Specialized Trail Crew – More than Just a Bike Club

I just heard from a friend today that he has been selected for the Specialized Trail Crew. Prior to yesterday I had never heard of it. Now I want to be a part of it.

I see the Specialized Trail Crew as a social media experiment that will set the pace for sports oriented social media activities and Specialized is at the forefront of this effort.

Social Media and Mountain Biking

I met John Friedrich on Twitter. John lives in Bozeman, MT and I live in Sammamish, WA. We have not met in person yet, but because of our shared passion for mountain biking we are working on scheduling an epic ride next Spring to Fruita, CO.

Since he is part of the Specialized Trail Crew he’ll be riding a 2010 S-Works Stumpjumper FSR. Which he gets to ride for the next year or so as part of what I see as a great social media experiment that Specialized has created to allow passionate mountain bike riders a chance to test ride one of the sweetest bikes on the market. With a little luck I hope the powers that be at Specialized will take a look at my writing, my videos, and my tweets and think they can squeeze one more rider onto the Specialized Trail Crew.

Specialized – Are you Listening?

If the person at Specialized that’s involved in the decision for selecting invitees to the Trail Crew is reading this please know that I think I’d make a great addition to the Trail Crew.
 

Why am I interested?

Three reasons

1. I’ll get to ride a marvel of engineering
2. I’ll meet and ride with some incredible people
3. I’ll get to be part of a social media experiment (one that sets Specialized apart and ahead of the rest of the industry)

What am I willing to do?

Blog, write, speak, shoot videos, do interviews, and of course ride!

To me The Specialized Trail Crew is more than just a bike club – it’s a social media experiment that involves the mountain biking community, it’s a chance to get more casual riders involved, and ultimately it’s a cultivator of friendships. I’m looking forward to riding with John and others I meet that are interested in sharing rides and sharing their stories.

A little background on me

I have been a mountain bike rider for over 20 years. Starting with a Mongoose John Tomac model which, after breaking the frame for the third time, it was suggested I switch to a Klein Pinnacle by my Local Bike Shop (Praise your LBS). At the time I lived in Southern California and bought my bikes from Jay at The Bike Beat in the City of Orange. This was circa 1988 or 89. I met some really interesting people at this shop including Richard Cunningham of Mantis fame and now Mountain Bike Action magazine. Bikes have come a long way since those days before suspension, disc brakes, index shifting, and clipless pedals.

I can be found Twitter, Facebook, and my blog has numerous posts about rides I’ve documented over the past few years.

Image Credits: Specialized, Jeff Shuey, Team Luna Chix