Thereabouts Perspectives
We want to participate in a world made better by us athletes and we think you do too. Thereabouts Perspectives are the voices of an increasingly wider group of athletes across an increasing number of sports that share the belief that sport is something that can make the world a better place. Thereabouts will be collaborating and distributing the Perspectives of these athletes in the future, so please follow along as we showcase their outstanding journeys. We hope you can learn as much from them as we have.
Taylor Phinney
Yaoooo my name is Taylor Phinney. I’m from Boulder, Colorado and have been living in Spain the last few years. I raced professionally for 9 years and now I consider myself a Professional Recreationalist. Being involved in Thereabouts 2 in 2015 changed my perspective on the purpose of a road bike and 5 years later I’m obsessed with the ultimate touring / shredding rig. I love all kinds of cycling and my intention within the “sport” is to illuminate that we do not have to distinguish one side of bike riding as being different or better than another side. To ride a bike is to be free and I feel very grateful to have grown up riding as a kid. I plan to shred until the day I die.
Rugile Kaladyte
Rugile Kaladyte (Rue) is an Alaskan writer, storyteller, and photojournalist who covers ultra-endurance events and races.
Chris Burkard
Chris Burkard is an accomplished explorer, photographer, creative director, speaker, and author. Traveling throughout the year to pursue the farthest expanses of Earth, Burkard works to capture stories that inspire humans to consider their relationship with nature, while promoting the preservation of wild places everywhere.
Layered by outdoor, travel, adventure, surf, and lifestyle subjects, Burkard is known for images that are punctuated by untamed, energized landscapes and peak moments of adventure. He has accumulated an audience of over one million followers to become a globally recognized social influencer.
Burkard is often central in synthesizing the creative projects he is involved in, across stakeholders. His holistic and visionary perspective has earned him opportunities to work on global, prominent campaigns with Fortune 500 clients, appear as a TED speaker, develop specialty product lines, teach national and international photography workshops and publish a collection of books, including a children’s book. Along with his team, Burkard is based out of his full-scale production studio and art gallery near his hometown in Central Coast California.
At the age of 30, Burkard has established himself as a global presence and influencer, accomplishing a prolific portfolio, connecting people from around the world and producing some of the most recognized creative work of our time.
Lachlan Morton
I’ve raced bikes the majority of my life but I’ve learnt to ride my bike in the last few years. I’m a flawed individual who is living the best way I know how. That means being outside, preferably pedalling.
Tyler Landman
“Remember that the first and best instruments are the traveller’s own eyes” – Francis Galton.
Tyler Landman spent the first 17 years of his life in the UK brought up by US parents. He started climbing at the age of 5 with his older brother and developed a passion for the sport through outdoor adventures, more often than not taking weekend trips to Switzerland, France and the North of England.
Over the next 20 years, he made a name for himself in the international World Cup bouldering circuit, as well as developing first ascents on rock around the world, many still awaiting a second ascent. Tyler’s love of climbing has always transcended reaching the summit, or winning. Through 24 years in the sport, he has fostered an obsession with movement, and a constant desire to become more fluent in the subtleties of it.
Despite his fascination with the intricate intangibles of climbing, Tyler experienced what felt like a ticking time bomb of overtraining and burnout at the end of the 2018 World Cup season, and switched his focus from obsessively climbing, to spending more time riding his bike; an activity he had often used as a form of cross training, but never taken seriously. After his first year and a half of regular cycling, he has developed a palpable hunger, whether pinning up and racing, riding long distances to go climbing, or mobbing around the streets of New York, London and LA.
Tyler takes pride in his commitment to climb at an elite Level, and challenge his body and mind in the drastically different way that cycling does. His love of adventure, and new challenges is in constant contrast to his academic pursuit of a career as an orthopedic surgeon - a profession he feels will balance his desire to help people through the lens of science and athletics. He looks forward to shedding light on this lifelong balancing act, and the diverse populations and cultures it provides exposure to.
Nico Deportago-Cabrera
Nico Deportago-Cabrera began his career in cycling as a bike messenger in Chicago, IL in 2008. What started as a casual flirtation with the downtown hustle turned into an intensive immersion in the messenger culture and lifestyle.
Messenger work led to messenger races and those races became the foundation for an alternative approach to the traditional career as a professional cyclist. While his roots remain firmly planted in the streets that shaped him, Nico’s palmares in cycling span a diverse set of disciplines. Be it gravel grinders like Dirty Kanza, ultra-endurance races like the Transcontinental, or inner-city alleycat races like Monstertrack NYC Nico can be found fully stoked and at the front of the pack.
The search for a unique experience in life is the driving force behind Nico’s cycling and is what keeps him constantly pedalling forward.
Justin Williams
Racing has given my family so much and has saved us from the statistics of growing up in the inner-city. I've been competitive for as long as I can remember and bikes have helped me put my pain and anger somewhere constructive.
Growing up in South Central LA a lot of people lose their brothers to the streets, but me, I get to share moments like this with my mine. 2019 was the launch of our team Legion of Los Angeles and we are dedicated to sharing our passion with others. This is an attempt to inspire and motivate the next generation and with a some luck it may look a little more like us. Cycling has changed our lives forever, our dream is to help a few others walk the same path
Gus Morton
Ex-professional road cyclist and Filmmaker Angus Morton is the creator and director of Thereabouts. Turning professional at 18 years of age Angus retired at 21 to pursue a career in film and was directing his first national TV Show at the age of 24, before making a successful return to the professional circuit for three more years. Since he hung up his wheels at the end of 2017 Angus created the cycling film series ‘Outskirts’ producing, and directing three feature length documentary films focusing on the people and world that riding a bike opens up to you.
Juan Antonio Flecha
My name is Juan Antonio Flecha. I am passionate of adventure sports and nature. Cycling was my first step into sports when I was 7 years old. Back then I started racing in Argentina and later on we moved to Europe where I spent 14 years as a professional cyclist. I see cycling as a party, a sport where everyone wins. The same vision comes with me to surfing and other sports that I practise: when everyone wins, sport wins.’
Lael Wilcox
Born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Lael Wilcox is the best female ultra-endurance cyclist in the world, notably winning the 4,300 mile Trans Am Bike Race in 2016 and setting the record for the 2,750 mile Tour Divide in 2015. Lael didn’t begin cycling until she was 20 years old. She has spent the past eleven years traveling around the world on her bicycle, logging over 100,000 miles in 35 countries. The bicycle is her vehicle to learn and move and feel alive. In addition to racing and riding, Lael puts a lot of effort into getting more women on bikes. She organizes a teenage girls bicycle adventure program in her hometown and has hosted two international women’s scholarships. Lael is fortunate to partner with Specialized, PEARL iZUMi, Revelate Designs, Hope, Komoot and Ergon.
Ashton Lambie
Cycling for me has always been about pushing and exploring limits. From my first 100 mile ride to world records, I've always had a focus on maximal goals. One of my rides I want to do is to the highest point in Nebraska, like who would give a shit about that? The uncertainty of big, uncharted adventures is my favorite part; uncertainty means a lot of possibilities about what could happen next. When you line up for a race, it's going to play out in something of a scheduled format, it will be as long as the organizers say, there are usually way too many rules, and someone is going to get on a podium, every time. After my recent attempt to climb to the highest step of the sport, the Olympics, I'm excited to chart my own adventures. I'm totally uncertain how they are going to unfold, and I'm looking forward to it.
Bobby Julich
Bobby Julich happily retired from professional cycling in 2008 after a successful 16 career including podium appearances in the 1998 Tour de France and 2004 Olympic Time Trial. He also won the 2005 Paris-Nice race which was special to him since he based himself in Nice, France for most of his career. In 2009 he moved over to the coaching and management side of the sport, working with some of the best teams and training some of the best riders in the world. He now runs Julich Coaching and Consulting based in Greenville, SC using his knowledge and experience from over 30 years in the sport to help cyclists of all abilities reach their personal goals and enjoy the beautiful sport of cycling. He still loves to ride his bike and has recently dabbled in the podcast world.
Sarah Swallow
Sarah is professional adventure cyclist, grassroots organizer, writer and route developer. She uses her experiences exploring by bike to inspire and encourage others to use the bicycle as a tool to learn more about themselves and the world around them. After spending 10-years working in bike shops and 5-years owning her own shop, she set out to ride across the U.S. following dirt roads to explore the possibilities the bicycle could offer. She hasn’t stopped since.
While Sarah enjoys all forms of bicycle riding her two favorite disciplines are bike touring/bikepacking and gravel/adventure riding and racing. She spends 9 months of the year either traveling by bicycle around the world, or living in her truck camper on public lands. Sarah spends her remaining time in Durango, Colorado.
Sarah is the promoter of Ruta del Jefe, a 125-mile adventure gravel race in Southern Arizona and a co-founder of WTF Bikexplorers, an organization the supports, celebrates, and connects cyclists who identify as women, transgender, femme, and/or non-binary who use their bikes to explore. She is an adventure ambassador and races gravel for Specialized Bicycles as well as Ride with GPS.
Follow her adventures through Instagram
Chas Christiansen
Chas Christiansen started working as a messenger on his track bike over a decade ago, from illegal street races to world class sanctioned fixed gear criteriums the bike has propelled Chas forever forward. What started as a way to pay the bills has transformed into a way to see and experience as much of the world as possible in a way that is more visceral and intimate. Chas is based in California's Bay Area where he splits his time between his art studio/print shop in San Francisco and home in Oakland. After years of using the bike race as a reason to travel, Chas is using ultra endurance events and bike tours with friends as a way to emphasize the JOURNEY over the destination.
Jacob Rathe
Jacob grew up in the southwest hills of Portland, Oregon. He found the bicycle to be thrilling way to explore the neighborhood as a child. The street he grew up on, Tunnelwood, was the first of many obstacles that he would tackle on a bike. That tough 1 mile climb is what separated him from grade school, sports practice, and friends. The bike took over more and more of his life. It became a life consuming obsession and a job. It was a place to push the limits, and a place to relax. A place to bond with people, and a place to be alone.
Over a decade of racing full-time, the bike offered endless challenge and adventure through racing. Suddenly reality struck that the neurosis required for competition was no longer there.
Isaac Karsen
Isaac is a creative producer and lifelong cyclist. He develops films and content for organizations and brands to help people better grasp complex issues and why they matter in terms of bettering ourworld. Isaac has over 10+ years of experience in the production and agency world. Some of his past projects include the Emmy nominated Google Year In Search, the 2019 Zwift Tour de France films, and projects for the Truth Campaign. He is partners in Thereabouts, a platform that is using sport to help people understand the world.
Matt Whitehead
Matt doesn’t like writing bio’s and so instead we asked him three questions to try to better understand the enigma that brought us Crust.
- Where are you from, and how did you end up in the states? I am from Australia originally, I ended up in the US basically just from visiting friends and then meeting my now wife.
- How did you come to start Crust? I was in Nepal on a bike touring trip for a couple of months and did not like the bike I was riding, maybe it was the high altitude affecting my sense of judgment, but by the end of the trip Crust was born.
- What do you love about riding? Cant really say without sounding like a dickhead, so I won't try.