"I still can't believe a road like that still exists in that location, in such fine condition. When you get done with the magnificent descent, you get to follow an Oregon Scenic Bikeway back to your car. I mean, what else could you ask for?"
1. What is the goal/mission of Ride With GPS?
To provide the best software and service to the cycling community, and enable riders to create and share great cycling experiences. But we don't really have an official mantra, we're just cyclists who make software and try to do right by our members. So far this has enabled us to amass the best community of riders we could ask for, and are humbled and honored to work for them. Also, see #5
2. What is your backstory? Cycling, personal or some combination of the two.
Born and raised in Kansas, left to attend Oregon State University, which is where I fell in love with the PNW. Cycling was never really a part of my life until I settled into Portland. Started commuting, then started riding recreationally, then started riding gravel, and the rest is history. I love working with people and technology, and to get to join those two things together through bikes has been a dream come true, and I could not be more excited about where we are headed.
3. What is your favorite cycling route in the NW and why?
If I had to choose 1 it would be The RippleBrook Backroads. Something special was created with this route. The perfect blend of gravel, pavement, and some bonus singletrack. You experience virtually no one, it's all gravel up to Timothy Lake, you get to ride single track around Timothy Lake!!! Then you get some pavement which leads you to my favorite paved road in Oregon, the NF-42 descent. I still can't believe a road like that still exists in that location, in such fine condition. When you get done with the magnificent you get to follow an Oregon Scenic Bikeway back to your car. I mean, what else could you ask for? While there are other wonderful routes in our area, that is a route that will always be ridden every year, no matter what.
4. What is go-to bike in your personal lineup and why? (obviously the bike is determined by the ride, but just looking for thoughts on the bike you reach for the most)
The trend for me lately has been increased tire size. I don't have a large stable of bikes, I don't even personally own an MTB bike, just a commuter, a gravel bike, and a steel touring bike that I regrettably don't do much touring on. But, both the gravel and touring bikes run 650b tires. I recently just wrapped up a newer gravel bike, a Lynskey GR 250. I’ve actually never really owned a purpose built bike. I’ve just had a couple bikes that I made work for a few different riding types. This is the first bike I’ve got specifically for “ something”, in this case gravel, which also doubles as my road bike. It’s running 650b Stan’s ZTR Crest with Panaracer Gravel Kings and I’m loving it for both surfaces. I’m not out to set records or be back home by a certain time. I want to explore new roads from the comfort of my saddle, and this bike does that very well.
5. What does the next year look like for Ride With GPS?
An incredible one. We were able to bring on some super rad people to our team the first of this year, which is going to enable us to complete some very large customer facing projects. We recently released our new Ride Reports tool, which is easily one of our biggest web features to date. Think of it like Medium.com for bikes, enabling riders to package up their rides and share them in a content rich way. We’ve always been focused on telling the story of bikes and friends through photos, and now we have the platform which will enable everyone to do that. I think that guiding idea coupled with our own desire to explore new roads with our friends will enable us to make 2017 by far the best year for our members and the communities they are a part of.
