While preparing for this issue, I read Shane at Farnam Street's Tiny Thoughts and it reminded me of how I was described a recent Twotone pitch to a friend at Velofollies over the weekend: "We just make sure it gets done. That's the secret sauce." Our meticulous RFI response almost coulda been summarized with that sentiment.

Shane's quips:

💡 Being brilliant won't save you if no one can count on you.

☺️ It can be hard to appreciate just how much reliability impacts opportunity. It's fun to outperform people who are way smarter than you by being more reliable than they are.

📈 Reliability isn't just a virtue - it's a competitive advantage that compounds over time.

If that's not some solid Monday motivation, I dunno what is! :D

Thank you for reading,

Jon

🗓️

Upcoming Events

January

🇳🇱 24 AMAGUK vinyl release party (Teaser promo)

February

🇳🇱 9&10 Nieuwsfiets' B2B Festival
🇳🇱 13 International Bike & Hike Conference
🇳🇱 14-16 20th Fiets & Wandelbeurs & E-bike Challenge
🇳🇱 15 Werewolf and Run Wild

March

🇩🇪 15 Rad Race
🇩🇪 28-30 Cyclingworld Europe

📻

The Mechanics of Joy airs live on Echobox Jan 30th at 2pm CET with guest Borre Akkersdijk of B.Borre & Studio Patience. Add to your calendar here. 🗓️

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Bikes

Les expéditions solidaires is heading to the Andes

🇦🇷🇨🇱🇧🇴🇵🇪🇪🇨🇨🇴 Les expéditions solidaires is an association created in 2024. Its objective, through solidarity projects, is to raise funds and collect equipment in order to improve the living and educational conditions of young people and families around the world. They've launched a fundraiser for the benefit of the Casa de Solidaridade association in El Alto, Bolivia. Their mission: to finance the creation of sports, artistic and cultural infrastructures. Six and a half months of travel in total. 13,000 km and 200,000 m of elevation gain, mainly off-road, along the Andes mountain range on titanium Chiru bikes. During their visit to Bolivia, they will stay 3 weeks on-site to participate in the work and share with these communities. Join this solidarity project and help build a better future. Follow their efforts on insta.

Bikepacking Gear: What to Take & How to Pack It

Lots of wisdom in this one! Read here. And don't forget maintenance! In other bikepacking news, Old Man Mountain's Experimental Bikepacking team was announced last week!

How the Micromobility Revolution Is Reshaping the Netherlands

This video of the panel I moderated with Marco Knitel, Founder & Managing Director, CheckJosette Vallentgoed-Udo, Teamlead Zero-Emission Mobility, City of AmsterdamTom Parr, Co-organizer, International Cargo Bike Festival just went live.