Rich Strauss is now a Cofounder

GENERAL CHITCHAT
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Hey Team -

I want to take a minute to let y’all know I’ve asked @Rich_Strauss to join me in taking of the title (to the extent that anyone here has a title) of Cofounder of BCADV. After discussing the burden, misery, and Type 3 fun of carrying that weight, he said yes. :slightly_smiling_face:

For those that don’t know our club history, it’s on the web site. And while I technically started the group and did some early work on my own with rides and events to get things off the ground, there was a fateful night where Rich and I, hardly knowing each other at that point, met at Oskar Blues in Longmont in the early days where the sole purpose of the meeting was to discuss whether or not we wanted to try to make something of that fledgling ADV crew, and if so, how we would go about doing it. Rich and I both have cycling backgrounds, and he’s built big triathlon communities that still exist 20 years later, and I’ve built big teams and online communities that still exist 20 years later. That night, we talked about our desire to create an entity that vaguely resembled a cycling club, but with all the trappings of moto people. And less spandex. That night, we decided that between our skills and experience, we could probably get this thing off the ground in a guided, intentional way. Nearly two and a half years later we’re a small, thriving community that exists in the real world, and decidedly not a Facebook group with thousands of members.

None of this would exist in its current form without Rich’s leadership and work on all sorts of foundational operational and cultural aspects of what BCADV has become. So while Rich being a Cofounder of BCADV doesn’t functionally change anything (we’re already doing the damn thang), it now accurately represents the history, culture, and DNA of what BCADV is.

Rich: thanks buddy! I’m real glad we crossed paths in life. Thanks for all you do here.

Also, we should all salute Rich’s contributions to BCADV. I’ll start:

Fu Middle Finger GIF by Tony-Jazz

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Thanks Rich and Gino. Great group of people you’ve assembled here. Appreciate all the hard work to make this happen!

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Thanks?

:grinning_face:

In the early 2000s I found the Pasadena Triathlon Club. Actually, January 18, 2004. I had put up flyers in local bike shops and running stores, and we met under a big tree next to the Monrovia library. Over the next ~3-4yrs I was the club president – organizing rides, runs, putting on swim clinics, teaching bike handling, group riding skills, running form, race execution, etc. We had Xmas parties, happy hour runs, Saturday long rides, Sunday long runs. By about 2006 or 2007 the club had gained enough momentum that I stepped down and was replace by a formal board. The club is still going strong over 20yrs later.

In 2008 I transition from 1:1 coaching to coaching a national team of athletes: Endurance Nation. We began with 80 members and grew to over 800 when I was lucky enough to sell my half of the business to my partner.

The unexpected benefit of each of these entities was the incredibly valuable communities that the members created for themselves, well beyond the boundaries of simply training and racing triathlons together: friendships formed, business networking and opportunities created, husbands meeting future wives, and much much more. Even today, so many years later, I see my former athletes connecting and sharing with each other their lives, growth and successes.

For 80% of these athletes, their interest in triathlons has signficantly change or ended all together, but what remains are the friendships and relationships they created while members of a community.

The lesson is this: communities built in the real world around a common shared interest and shared passion can create a tribe that provides far more value than simply “riding together.” That’s what we have an opportunity to create for ourselves here. We’ve already seen a glimpse of it when someone asks a questions about mountain bike fit, or is looking for contractor, help with a business, etc.

But…

It takes more than two knuckleheads named Rich and Gino organizing rides.

In the long run it will require YOU, other members of the club, to step up and help create the community you want to see. Because that community has the potential to be one of the more valuable and impactful entities in your life. I’ve seen it, over and over again.

Organizing and leading a ride isn’t hard:

  1. Decide what you want to ride
  2. Tell people about the ride: time, location, route, etc
  3. Bonus if you create and share GPS tracks
  4. Wait for each other at turns. Be responsible for the person behind you and maintain accountability.
  5. Watch out for each other on obstacles and difficult terrain.
  6. Stop for a snack and shit talk each other
  7. Help each other work through mechanicals
  8. Finish the ride with no one dead. Win!

That’s it.

So…thanks for the acknowledgement and considering paying it forward putting a ride out there, creating value for you, the club, and for each other.

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Rich, I don’t care what everyone else says about you. I think you’re a good dude and I certainly appreciate everything you do for the club. I’ll answer your call and start putting some things together this summer.

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Can’t wait.

This direction is generally north (knife hand).
Orient yourself to the terrain model here
Hold all questions until the end…there should be none

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It’s not going to be that far off from what you just said with the addition of “This concludes my brief. Are there any questions? There should be none. REDCON 1 in 10,9,8…”

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Nerds.

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This is right and good. It’s kind of how it seemed from the outside.

How’s the view from up there, Rich?

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