Classic Colorado Singletrack

#followcamfriday giving you those mellow singletrack cruisin' feels all up in your snot box with all of the #lightbro and side portion of back wheel love, courtesy of Mr. James Weingarten

This episode marks the end of Followcamfriday, Season 4. My what a journey it has been. 206 episodes in total. I have missed two Friday's in 4 years. This was due to the fact that I was in the Bolivian Andes with Joey Schusler on a bikepacking trip. Internet was not an option. How refreshing.

I am very thankful to be able to travel the world with my bicycle, riding some of the best bits of trail, but more importantly, experiencing different cultures and areas that are seldom seen, and meeting passionate people along the way. If I am being honest, all of the friends that I hang with and keep in touch with are from mountain biking. I owe my friends everything. Without skilled riders to film, FCF wouldn't be FCF. If I can give anyone a piece of advice, it's to always surround yourself with good people. I am very fortunate there. My community of friends is amazing. 

When I began this project 4 years ago, I never intended to make much of it. Basically, I would go ride with Kyle in Moab and just film the ride. Nothing was ever set up or rehearsed or thought out, it was just what we would normally be doing when we go out for a ride. After Kyle and I completed our ride, we would watch the footage while drinking beer and laugh for an hour at the ridiculousness of our lines and how the day unfolded. As it turns out, this formula somehow resonated with people. I started making edits and the rest is history. I sincerely hope I have stayed true to that original model and not changed things up too much. It's still all about the riding. 

I hate being called a "YouTuber" I don't even know what that means. I am a professional mountain biker. I reach an audience through YouTube, Instagram and the like. At the end of the day, I ride bikes, first. These are just platforms to share my adventures and motivate people. There are many people that have jumped on the Youtube MTB scene, since I began 4 years ago, being recreational cyclists and thinking that they can make a quick buck on the platform. That approach is very different. Those people are "YouTubers". More power to anyone making content, that gets people motivated, but our philosophies are very different. I tend to question the motivation there. Sorry to burst your bubble, but Youtube doesn't actually pay very well unless you are Casey Neistat. End rant. 

So, where do we go from here? If I am being honest, I haven't had a day off for 4 years. Filming, producing, and launching a weekly video is more time consuming than you could ever imagine. People frequently tell me how lucky I am to "just ride my bike everyday", I just smile. I've never worked mor,  or harder in my life. I am certainly not complaining, I could never work a 9-5 job and be happy, but don't think for a second that this is "easy" . Nothing worth doing is easy. What motivates me to keep this rolling is when people tell me that my videos motivated them to start riding, or just simply go out for a ride. That is the end goal. That is what feels good. If I can inspire a hand-full of people to spend some more time outside with their friends, and lead a healthy lifestyle, than I can sleep at night. Job done. 

I struggle slightly with the irony of my circumstances. My goal is to get people on bikes, away from their phones and away from this digital world that is becoming increasingly prevalent. People consume my content on these devices, without them, I wouldn't be able to reach these people. As humans, we desperately need to find that connection to nature to live fulfilling lives. I spend as much time on Instagram as anyone but, I hope that after reading this sentence, you go out to the garage, put some air and your tires, and go ride your bike! 
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A sincere thank-you everyone who reads my ramblings, my friends, and my wonderful partners in the mountain bike industry. None of this would be possible without you.