth. Bring it on.

Sunday morning started out with a big breakfast, some frisbee with Isaac and perfect fall conditions for a big mountain ride. Through town, up and over Old Stage where I met up with a BPN pro and we escheloned up Left Hand Canyon to Jamestown averaging 17-19mph. At Jamestown I kept heading west and up, never having been up the road to Peak to Peak. The road gets really steep by the way, but undulates consistently all the way up offering brief sections to catch you breath before it tilts to the sky again. At the summit it then turns to dirt. This may be my new favorite and most challenging ride, maybe even as gritty as Magnolia? From P2P the road continues to climb moderately until you reach Ward and then you have a fluid and fast ~15 mile descent back to 36. The colors up in the mountains are definitely at their peak. Its amazing how easy it is to be inspired up here, to get outside and enjoy it all.

With a race and 60 miles behind me, I'm finally feeling like myself again.

drink the kool-aid

2009-09-26T22:17:00.000-06:00

A simple and elegantly put together video by Mat Barlow and BikesBelong on why Boulder is so damn amazing.

Boulder Bike Story from Bikes Belong on Vimeo.

Angel Capital Summit

2009-09-18T16:24:00.001-06:00

The Angel Capital Summit, scheduled for November 17^th in Denver is a regionally focused business pitch event that runs on a more-or-less traditional pitch format, with 40 organizations pitching in a day. Dozens of partner organizations nominate businesses into a semi-final judging round (run on Business Catapult) that identifies the 40 organizations that will pitch live at the event. Applications are due October 15th.

Setting aside the vagaries of what social entrepreneurism is and isn’t (we discuss this at the dedicated meetup) the ACS is encouraging both non-profit and for-profit mission-driven organizations to also apply for the opportunity to present their enterprise at the event. The ACS has allocated 4 of the 40 presentation slots for earned-income non-profits to present (apply through the Black Tie Group) and for the first time this year, they are encouraging for-profit sustainable / triple-bottom-line / mission-driven businesses to apply as well (apply through the W1SD0M Group). Although there is no formal set-aside of presentation slots like there is for non-profits, they aim to showcase roughly 25% of the remaining 36 slots filled by companies with sustainable profiles. Organizations that submit to the W1SD0M group will be helping to pilot elements from the Whole Systems Risk Management survey instrument, which is in the late stages of an iterative development. The application process includes additional questions that address sustainable enterprise principles, and the screening process was designed with sustainable metrics in mind.

There a number of ways to also get involved on the investor/ advisor front, which gains you access to help evaluate and screen deals as well as attend the event. Check out the Partners page for more information.

We also hope to have a Deming Center for Entrepreneurship and/or a Graduate Entrepreneurs Association/ Net Impact node announced in the next few weeks.

On the Horizon

2009-09-18T10:10:00.000-06:00

School's back in session, no question about that. Faster than I could realize, I had 1oo's of pages to read, team's to form and assignments to turn in. 3rd semester of Bschool offers the first and only real chance to completely emerge oneself in their chosen focus area. Up until the last minute, I wasn't exactly sure what that was, given the dozen or so classes that I was interested in. Outside of the 3 that I knew I wanted to take, deciding on the last 1 or 2 proved to be a challenge based on trying to find the right match of technical learning with interesting subject matter. I ended up with:

Venture Capital and Private Equity
Entrepreneurial Finance
Marketing of High Technology
Business Plan Preparation

The mix tells me how much my interests have shifted away from my core sustainability background and to a desire to strengthen my marketing and finance skills within a technology setting. Pretty excited about that shift.

Along with the start of school, October and November typically play host to a slew of media and business end-of-year awards events. Across the technology, startup, capital and sustainability space, much is the same. While many of the tech accelerator's have concluded their summer programs, the run into the last quarter of the year is still often filled with great events to network, connect and learn from. 2 few big events that just concluded were the TechCrunch50 in San Francisco and the WSJ Technology Innovation Awards in NYC. Closer to home, here are a few upcoming events (outside of Bschool oriented programs) that I plan to attend and/or am I'm involved with, just a few:

September 28 Entrepeneurs Unplugged - Niel Robertson
October 2 Boco
October 6 BDNT
October 8 Greentech
October 12 Sustainable Enterprise
October 14 Boulder Startup Pitchfest
October 19 Entrepreneurs Unplugged - David Cohen
November 2 Rocky Mountain CleanTech Open Awards Ceremony
November 2 Entrepreneurs Unplugged - Steve Halstedt
November 3-5 NREL Industry Growth Forum
November 13 Entrepreneurs Unplugged - Ted Turner
November 17 Angel Capital Summit

And finally, its 'Cross season! The first weekend of races is behind us, but there are pretty much races every Saturday and Sunday in Colorado through December. The big one's for me are:

October 3/4 Frisco Cross
October 31 Haunted Cross UCI Day 1
November 1 Boulder Cup UCI Day 2
November 7 RockyMounts CX

And then its time to wax the ski's. Ah Colorado.
Awesome shot of teammate Aaron Bouplon on his way to the Pro Men's win at Pikes Peak Supercross #1 (photo by Shawn Lortie).

A well spent summer

2009-09-05T16:34:00.000-06:00

While summer may not officially be over until solstice hits in a few weeks and with the mountains signaling their turn with color, the Labor Day weekend for most people is really the last go. For me, I'll definitely be having my case of the 'Mondays' this coming Tuesday with a full set of classes to mark the start, of the end, of my MBA experience. But before I can officially let go of the summer, I wanted to recap some of the highlights from what was most definitely the best experience from my excessive number of 'internships'....TechStars.

With Investor Day now a month in the past, most of the companies that called the Bunker home have moved back to their respectives cities or to new locales to build their businesses and change the world. A few, I'm happy to say, have decided to stay and exploit the many benefits that Boulder has to offer a young, energetic and talented startup team. For me, the experience was truly an eye opener into the technology world and has dramatically shifted my current and future interests and ambitions. For more on how the day shaked out, some thoughtful analysis of the TechStars framework, and how to nail a pitch preso, check Jed White's post here.

Coming to Boulder with a dense background in sustainability and corporate strategy, I was thirsty for new knowledge and looking for a way to combine my past experiences with a new skill set and career focus. Up until the start of the summer, I wasn't entirely sure what that was, outside of the catch all bucket of entrepreneurship and investment. Within a few weeks of the program launching, however, I was hooked. The speed, intensity, flexibility and applied nature of technology and web development is incredibly attractive and cheap, particularly when compared to the gloom and doom, capital intensive, long term R&D nature of clean tech.

TechStars is all about leveraging an engaged, talented and successful community of investors, entrepreneurs, lawyers, developers and beyond, to share knowledge and iterative feedback that helps to shift, shape and build each of the 10 companies from idea to business. Effectively as a founder, you get enough money to quite your day job and focus on turning your idea into a business with the help ofa rock star network that only want's to make you better and a loosely structured real-world-no-BS MBA styled discussion series over an intense 3 months. And amazingly as an intern, err summer associate, I got pretty much the same. Briefly, I:

sat in with founders and mentors on strategy meetings in the ice locker, at the coffee shop and at the bar, contributing some but listening way more;
built what I hope are long-term, meaningful relationships with amazingly talented network people that make Boulder such a tremendously unique and special place; and
participated in roughly 31 of mentor sessions, 8 networking events, 6 parties and community-based nights, 4 official pitch practices and lots of Illegal Pete's dinners, learning from today's best and brightest on what works and what doesn't, in a way that the traditional MBA classroom experience could never come close to.

More importantly, I became part of the network. So, thank you TechStars: David, Nicole and Andrew; for providing me with the access to this network and the opportunity to contribute to it over the summer and going forward, it has and continues to pay dividends. Thanks Tim for helping manage the less than glamorous tasks around the bunker and thanks to the teams that opened to the door to great conversations and valuable work.

And so with the summer at a close, my finger de-casted, unpinned and almost ready for action, I can say without question, this was one of the best experience's of my professional life and one that may have the greatest impact going forward.

And to that extent, I'm announcing my involvement as a co-founder in w1sd0m.net. Check it out and sign up, as we'll be putting up a lot more content about our plans soon.

Syndicate Design+Works...and the (soft) launch of the Leeds Outdoor Industry Initiative

2009-08-28T08:16:00.000-06:00

Back in the spring semester I teamed up with two excellent classmates and friends, Betsy and Beth, to develop a business around the concepts of sustainability and outdoor apparel for a class called Entrepreneruial Environments, or more aptly, Feasibility. The course concept is fairly simple, take an idea and run it through the 'proper' process of feasibility to determine whether it has any play, sauce and the potential to make lots of bread (all the while doing good too). The experience helped me to think logically, learn how to funnel ideas through a process and come out with a clear understanding of potential and direction. It also provided a phenomenal excuse to network and meet and work with a ton of experts and companies across the Front Range, and has since helped to formulate an events/speaker series for the Leeds School of Business.

The apparel industry, and specifically the outdoor sector has actively embraced the concepts of sustainability over the last 10 years. And while a lot of progress can be said to have been made, for the most part, 1 dimensional initiatives aimed primarily at improving operational efficiency and the single bottom line have been the norm. However with many advancements in the structural and technical design of basic materials and fabrics, many product designers are now able to make dramatic improvements in the life-cycle and impact of manufacturing, transporting, purchasing, using and discarding products. Improving operations and proudct design covers 2 out of 3, with even fewer companies acknowledging the 3rd component, equity and the social contract to its employees, customers and community.

To anyone in the know, no one is doing it at a larger and more committed scale than Patagonia. But within the last few years, there have been a handful up startup firms (Cocona, Totem, End Footwear, and more) many of whom are based in Boulder, that are truly challenging business as usual and some are realizing significant success. Others launched, like Nau, launched amidst a ton of hope and press, particularly for their combination of design aesthetic, community engagement and triple bottom line m.o.; then crashed and burned along with the economy, but have since relaunched with a sharper focus. Other well known and smaller brands that have been around for years are taking a strategic look at their fundamental business models and some are launching major initiatives, realigning the railroad tracks and pushing the pedal to the floor.

Given all the activity in this area, we chose to focus on the back-end: how to improve product design, implement customer programs and engage a community to reuse, recycle and repurpose their apparel and gear. Could we design a process and model that could beat Patagonia's Common Goods program? We certainly didn't solve the puzzle, but we did learn a lot of the fundamental challenges that face the industry which gave us a great platform to refine our ideas and pursue parallel opportunities.

One of these has been to put together a speakers series at Leeds focused on the Outdoor Industry (taking suggestions for new names, OI2?). Boulder alone is home to over a dozen firms across the outdoor industry and is the defacto training ground and cultural based for hundreds of professional, aspiring amateur and wannabee athletes. Details are still very much in the works, but stay tuned here, and to the Leeds website for announcements to follow with at least a 3 event schedule, starting with a keynote event on October 20th, 5pm at the Wittenmeyer Courtroom in the Law building.

Syndicate Design+Works

View more presentations from ecojigs.

Thoughts on the Run

2009-08-24T23:05:00.000-06:00

On Saturday I went out for a rather long and steep run...up Bear Peak, from the house and then out along the west ridge to Bear creek canyon, back up to the Mesa trail, and then home. Having Isaac with me for the 10 miles helped ease the pain during the last few miles of gradual descent (he also carried our water and a few gu gels). It was the longest, hardest effort I've been able to accomplish since I had access to all 10 digits (July 25) and it felt amazing. To sweat, to breath deep, to be outside pushing my mind and body.

The past few weeks have been an utter mix of high and low, excitement for the start of my last year in B-school, regret for missing a month on the bike in my best season yet, inspiration for all that I have learned and been exposed to through the my summer gigs and a general feeling of not wanting it all to stop. On one hand I've been focused on getting through these last few days with my blue cast, but knowing that keeping my head down means when I do come up I'll be starting the end of summer and my last year of self indulgence expressed through 3 letters, MBA.

Back to the run, my thoughts drifted in and out of pure enjoyment to be flying through the woods at dusk. Once on the west side of the Peak, views gave way to Walker Ranch below and the Indian Peaks in a classicly pink and orange glow. Smooth and rolling, I soon couldn't help but think about how nice this trail would be on a bike. Over that berm, snake around that tree, up and over those rocks. I tried to run with the fluidity of a full suspension bike, but the I came across a series of rocky sections and had to slow down, not power over. Nope, I'm not, in fact, on a bike. Not even close.

A few deep breaths and I was back enjoying the fact that my two legs work just fine and in a matter of days now, I''ll be back in action, with the unnecessarily focused goal of crushing the cyclocross season here in Colorado. Having been stripped of my ability to race some of the best events in August, I have not choice really. Such is life.

And so the last few weeks have been in fact well spent, I managed to get in 2 nights of PHISH at Red Rocks with my solid crew of Bay Area friends. TechStars wrapped up its 3 month tour de force and 10 companies were launched into the world (more on that later). And I managed a slightly nostalgic trip back to SF for a friends wedding, complete with a drive by of a Ferrari, we don't have to many of those out here in Colorado. So bring on the fall with its crisp clear days, some cowbell and pages of reading and discounted cash flows. I'm ready.

Sidelined

2009-08-03T20:55:00.000-06:00

just a quick one handed update here as i'm now just over 1 week post accident:

after bringing my road stuff to nj to race a big crit (and show off for my parents), i was out in front about to take a corner and start a breakaway with 10 laps to go. before i got to the corner a guy sped up to me, passed me on the inside, and as we went into the corner proceeded to roll his tubular tire off his rim amd completely yardsale. i barely avoided him, but lost control and went down hard, shaved off a good section of my shin and broke my index finger. asphalt at 28mph hurts.

recovery is still very much in progress. after hoping/ thinking i'd just chipped a bone in my finger, upon a 2nd look, i broke the PIP joint on my right index finer in 5 places. today i had surgery to put it back together with a little help from some pins. i'll find out how its healing in a week and will then hopefully go down to a small splint, and then i can start riding seriously again. 2 weeks off the bike hurts, but im planning on getting as much work done before school starts and staying super focused for the labor steamboat stage races (goal) and then 'cross season.
considering it's my first real serious injury after 4 years of racing, i can't complain that much, but that doesn't necessarily make the next few weeks any easier.

CleanLaunch Technology Incubator

2009-07-22T21:59:00.000-06:00

Fantastic news from Denver: CleanLaunch, a newly formed and just announced clean technology incubator made its first investment in a company and plans to develop a strong business accelerator program. Based in the Denver area, CleanLaunch is focused on supporting successful early-stage companies that will provide the next generation of clean, renewable, and efficient energy technologies.

Incubator clients can be either "resident" or "virtual," allowing CleanLaunch to serve companies in any location and at any stage of growth. Both are served by a Board of Advisors unique to each client, recruited from among the region's best business, scientific, and legal minds. Resident clients enjoy interaction with other entrepreneurs along with turn-key offices that include fully furnished suites at a rate far below market. Virtual clients have the flexibility to take on as little or as much space as they need anywhere in Colorado, while still enjoying expert advisory services.

CleanLaunch is the legacy of a group of technology incubators with a long and successful history assisting entrepreneurs that began in 1989 with the launch of the Boulder Technology Incubator (BTI), and includes Denver Ventures at Stapleton (CTEK Stapleton) and the Longmont Entrepreneurial Network. Over the years, the incubators have amassed a network of over 1,000 senior level business advisors that volunteer their time to assist early-stage companies. Through this network and with the help of sponsors, the affiliated entities have assisted more than 500 start-up and early-stage companies.

CleanLaunch's first client company is Bye Energy. Bye Energy is in the process of developing two clean technology applications for use in the aviation field -- an advanced electric propulsion system and a renewable plant-based feedstock fuel source.

CleanLaunch will be working cooperatively with numerous industry partners including NREL, the Governor's Energy Office, the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory (Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado), CORE, and the Colorado Clean Tech Industry Association to further the advancement of clean tech in Colorado.

July Racing Updates

2009-07-21T22:55:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted a racing update in almost a month, mostly due to the flurry of activity that has nearly comprised my schedule of training (re: work/ real life responsibilities). Nonetheless, I've managed to allocate my time wisely and precisely between my work life and my bike life, so that I've still be able to average around 100 miles/ 10 hrs (though with a peak of 175) a week while also working with 2 startup clients, a handful of techstars companies and my day a week at NREL. Not to shabby.

After the big birthday long weekend of racing and training at altitude in Crested Butte, I limited my mileage in anticipation of a hard 2 weeks ahead. Over the July 4th weekend, I raced the team duo at the Firecracker 50 with my teammate Brandon. Breckendridge played host again to the XC Marathon National Championships race (with Boulder local JHK taking the top spot, nearly 12 minutes ahead of 2nd place) and the town was bumpin' with holiday festivities. The coolest part of the race had to be the start, where we led out the entire parade through downtown with thousands of people watching (the singletrack at 12,000 feet wasn't so bad either). Brandon and I ended up with a 7th place finish in the Men's Open division, with just about equally timed laps of 2 hrs 10 minutes.

The next weekend consisted of the Winter Park Point-to-Point XC race on Saturday followed by the Olympic distance Boulder Peak Triathlon (my first ever). Leading up to the weekend, I managed to get in 2 medium/ hard rides (25 miles rolling and a 60 mile Tuesday night 'bus stop' ride) and a very easy mid-day spin on Friday, followed by a fantastic massage from the Boulder College of Massage Therapy ($35!).

Staying loose paid off, I had my best XC race ever, taking 3rd position at the first climb, passing on the first series of descents and then leading the Cat1 field for nearly 8 miles. On the final climb I was passed by 2 riders, but still felt strong. With 1 mile to go, I let my mind ramble for just a few seconds and the next thing I knew I was face down in the dirt, though luckily with no injuries and no damage to the bike. I literally have no idea how or why I fell, but I did and by the time I threw my leg over the bike a few guys passed me and I ended up in 6th (out of 20). Had I not crashed, I would have podium-ed with a 2 minute time cushion. Still, my strongest Cat1 race yet.

Following a binge on Entourage Season 5, I awoke the next morning at 4:30am. I anxiously hit the water at 7:30 (with a few fellow Leeds MBA students) and survived the mile open water swim - my worst discipline - in 36 minutes. Getting on the bike never, ever felt so good. 26 miles with a climb over Old Stage and the rollers of Nelson and 63rd with aero bars, easy. The run proved to be less challenging than the swim, but still played with my head. Having never done a 'brick' workout, I had no idea how my body would react to the transition, but upon jogging out of the transition area, I was suprisingly smooth and got in a good rhythm. The run was uneventful, other than seeing Kendra a few minutes ahead of me and getting a quarter sized blister on my right heel, which I simply had to ignore. Perhaps a few more, particularly Xterra's are in my future. And it's yet another excuse for more gear. Given that I really didn't train at all of the swim or run, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole event, raced it reasonably hard and was very, very satisfied with the results:

30/90 M25-29
1500m swim: 36:13 (789/1400 overall)
t1: 3:13
40k bike: 1:08 (34/1400 overall, 23mph avg)
t2: 1:51
10k run: 48:34 (286/1400 overall, 7:50 pace)

The rest of July continues with 2 weeks of hard training (skipping US Nationals since I upgraded) followed by a 4 day break/ travel home to New Jersey from some family love, rest, and relaxtion. Upon my return, I've got a few big races on the horizon through September:

Crankworx (XC)
Longmont and Niwot Criteriums (road) and/or MSC Snowmass (XC)
King of the Rockies (XC)
Steamboat 4-day Stage Race (road) and/or MSC Solvista (XC)
MSC Breckenridge Fall Classic (XC)

Screw Cali, This is Boulder

2009-07-15T11:45:00.000-06:00

I've been catching a lot of press, video's and posts circulating the web in the last few weeks about entrepreneurship, web/ITC startups and capital; and even more so on the broader phsyical ecosystem that surrounds particular regions of the US. It appears as though the rivalry between Silicon Valley and the Front Range is increasingly heating up. Governor Ritter via the Rocky Radar is reaching out to the community for a new name. A fun video via ReadWriteWeb was just released touting the uniqueness of Boulder's tech scene - all reasons listed are the honest truth and further reinforce why I'm here. Meanwhile, in the valley, Facebook launched its own incubator/ fund, and a new accelerating program is looking for some seed money to officially launch (Plug & Play Tech Center). And even in the face of all the recent press that Y Combinator has received in print magazines, TechStars continues to make strides and provides the intimacy and nurture that translates to success (here are some thoughts from the guys at Hwy 12 Ventures). Perhaps we're insulated by mountains and deprived of oxygen, but it feels damn good.

The most recent techstars.tv episode catches us up with the Everlater and Next Big Sound teams, both of whom I have the pleasure of working with.

Photo Portfolio

2009-07-07T14:15:00.000-06:00

It's something thats been on my list for nearly a year, to put together a 'best of' portfolio of my photography from over the years and around the world. Over the last few months I've sorted through the thousands of files on my external hard drive and have put together 4 albums, sorted by landscapes, adventure, people and macros. This will be an ongoing project, so check back often to see new additions as life unfolds.

Another prompt for doing this was that I found a great service/site that allows you to take your own photos and have them printed onto a canvas screen and then shipped to you. This gives a fanstastic painted and natural look, on a real canvas frame and in almost any size.

A few of my favorites are below: