Category: Profile

In the early summer of 2017, Maria Olsson sat across from her doctor following emergency abdominal surgery to remove an 8cm diameter cyst. After listening to a description of the procedure and the requirement for a biopsy to confirm the growth was benign, Maria began to ask whether an upcoming cycling challenge would affect her prognosis for recovery. The event in question was the Rapha Cent Cols – a brutal 10 day trip with an average daily elevation of 4000m – and the determination to even consider attempting the ride post-recovery indicative of an individual well-versed in pushing themselves to breaking point.

‘The doctor was looking at me like I was insane,’ reflects Maria. ‘Everyone else knew I had to pull out but I wasn’t prepared to accept the fact. I was totally in denial and just burst into tears. In a way not even considering my health concerns but worrying how I was going to tell my family and friends.’

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We’ve arranged to meet in the exhibition space of the Rapha Manchester clubhouse where the previous evening Maria delivered a presentation on her role as the London-based brand’s Design Manager. Stylishly understated in dress, although her English is fluent Maria’s accent still reflects her Swedish roots with occasional hints of an Aussie twang that references the time she spent in Sydney studying a degree in fashion & textile design.

‘I grew up in a family where my mother and grandma were always knitting and cooking. We never had a lot so it was all about having the skills to complement our budget and we were very hands on. I do remember drawing a lot but at school I was always driven to focus on the sciences: biology, engineering and other technical subjects. I’d decided to go to university in Sydney and originally applied for a degree course in aero-engineering but there were problems with funding and I kind of fell into the fashion & textile thing. As it turned out – possibly rather fatefully – it was something I really enjoyed and was good at.’

After completing her degree course Maria returned to Sweden and a design role working on alpine and cross-country skiing ranges; an office visit from Fabian Cancellara and the Schleck brothers prompting her to consider the challenges of designing cycle-specific clothing and a change in focus that would eventually lead Maria to Rapha Racing. But not before she burnt out, took 6 months off to live in a cabin by a lake and occupied her time with freelance work until the next opportunity came along; a multi-faceted design position that Maria feels encouraged her to look at design problems from a range of perspectives.

‘And then I saw that Rapha were advertising for a designer. Instantly knowing I had to apply; that this was my dream job. So I sent in my portfolio, submitted an application and then, when they did offer me the position, it was a no brainer and I immediately accepted.’

That was back in 2015 and prompted a move to London where she enjoys a sometimes fractious relationship with the capital city: ‘London doesn’t feel like home but, when I’m at work, that kind of does. It’s the people that are around me that make me feel I belong. Much more so than feeling attached to a place.’

‘I love Sweden,’ Maria elaborates. ‘That’s where my heart is. And London can be fun and is full of inspiration. But I grew up in the countryside and the city’s quite a hard place. In a way it lacks empathy and it’s very easy, if you don’t have those people around you, to feel very lonely.’

The challenges of city living aside, it’s easily apparent from her frequent smiles that her design position is more than simply a job and is clearly influenced by her own riding. Describing how she arrives on many of the insights and ideas that inform her designs whilst riding her bike – problem solving determined by weather conditions or performance considerations –  interestingly it’s her background in the sciences and engineering in particular that play through in the approach she takes to her craft.

‘Sometimes it’s just an idea. I’m out riding and it hits me. But the way I work, it’s usually about the engineering and how we can apply this to solve problems. The fabrics we have available and how we design the cut and fit of a product. I don’t get super excited about fluffy fashion but I’ve always been really driven by technical aspects. Marrying form and function to make items that are not only beautiful but also user-friendly.’

A passionate approach to her professional life that proves difficult to balance as Maria admits – with a wry grin – that she’s always more or less on. ‘I have to force myself to switch off. Sometimes through cycling as it acts as a kind of therapy or sometimes by watching really stupid things on TV. I need that occasionally otherwise I’m worried my brain’s going to overload.’ This need to distract and unwind perhaps in part prompting the quote from T.S. Eliot* on her blog and the reason she decided to consider the Cent Cols Challenge in the first place?

*[Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go. — T.S Eliot]

‘I’ve always felt quite different from everyone else in my family and I think, because we’ve had to overcome a lot of obstacles, this made me want to find my own path. I’m naturally quite independent and not afraid to push myself. Always super stubborn. And in everything I do, I commit to it. All or nothing.’

As it turned out, it was Maria’s own body that called time on the Cent Cols; the hurt of that decision still lingering on a year later and offering an insight into her younger years when she played football and danced.

‘I’ve always enjoyed feeling strong. I like the adrenaline and physicality of sport; the challenge of how far I can push myself, how good can I get. But I guess in the past I’ve been a little selfish in the way I’ve treated my body. Because I’m so determined – stupidly so – I’ve been guilty of pushing myself too far and all the issues I now have with my knees and feet are testament to that. I kept on going when my body was telling me to stop. And it gave me lots of warnings. But if my knee was completely fucked I’d still assume that the next day it would be better. I’ve done two Manchester to London rides like this where I literally couldn’t walk when I climbed off the bike. Believing that if you can just push through that barrier you’ll go into shock and the pain will lessen. But I feel that now, as I get older, I’m finally learning to be more respectful of my body.’

Listening to Maria describe her attitude to pain and suffering – almost at odds with her slight build that still has a dancer’s poise – I wonder how this mental toughness translates into her everyday life? Whether it influences her interactions at work and how she negotiates?

‘I try to listen and I’m not one for pitching ideas if I haven’t really thought them through. I’ll have done my research before sketching it up and maybe getting a prototype made to actually see if it works. Sometimes it fails – probably 50:50 – but you never stop trying and you can always learn from these mistakes.’

As Maria’s designs are obviously influenced to a large extent by her own riding, working for a company that encourages its staff members to spend Wednesday mornings out on their bikes is just another aspect of her role with Rapha that she appreciates and feels is fundamental in delivering the company’s ethos; these midweek social spins balanced by weekend riding and the challenges of commuting by bike in the capital.

‘It’s not easy and the rare times that I don’t want to ride at a weekend is usually after I’ve commuted the full week by bike. You spend too much time concentrating on not getting killed for it to be an opportunity to unwind after a busy day at work and I suppose that’s why I come up to the Peak District so often to ride. I love Manchester. The people are really friendly and it’s so much easier to get out of the city and into the countryside.’

Happiest when riding her bike up a mountain with some good friends or visiting the very north of Sweden where she relishes the sense of emptiness – Maria suggests that it’s so quiet you can hear your own heart beat – these moments of blissful detachment are perhaps telling when considering the personal losses she suffered at a comparatively young age.

‘I was handed this big chunk of pain with the loss of my mum that has scarred me forever but doesn’t hurt every day forever. And I think I would have been a different person today without that sense of loss. It was a consistent period of hard times but it has helped me achieve a good perspective on life. That it’s not all shiny and sparkly. And I certainly don’t give a crap about the small issues that used to worry me.’

‘Material things mean very little. In my work, by necessity, I’m super organised but outside of that environment I’m very chilled about stuff and tend to go with the flow. That wasn’t always the case [laughs]. I remember when I was still at school and I had every waking hour planned. But now? Maybe we need to be with someone that’s the opposite to ourselves? If you’re a thinker – as I am – you need to pair up with a doer. It’s important for me to see solutions to problems rather than the problem being the endpoint. And people have a tendency to sweat the small stuff when, if you step back, you realise that on the scale of things it really isn’t that important. It’s like this obsession with Strava. I don’t record everything and if it’s not on Strava it still happened [smiles].’

As it’s time for Maria to head home – she fires off a final few emails before packing away her laptop ready to ride to Stretford where she’s based when visiting the city – I ask about her plans with Rapha and what her next career move might be.

‘I guess I have some kind of vision but I try not to plan too far ahead. I’m taking it as it comes because I love my job with Rapha and my life as it is now. So, we’ll see. Who knows what the future holds?’

@maria.t.olsson

Rapha UK

Images by @openautograph

Spend time in Copenhagen and you begin to wonder whether the sign that greets you in the airport terminal proclaiming Denmark as the world’s happiest country in some part references the Danish love affair with the bike. As rush hour traffic largely comprises streams of individuals crisscrossing the city to work, school and even the nursery – toddlers sitting in large wooden boxes affixed to cargo bikes – cycling seems hardwired into the nation’s psyche. And it’s this question of whether the UK could ever see a similar mainstream adoption of the bike for everyday journeys that I’m keen to put to Dan Morris; ride leader, Rapha Ambassador and Senior Transportation Planner with Warwickshire County Council.

‘If you want to start cycling to work you’ve got quite a lot to consider. The kit you’ll need to cope with the UK climate, how long it will take you and whether you have facilities to change. Of course, if you’re riding for leisure, all of those things go out of the window. Which is why I always suggest you start riding a bike simply for fun.’

It’s easily apparent that Dan is a passionate advocate for all things cycling. From describing his professional role through to his favourite 30 mile local loop, his voice and animated hand movements punctuate the points he makes with a calm confidence. Ideal traits when communicating a message that cycling is a viable mode of transportation to organisations not always receptive to change.

Referring to the time he worked for Sustrans on a project to encourage more Birmingham based businesses to embrace cycling as a way for their employees to travel to work, he freely acknowledges the infrastructure at that time couldn’t deliver in terms of changing perceptions that cycling in the city centre wasn’t inherently dangerous. ‘I was trying my best to promote all the pluses that cycling ticks,’ Dan explains, ‘but it was a super-hard sell. Really frustrating because I understood the positive impact cycling could have on individuals and their families.’

Things finally changed when Transport for West Midlands received a £48m pot of money to develop cycling infrastructure across the seven boroughs at the same time Dan took up a new position with the cycling development business BikeRight!.

‘After 18 months of cold-calling and knocking on doors – talking the talk but not being able to deliver in terms of persuading people that cycling was a practical and safe option – we had this joined up approach that I could sell to people as a viable means of using a bike as everyday transport. We even had fleets of bikes we could loan to businesses for a week at a time to encourage their employees to at least try riding to work.’

Finding that his role with BikeRight! involved liaising with the Transport Authority’s infrastructure team – consulting on the design of cycle routes and questioning whether they met the needs of their users – he already had close-working ties with the local authority when they advertised his current position of transport planner. Concerned that he didn’t have the usual engineering background, it was following the interview after he’d accepted the position that the panel’s requirements became apparent. ‘It turns out they already had an office full of engineers and what they really wanted was a public-facing individual to not only influence the design of local infrastructure but also engage with the public on cycle-related matters.’

As he didn’t take his driving test until his mid-twenties, at the very least Dan is able to communicate this message with a degree of conviction and goes some way to explaining why cycling has been the commonality in a varied career that included a spell working in a nightclub.

‘I was finishing my shift at around three in the morning before getting on my bike and riding home. But I didn’t know anything else. I’d ride to work, to college, to see friends. And this probably accounts for why I do the job that I do. Cycling is such a massive escape for me. The headspace I need to switch off from work before focusing on home and family.’

Growing up in Leamington Spa, the West Midlands is where Dan returned following a couple of snowboarding seasons after he graduated with a Physiotherapy degree from Birmingham University. Initially starting out in the health and fitness industry led to him working within public health on a programme engaging with young people between 8 and 16 who were clinically obese. ‘Our aim was to get them active and eating well but the biggest barrier I encountered was their reluctance to take part in physical activity because of previous bullying or low self-esteem. As I loved cycling I felt this might be the perfect way to address this issue and enable them to factor in a degree of everyday activity into their lives.’

Now that he’s landed his dream job – a role in which he can marry the design and promotion of cycling infrastructure with the necessary encouragement for people to get out and use it – Dan can confidently get to grips with the key messages that sustainable cycling can address.

‘Very often, and especially in large urban areas, if you want to get from point A to point B in the shortest time then in many ways the bicycle is the obvious choice. And when people list all the potentially negative aspects of riding a bike often what I’ll simply suggest is for them to try it. Just once and see how they get on. I’m not expecting them to ride every day but if they can find their own need or reason to do it, then that can sow the seed for longer term engagement.’

Believing active travel in the UK is currently in a good place with more workplaces opening doors to enable bicycle commuting, Dan feels local authorities are striving to enable provision but there’s still a lack of consistency between areas. Cycle lanes varying in design and colour from city to city without a joined-up blueprint to make the UK a truly cycle-friendly country.

‘We need a top-down approach that is evident in countries such as the Netherlands,’ he suggests. ‘I was over there giving a presentation about UK cycling and one of the comments I made related to our perception that Dutch motorists are so much more respectful towards cyclists. But the simple truth of the matter is that their motorists are cyclists.’

‘We need people to feel confident riding their bikes,’ Dan continues. ‘The more journeys made by bike, the greater it encourages local authorities to see that cycling is a worthwhile investment. And in comparison to what’s been spent on roads and rail, cycling doesn’t really cost an awful lot to provide decent infrastructure. But there’s the catch. As local authorities are held accountable for the impact of their spending, often they don’t think they need to invest in infrastructure because no one’s riding their bikes. But if the provision was there you’d see a greater take up.’

‘If you put me on my soapbox I say we don’t need to learn from the Dutch or the Danes. We need to look to America and learn from Portland, New York and Chicago. Car-centric cities that have turned it round and increased cycling participation. Taking space back from their existing road networks to create interconnected routes that cross the city.’

But it’s the provision of cycle training together with usable infrastructure that Dan feels could have the biggest impact. Training available to all schools irrespective of postcodes and funding bids and encouraging a mindset that cycling is the norm. ‘If you can combine this with encouraging adults to cycle – bike share schemes in all of our cities and investing in the number of segregated cycleways – then I believe we can reach a tipping point where making a journey by bike becomes your preferred option and not solely for cycle fanatics like me.’

Now that he’s a father and time with the family is precious, Dan is happy to be selective about when or if he can ride or race. To such an extent that a lot of his miles are done on an indoor trainer. ‘I’m quite happy getting up at ‘silly’ o’clock in the morning to do a turbo session,’ he comments with a smile. ‘I still absolutely love getting out and riding with other people but just need to keep all these aspects of my life in balance. And I suppose it’s because cycling plays such a pivotal role in my life – both at work and in my spare time – that I really try not to be too evangelical about its benefits. But if anyone wants to argue the pros and cons, I’m that pain in the arse individual who has an answer for everything.’

@pistaboy

All images by Benedict Campbell

 

Growing up near Lake Constance and now resident in Vienna, the city’s cycling culture has seen some significant changes since Mimi Kathrein first began riding in 2010. At the time a closed-off world of cycle clubs that beginners wanting to try the sport often found rather forbidding, recent years have seen the adoption of a more open approach to participation. ‘Looking back,’ Mimi explains, ‘I feel the scene was influenced by the States and the UK in the way people’s riding habits have changed and this encouraged me to start a regular women’s training ride.’

But it was riding with Kelli Samuelson during a trip to LA that proved particularly inspirational; sowing the seeds for the idea of creating her own place where women could support each other in their riding goals. ‘I was still fairly new to cycling,’ Mimi reflects, ‘and felt really intimidated by the thought of accompanying such a strong rider out into the mountains that skirt the Los Angeles urban sprawl. But listening to Kelli’s story of how she founded her women’s race team which later became LA Sweat made me determined to do something along those same lines back in Vienna.’

Having already joined the Rapha Ambassador programme, this decision was further strengthened after a trip to Amsterdam during which she first learnt about the women’s cycling group STRONGHER. Excited by the prospect of founding something similar, on her return to Vienna she immediately set about launching FASTHER; a platform for women to share their experiences and develop group riding skills.

‘In this way,’ Mimi explains, ‘you can always help riders that aren’t quite as strong. They can sit in the second or third row with the stronger riders in the front and at the rear. And it’s so satisfying when you see new members understand that by riding together you can go so much further and so much faster.’

For a group that prides itself on the support it provides to new riders, it’s perhaps surprising that there’s a ‘no complaining’ rule; a concept that Mimi is keen to clarify: ‘It’s about not giving in to your insecurities. About having faith and just trying something in the knowledge that the group will be there for you. You’re free to curse when you’re climbing a mountain but it’s important to own the moment. And in some ways it’s really very simple. Some people are faster and some people are slower but it’s hard for everyone.’

Having recently discovered the joys of bike packing – Mimi appreciating the distances you can travel unsupported on a bike and the enjoyment to be found from setting your own pace – she’s at her happiest riding in the mountains. ‘The second time I climbed Mt. Ventoux I was filming with Rapha. I was riding with Jonas from Norway and we were singing all day but they kept telling us to stop because we looked too happy [laughs].’

Using her fingers to count the number of bikes she owns – her ‘Dutch’ bike and city commuter sit in street level storage but the rest are kept in the house – a background in both design and curating contemporary art means Mimi’s ideally placed working for the Vienna Business Agency. Providing programme development for the architecture, design and fashion industries in and around the city, this focus on networking and knowledge transfer mirrors her plans to establish FASTHER groups in other cities.

‘It’s reassuring,’ Mimi adds as our conversation draws to a close, ‘that there’s so many women that started with FASTHER and now have the confidence to take on a leadership role themselves. And really rewarding when you see the smiles on happy faces when individuals accomplish something they never thought possible. It’s important to remember that we’re all part of the same journey but with our own unique stories to tell.’

@lrlmimi

fasther.net/

Picture credits:

Feature image / Sami Moreno / Gallery / 1. Caro Laska / 2. Philipp Doms / 3 Philipp Schoenauer / 4. welovecycling / 5. Peter Riegersperger / 6. Philipp Schoenauer