I thought I would take a couple of days after getting back to Boulder to reflect on all the experiences that accompanied biking from British Columbia to Baja to launch SWAE Sports before penning my magnum opus. It’s been an interesting couple of days as I’ve readjusted to civilian life. My initial realization was that most importantly, the 2-½ months on the road helped to solidify our team and define the direction of SWAE Sports.

After getting off the plane and driving back to my Rocky Mountain home, I immediately began to miss the other four guys that I’d spent just about every waking moment with since mid June. After feeding off one another’s excitement, sharing the hardships of the road, and waking every morning to the team immediately talking SWAE, life as it was began to seem, well, rather quiet.

When I separate myself from being a part of this whole expedition, it seems truly amazing that a group of five highly dedicated young men would undertake such an endeavor to launch a company.  As a consumer, it would hardly matter to me what it is SWAE was selling because if anyone was really that motivated, odds are that it was something I should be a part of.  I’d rep their shirt. It would get even crazier for me as I started to explore their website and realized that the reason those boys were so psyched was because they held in their hands a truly paradigm shifting business model for the adventure sports industry.  Of course they’d cycle 2,500 miles to spread the good news. It would all start to feel quite logical.

Whenever I return from a big trip it’s always a bit weird to think about the places I just was.  Sailing through the waters of the San Juan Islands, biking through the primordial Redwood forests of Northern California, and camping along the rim of Crater Lake begins to feel like a dream, or clips from a movie I watched before falling asleep. But they are my memories, my life experiences, the way I became a part of an organization that will undoubtedly shape the course of my life.

The greatest thing I’ll take from this trip is being witness to the fact that my actions along the West Coast will not only benefit my own life, but every outfitter, guide, and outdoor adventure school that sat down with us and subscribed to the dream that is SWAE.  I can only believe that they saw in our eyes the motivation to make our company’s principals a reality and that that kind of excitement was something they wanted to attach themselves to. When looking back over my notes, its almost ridiculous to see that the only companies we didn’t partner with after a meeting were those that didn’t want more business.  That’s crazy and yet it’s the truth.

The way people get outside is about to change, and I’m truly humbled to be a part of that shift. It’s happening because the team that comprises SWAE is actually our targeted customer. We live and breathe this lifestyle and we’ve somehow figured out a way to make a career out of doing the stuff we love. I don’t think I could be more stoked.

My culture shock aside, I’ve probably learned more about the adventure travel industry in these last few days than in my whole tenure as a SWAE Sports Adventurist. This is, in large respect, due to the fact that the industry was pretty much born in the Bay Area by people with an incredible amount of foresight.

On Friday I had a meeting with Dr. Olaf Malver, the CEO of Explorers’ Corner and I can’t begin to speak to the trove of knowledge this man possessed. In addition to running one of the most respected companies in adventure travel, Olaf’s resume of “firsts” ranges from sea kayaking Hao Long Bay in Vietnam, to exploring the uncharted island shorelines of the southwest Caribbean – populated only by the remnants of Carib Tribes.

Additionally, in recognition of his “true” explorations, Olaf is a lifetime fellow of the world-famous Explorer’s Club. It was an absolute privilege to sit down with him for almost three hours to talk about business strategies and long-term growth, what potential partners SWAE needed to speaking with, and how the systems we’re developing have the potential to truly affect the direction of eco-tourism.

Let me speak to the last point for a second. Because SWAE will never accept money for superior placement on our sites, it allows smaller companies to be able compete beside the big guys. The quality of each guide service is based upon user reviews and the niche in the market they’re filling. In addition, 10% of our company’s revenue is actually dedicated to providing local guides in the developing world with the necessary start up capital and expertise they’ll need to create their own eco-tourism business. Once their company has been created, they’ll have access to targeted marketing and the world of adventurists via swaesports.com.

In doing this, SWAE Sports has the ability to promote true eco-tourism, poverty relief, and sustainable outfitters in the developing world.  This model has been tailored in large respect to meet the challenges outlined by Bill Gates in the book Creative Capitalism, where he calls for a new form of capitalism that works to both generate profits and solve the world’s inequities.

It’s when I start talking about this aspect of SWAE, which is truly at the core of our mission, that I start to get really excited. It was wonderful to speak with a man like Dr. Malver, who in addition to the resume I’ve already lined out, also served as an eco-tourism development specialist for the United Nations.

I guess what I’m getting at is despite being taken out of my comfort zone of blue skies and expansive vistas, the Bay Area certainly has been one of the most important pin drops on our Pacific Coast Bike Trip. In addition to partnering with Explorers’ Corner, we’ve met, spoke, and partnered with some of the greatest companies out there from hang gliding outfits, to scuba diving and kayaking guides. Though we’re all ready to get back on the road, what we’ve learned from being in the city is sure to stay with us for a long time to come.

Bates in Sausolito before our trip up Mount Tamalpais.

I decided to follow Bates into Sausolito, where he met with Adnan Kadir of Life Cycle Adventures. Bates had breakfast with Adnan, who said he would ride with us to Bolinas. As an avid cyclist, Adnan knew the bike routes through the parks and he showed us a local trail up Mt. Tamalpais, over into Stinson Beach and towards Bolinas Bay.

We met Adnan at his house, where we prepared to set off towards Bolinas. From sea level, we rode through Mill Valley, up 2000 feet through trees, a winding road and at one point, a dirt track. The climb was amazing and it was a relief to get back on the bike.

While Bates and I rode up the hill at about 80% of our effort, Adnan, a former elite cyclist and mountain biking pro, was riding along at 45% of his normal power. It was amazing to ride with such a strong cyclist, plus his bike was SO rad!

Bates and Adnan at the top of Mount Tamalpais. Stinson Beach looked tiny from 2000 feet above sea level.

The grade of the climb was not bad, which meant Bates and I had a good time working up to the crest of Mount Tamalpais. At 2000 feet from sea level, Stinson Beach looked tiny along the coast. The white beaches and small shops seemed miles away, although it would only take us minutes to reach sea level again as we began our descent from the top of the mountain.

The road was smooth, the weather was beautiful and the downhill was amazing. Adnan flew past us like an arrow, hunched over his handle bars and taking each turn by bending his knee and turning his hip. Bates and I followed, enjoying every second of the ride.

We were just beginning to come into our first turn when I started to ride ahead of Bates. I pressed my back brake to slow down, but was astonished that it did not do much. The turn caught me by surprise and my experience of the next several seconds turned into slow motion.

Road rash and a gash in my elbow after a tough digger descending Mount Tamalpais.

My back wheel came off the road and my bike began to lower into a skid. I flipped over my bike as it hit the ground and my right hand met the concrete before any other part of my body. My elbow was next, scraping across the ground before I rolled over my right shoulder and onto my back. Fortunately, my backpack broke my fall and I did not hit my head. But I stood up to find a great gash on my elbow and blood running down my fore arm.

Our beautiful ride had been cut short. I was dizzy from shock and sat down to take a breather. My ribs were sore and my shoulder throbbed. It hurt to breathe, which worried both Adnan and Bates. Of course the bleeding down my arm and the hole in my elbow didn’t seem to surprise anyone.

We were able to get in touch with Adnan’s wife, Stacy, and she drove up to pick us up from the top of Mount Tamalpais. Stacy drove us back into the city to an emergency room to make sure I wasn’t broken. Bates and I were both grateful for their help throughout the entire day.

I spent the rest of the afternoon in the hospital, waiting, waiting and then waiting some more. I was eventually called in at 6:30 p.m. and admitted into a room to change into a hospital gown. Both the doctor and the resident nurse had a look at my cuts and started the process of getting the concrete out of my skin.

After getting x-rays of my elbow and my shoulder, I was given topical anesthsia for my wounds. I must have left a chunk of skin on the top of Mount Tamalpais, because not much was left at the tip of my elbow. An hour later, my cut was deemed clean enough for the doctor to get to work repairing my body.

After three hours, three x-rays and eigtht stiches in my elbow, I was let out of the hospital. The doctor said the x-rays were negative, which meant no breaks to speak of. Since I had taken such a vicious fall at 20 miles an hour, I was lucky to leave the mountain with only a few cuts and scrapes.

I am out of commission for the next several days and my bike is also stuck in a shop to get repaired. I’ll be a bit sore as well, but nothing that a little tylenol won’t cure. More to come from SWAE’s adventures in San Francisco.

In order to justify the first sentence of this post I’d like to turn to a make believe story. There is a level of true sustainability if a project / company / organization can offer an absolutely no risk guarantee. I know that that sounds boring, but please, let me explain. Let’s look at a made up solar panel company as a prime example. We will call the company “Sun Power.” Sun Power is deciding how they can sell solar panels and turn a profit while doing good. All and all, this sounds great. They sell their solar panels at a few thousand dollars for installation and the parts. They are making money while doing good. But there is an incredible opportunity cost with these type of business models and I think that the paradigm MUST change. The issue here is that by pricing the solar panels at such a high cost (even if you can use credit or monthly payments) they are not able to sell to the majority of the people (middle class and lower economic classes). In doing so, they are not able to reach their purpose nearly as well, promoting clean energy, and they are only able to seize a fraction of the market. Now, Sun Power does have another option.

What if they make it a no brainer? Rather than charging anything up front, they have their customers simply pay for the installation and materials over time by comparing old energy bills with your new (solar energy) bills, and deducting the difference. They would then take that difference so you, as a home owner, would just be paying the same monthly bill that you would have been paying were the solar panels not installed (of course, they could charge a small interest on this too). Over a few years the solar panels would be paid for and at that point, not only has the customer raised the worth of their house and is saving lots of money every month on energy bills, but they are also doing a great thing running a house off of clean energy. With a model like this (obviously this is completely made up), a solar panel company could seize the entire market share because at the end of the day, it would be silly for the customer not to sign up. (I’ve often thought about starting this company if anyone wants to join =).

Now, back to SWAE. At SWAE the only way we make any revenue is if we are getting our partners revenue. We never charge up front, monthly, exit fees, or advertising fees. We only get business if we are getting our partners more business and in turn, our success is based in making them successful. This sink or swim mentality is beautiful and I believe it is the only way it should be and it is the reason we will be successful. With that said, at SWAE we also give outfitters the ability to make bookings and sell vouchers on their own website. The industry normally charges 10% for this type of service on every booking, so we decided to cut the standard and take a 5% commission. But this was still bothering me because we were charging outfitters for business that was already coming to their website. Although we were greatly enhancing the likely hood of a customer booking once they got to their website, the customer was already coming to their website and I was uncomfortable to profit from that as a partnering company. After much deliberate thought and consideration, we now charge our partners 0% commission on all bookings or voucher purchases made on their websites so long as they offer their trips on our website. In doing so, we are able to do what “Sun Power” could do with the industry. We are able to sign all of the very best local outfitters (no matter their budgets) because they would be silly not to sign with us. It never costs them anything and we only take a small cut if we are getting them customers they would not have normally gotten to their front door. In doing so, we are now able to be very selective as to who we want to partner with. Only human powered or environmentally friendly adventure sports (more in next blog) and only the best outfitters in the area. Oh, and the best part, it is now officially impossible to undercut out rates =).

Today we met with a young journalist; Jesse Amorratanasuchad, and the stories just flowed. At one point, amidst all of the excitement, we began to talk about what is in my opinion the antithesis of sustainability: exploitation.  We all know that exploitation in terms of the environment isn’t sustainable… it’s a no brainer.  And yet rarely are we taught in the many MBA classrooms around the world or in Wall Street Journal like publications that exploitation in business isn’t sustainable.  I think that common mindset of business is that you should always get as much out of one person as you can.  The paradigm is that the pie is a set size and you always want to get the biggest slice.  In reality, the story is not as it is typically written.  Exploitation in business isn’t sustainable (exploitation of customers, users, partners, and co-workers will eventually inevitably lead to a failed company).  And this is the beauty of SWAE.  We set a challenge to ourselves 4 years ago at the inception of the idea; “Can we create a company in which all parties and all stake holders do better when we do better?”  Four years later our answer is realized with a resounding “Yes.”  The excitement around the purity of this model is for me, humbling.

And the company came to fruition today when we met with two outfitters and officially signed our first partner of the trip!  Check out http://gonediving.org if you want to see one of the highest quality Scuba Diving Shops in the area.  It was great to meet with Charlynn (the raddest scuba diver in town) and I’m enthused to be working with a like minded and like valued local outfitter… Going to be glorious

Adventure. Old Friends. New Friends. Entrepreneurship. Local Business. Biking. The Pacific Coast. Beauty. Clean Air. Warm Sun. Cool Rains. Carrying all food, water, and shelter on our backs. Struggle.  Accomplishment. A True Exploration.  In short, it is going to be a rad trip.