OFF BIKE

This is a special edition of OFF BIKE, in the words of David:
What is Wheels For Heroes? I’ll try and explain from my perspective...

Bicycles have always represented fun to me. When I was a kid they gave me the freedom I needed. As I got older that freedom led to adventure, and as I got stronger the bicycle introduced me to speed, eventually it led me to racing. I’ve spent the majority of my life racing. I stopped in 2014.

In 2015 I went to a big lunch in London and I met Will Butler-Adams, the CEO of Brompton, he asked me, “You’re the Tour de France racer, right?” He told me he worked at Brompton, and I said, “You’re the folding bike guys, right?”

He had an idea: there were all these MAMILS out there whom looked down upon Brompton, because it was... well, it’s wasn’t a road bike, and it folded.

I was one of those people - it wasn’t until Will convinced me to borrow a Brompton for a few days that I got it. It was the first bicycle that was more than fun, it served a purpose, it’s designed to be utilitarian, to improve your life, to make things simpler, to make things better.

So back to Wheels For Heroes. Brompton wants to help our key workers, the people whom have such an important purpose right now, they’re going to supply bikes to help them get to their jobs, and they’re going to make a loss doing it, this isn’t a marketing exercise because I know Brompton so well, they’re an engineering company first, and if they do something it’s to solve a problem.

Please donate, or at least consider how you can help our key workers."
SUPPORT HERE

Alec is a shining light in the urban cycling scene, although road bike orientated he couldn't be more far removed from the World Tour. He's a criterium racing specialist, DJ, cycling coach, entrepreneur, he also won the Brompton World Championships for CHPT3 as a bit of fun. His team, Tekkerz CC (Cycling Charisma), is introducing a new concept to UK cycling, one that is much needed. Beyond all of this he is one of the loveliest people you could know, generous and kind. He may exist on the edge of the cycling scene, yet he couldn't be more encouraging to welcome you in.

• Find Alec on Instagram here: @alec_pedaler
• Find Tekkerz on Instagram here: @tekkerzcc
• Read about Alec and Tekkerz here and here

Mikkel Rasmussen's ReD Associates can be found here.
David Millar's CHPT3 can be found here.

David Millar and Mikkel B Rasmussen relaunch the OFF BIKE podcast. Ironically it is happening when we're forbidden by the law to ride our bikes, our respective countries of Spain and Denmark have us on lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic. Being literally off bike was never the plan when we created this, yet here we are, we discuss our current situations and what we make of it all, and we try to explain why we've been absent and what we have planned. Previous episodes include:

• #1 - Sir Paul Smith (Designer)
• #2 - Phil Gilbert Jr (Head of Design at IBM)
• #3 - Tim Marlow (Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London

David Millar - David, ex professional racing cyclist, is one of the founding partners in CHPT3, a company created to serve and supply the third space in our life, the time that exists beyond our family and work. It's origins lay in cycling and that is where it is currently focussed. David has written two books, Racing Through the Dark and The Racer, as well as numerous articles and essays. He was the principal consultant to Stephen Frears during the production of The Program, and helped Finlay Pretsell make feature documentary, Time Trial. During the summer months he will mainly be found alongside Ned Boulting commentating on bike races for British television.
Mikkel B Rasmussen - Mikkel, one of the founding partners of ReD Associates, is a specialist at applying human science to business problems. As the director of ReD Associates Europe, he works closely with the top management of some of Europe's most forward looking companies, including Adidas, Lego, and Novo Nordisk. In his practice at ReD, Mikkel has pioneered new thinking on how to make social science methodology practical, creative and effective in business. He is the co author of the book "The Moment of Clarity - How to Use Human Science to Solve Your Hardest Business Problems" published by Harvard Business Press in 2014 as well as numerous articles and essays. Mikkel holds a Master in Economics from Maastricht University and Master of Applied Social Science from University of Roskilde.

Tim Marlow has studied art for most of his life, a scholar, writer, broadcaster, lecturer, and historian, currently he is the Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he has held that position (a position that didn't exist previously) since 2014. 2020 will see him beginning a new chapter, that of CEO of the Design Museum.
Mikkel B. Rasmussen and David Millar visited the Royal Academy of Arts where they also had the great privilege of an impromptu walk through the Anthony Gormley exhibition, check out the trailer here. Randomly they bumped into Kenton Cool and discussed Mother's Pride, have a look at this video in order to visualise what that particular discussion was referring to. Find out more about The Royal Academy here. And learn about The Design Museum here.
Mikkel and David spoke to Tim about his relationship with art and also their common denominator, cycling. By the end of the meeting a new Tour de France had been created, one that will take place in 2020, and will be known as the CTdF, as in the Cultural Tour de France, you'll have to listen to learn more.
Thank you Peredur ap Gwynedd for the OFF BIKE music, follow him on IG @perryguitar666
Find out more about David's CHPT3, the company and brand he founded in 2015 here, or follow it on IG @CHPT3 - David can be found on Twitter and IG @millarmind
Find out more about Mikkel's ReD Associates here, the firm he co-founded that uses human science to put people back at the centre of business decisions - Mikkel can be found on IG @themikkelman

Mikkel and David are joined by Tim Marlow, CEO of the Design Museum and former Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, to discuss the culture surrounding the route of the Tour de France. From artists to cathedrals to wine...
CLICK HERE FOR CHPT3 - https://chpt3.com/
CLICK HERE FOR THE DESIGN MUSEUM - https://designmuseum.org/