Leadership at scale

Why sharing your thoughts is so powerful.

Howdy Traipsee Aboutee!

I blogged for 6 years before starting this newsletter in 2019. It marked a turning point for me, and publishing this 100th Traipsing About newsletter feels like a milestone.

Prior to 2019, I’d pushed hard in a few realms---business, travel, and physical activity---all of which I enjoyed. Those pursuits felt stale though, lacking growth potential.

I sensed a shift coming and wanted to share more of what I was reading and thinking about. It took the pandemic to shake some sense into me and push me into my current iteration. (Hopefully my next evolution doesn’t require a cataclysmic, worldwide event.)

Thanks for reading my thoughts and pretending to laugh at T. rex failing. A special thanks if you don’t play piano and stuck around anyway, knowing I’d write a van or bikepacking post someday.

I appreciate you. Here’s to the next 100!

TRAIPSING About, Edition 100 features:

• Tips for new cyclists

• Get that camera outta my house, Luis

• Leadership at scale

• T. rex "helps" with prepping our rental property for sale
  

Onward!
Dakota

Whoa, a photo of me biking for once. Spring is full-on blooming right now, bring it on!

Tips for a new cyclist

The writer Austin Kleon posted recently about buying a bicycle (his first as an adult) and getting obsessed. He’s a total beginner, so he put out a call to his readers asking for tips.

Here are a few of the ideas I suggested to him:

-Buy a rack and some panniers to haul stuff like groceries and books to the bookstores. Ortlieb makes the best panniers IMO. (I’ve commuted and toured the world with mine for 10,000 miles with zero problems.)

-Get lights that can blow cars off the road. Front and back. 600 lumens front and a cherry bomb rear are perfect. Check out these reviews.

-Get padded shorts aka a riding chamois…AND get chamois butter to rub on said bike shorts and nether regions before rides. That stuff is magic for reducing saddle sores, especially for new riders.

-Study basic bike maintenance. Learn how to change a flat and tune up your shifting as a bare minimum. Lots of bike shops offer them and YouTube is your friend.

-Google Maps + your phone coupled with Quadlock’s products are the bomb for hands-free navig.

-Find and support (if you have the means) your city, region, and state bike advocacy groups. Great sources for maps, routes, bike info, and events, plus they’re likely the groups fighting for bike infrastructure.

#bikenutalert

These will get you rolling! Read the rest on the blog.

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A perfect segue into the next section...I keep waiting for Chelsea to put her foot down.

The Home Stayer

I love these free and fluid illustrations from Luis Mendo. Such a beautiful style.
The "Home Stayer" series from pandemic life is my fav, and these two hit kiiiinda close to home for a piano nut and his plantariffic wife.

Leadership at scale

My always-curious friend Jono recently shared a piece by James Clear called Why I Write. This resonates with me:

I started to see being a writer as a way of being a leader by taking a stand for the things I believed in, sharing my mission, and rallying the people who believed the same things I believed.

We all have words inside of us — words that could change the world, words that could entertain and delight, words that could teach and improve — but these words can only unleash their power when shared.

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Since I kicked off Traipsing About in 2013, over a million people have seen the words and pictures I've shared. Who knows the reverberations and offshoots?

Did I picture that when I started blogging in 2013? Nah. But I always appreciated when others shared their lives and wanted to do the same.

I can't finish any better than James:

Share your work. Share your writing. Make it public. Find a way to lead at scale.

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I will NOT be hiring a T. rex to help out with painting the property we're selling.

And that concludes the 100th Traipsing About newsletter. I so appreciate you following along.

This week's unsolicited advice: it's spring, go ride a bike!

P.S. I haven't posted a video of Danny Macaskill showing off his bike skills forever, so how about a highlight reel!

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