Yesterday John posted a feature of my bike on his website The Radavist. You’ll want to be clicking that link to go check them out! Today it’s my turn to focus my Lens on John Watson.
I’m fresh off a podcasting trip and John was my last interview before programming Google Maps to “Home” and the 12 hour drive that followed. After we recorded John asked if he could photograph my bike. Of course, I said yes! It’s always been a low-key dream of mine to have one of my bikes photographed by John and featured on his site. Seeing my CHUMBA Stella Ti on his site is super cool, not gonna lie.
I got to thinking about it and these pictures of John taking pictures of my bike is analogous to the podcast. You may notice that my podcast isn’t super gear centric and we don’t spend hours talking about fkt’s, nutrition plans, watts, grams, blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong, that stuff is cool too, just not the focus of most of my episodes. Instead, I often focus on the person. What is their story, how did they get to where they are, what pushes them forward in the face of adversity, and so on.
I love looking at beautiful bike pictures on social media or sites like The Radavist, but I really enjoy getting to know the people behind the pictures and the epic adventures we read about. For me that is the piece that is sometimes missing between the consumer and the content. The how, the why, and what did you learn?
In doing so I’ve been able to get to know some of the most well known people in our microcosm of the universe and I am continually pleased that (spoiler alert) we’re all just human and pretty damn good ones at that. I’m happy to “report” that John Watson is as nice and humble as they come. I appreciate him opening up his office, his time, and his experiences to the benefit of my audience.
Looking behind the “lens” we are able to see that often times the only thing standing in our way is ourselves. Lael wasn’t born a ultra endurance cyclist, just as John didn’t pick up a camera, snag a domain name, and everything else just fell into place. He’s been at this for almost two decades and, as far as I could tell, his passion hasn’t waned an iota.
When he asked if he could photograph my bike I’m not sure who was more giddy, he or I. Look at the way he cradles his camera in his hands as they’re stabilized by his legs. Watching him take great care crafting the perfect shot was like watching a painter create their masterpiece. I could tell John was in his element and it was cool to see.
My episode with John will be released in a few weeks and I think you’re gonna like it! Until then, go check out the post and photographs of my bike on The Radavist.
