Titanium bikes and Conspiracy Theories
Tell us a little about yourself.
Living in Colorado and I like pie. I don't bake good so I ask other people bake for me while I draw backpacks, ride bikes and play cowboy. I also have a family I love and cherish and yadda yadda.
As an avid cyclist, outdoorsman, and industrial designer, how do you find inspiration in each of these passions to inform your work and your riding?
Wow this is some super heavy lifting you got me doing this morning. Let's see, to start with, time is a construct and everything is nothing. Once I've settled that for the day I'm under the impression that I can do whatever I want. Sometimes it's creating, and sometimes it's experience, and sometimes is reflection. It's all fluid and ongoing throughout the day with no real structure or direct lines between. I know they're all connected somehow but trying to put it into words spoils the manifestation. Also money isn't real.
Can you share with us a bit about your journey into cycling?
I started riding volume in college 25 years ago because a foot doc told me my feet weren't made for running. It became the best way to stay in shape for my Rodeo Cowboy days and I've ridden ever since. At one point the hobby opened the door for me to work in a bike shop which I did for over a decade. Because I was surrounded by gear and creative outdoorsy people during that time, when I became an Industrial Designer I naturally immersed into the Outdoor Industry. In retrospect bikes 100% provided exposure and opened doors to form and grow my equipment design career. But also maybe it's all happening at once.
What are some of your favorite trails or cycling routes, and what makes them special to you?
I ride a local trail that's pretty unique for the Front Range in that it's about 1500ft of quick ups and downs for about 15 miles. It's a perfect ride to get out on the Single Speed. Most other rides around here are a big up followed by a big down. My favorite trail the last couple of years has been the Falcon-Lair-Rutabaga loop. I don't ride road as much anymore, but if I do its usually up High Grade and City View. Overall I try to get as much vertical baked into my rides as possible. Generally shooting for minimum of 100ft per mile average. I put way too much effort into routing and planning, especially because no matter how hard I try I am perpetually heavy and slow.
Can you share a memorable moment from one of your cycling adventures that stands out to you?
I've had some great biking adventures, but the most lofty was touring New Zealand solo for 2 months in 2008. I rode a Redline Cross frame with Mud II tires, a B.O.B. trailer and a tent (Riding gravel on drop bars 15 years before it was the sport of Suburban Kings and Queens). I rode and camped and drank coffee the length of the South Island down the West Coast from the Picton Ferry all the way to Invercargill and then back up to Christchurch. Can't fit it all the details in, but in a nutshell, clocked about 1000 miles, lucked out with amazing weather, did some fishing, and met lifelong friends. I will forever be in love with that country.
What do you think sets your approach to designing softgoods apart from others in the industry?
I don't know for sure, but after working with and observing dozens of design teams over the last 15 years, I think my strength is Relevant Creative Thinking. I believe there are great designers who are visionary creatives with unique ideas that struggle connecting to a real application or brand, and I think there are great designers who struggle with visualizing new ideas but are excellent curators of what is relevant and wanted. I don't believe I am the best at either but I think I am pretty dang good at both. Sometimes I feel like I can see everything. But maybe that's because its all happening at once. For more info on how we can help your company design and develop your next great idea, reach out to us at formstudy.com
How do you see the future of cycling gear evolving, and what innovations are you most excited about?
Bikes are going to get more electric, which will be big business for the industry, but I'd like to see more research on the toll it will play on the environment and bike culture as a whole. Hot take: The struggle of riding a bike is a shared experience that bonds the community together. Yoko Ono rides an e-bike.
What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment as a cyclist and as a designer so far?
Co-founder of Formstudy has been a great adventure. We have had the chance to work with amazing brands all over the world and feed ourselves at the same time. As a cyclist, every ride is an accomplishment that can all be ranked so many ways. Sometimes its because I was fast, or sometimes its because I had a great brainstorm, and sometimes its because I got to hang with pals. As long as I did it without a motor it was an accomplishment.
Looking ahead, what are your goals and aspirations, both on and off the bike, in terms of your design career and your outdoor adventures?
FORMSTUDY we are still a small team but we hope to grow a little more in the next 5 years. I'd like to back off on producing designs and function as a dedicated Design Director helping younger designers build their skills and careers. I'd like to say I'd get a chance to adventure more, but as I get older I am finding myself more content with smaller experiences and not so focused on proving my existence.
How do you think your love for the outdoors influences your approach to cycling and vice versa?
I like to get out and breath hard and smell the fresh air. For the joy of the ride.
How do you balance your time between designing outdoor gear, being a family man, owning horses and getting out on the bike?
I don't know for sure, I just plan my day out and try to fit in as much as possible. Wife and Kids are #1, then our animals, then design, then bikes, and I play cowboy on the weekend. The minute I slow down the existential dread starts to creep in and I don't like that at all. Maybe I am still proving my existence haha. Remember everything is nothing.