OFF BIKE

Alec is a shining light in the urban cycling scene, although road bike orientated he couldn't be more far removed from the World Tour. He's a criterium racing specialist, DJ, cycling coach, entrepreneur, he also won the Brompton World Championships for CHPT3 as a bit of fun. His team, Tekkerz CC (Cycling Charisma), is introducing a new concept to UK cycling, one that is much needed. Beyond all of this he is one of the loveliest people you could know, generous and kind. He may exist on the edge of the cycling scene, yet he couldn't be more encouraging to welcome you in.

• Find Alec on Instagram here: @alec_pedaler
• Find Tekkerz on Instagram here: @tekkerzcc
• Read about Alec and Tekkerz here and here

Mikkel Rasmussen's ReD Associates can be found here.
David Millar's CHPT3 can be found here.

Hélène is the Founder and CEO of WILD AI - an AI-powered App designed specifically for women and their physiology. Her accomplished background in business and science combined with her love for sport put her in a unique position to change an industry that is, like many others, male biased. Although women make up nearly half of the population, a recent paper on "Sex Bias in Neuroscience and Biomedical Research" shows that 80% of the animals used in research are male. "These findings cannot be applied to women who are impacted daily by the 500 menstrual cycles they'll experience over 40 years.  More so, a 22 year old taking the pill has different nutritional needs, physiology and digestion than a 47 year old perimenopausal woman."

• Go check out WILD AI here.
• Also, you'll find some amazing opportunities to support WILD AI here.
• Twitter: @Helene_wild_ai
• Instagram: @helene_wild_ai
• Hélène talking about boosting the immune system: WILD AI x ROAD x FITTER
  
  

Find David's CHPT3 here: CHPT3.com
Find Mikkel's ReD Associates here: redassociates.com

David Millar and Mikkel B Rasmussen relaunch the OFF BIKE podcast. Ironically it is happening when we're forbidden by the law to ride our bikes, our respective countries of Spain and Denmark have us on lockdown during the Coronavirus pandemic. Being literally off bike was never the plan when we created this, yet here we are, we discuss our current situations and what we make of it all, and we try to explain why we've been absent and what we have planned.  Previous episodes include:

• #1 - Sir Paul Smith (Designer) 
• #2 - Phil Gilbert Jr (Head of Design at IBM)
• #3 - Tim Marlow (Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London 

David Millar - David, ex professional racing cyclist, is one of the founding partners in CHPT3, a company created to serve and supply the third space in our life, the time that exists beyond our family and work.  It's origins lay in cycling and that is where it is currently focussed.  David has written two books, Racing Through the Dark and The Racer, as well as numerous articles and essays.  He was the principal consultant to Stephen Frears during the production of The Program, and helped Finlay Pretsell make feature documentary, Time Trial.  During the summer months he will mainly be found alongside Ned Boulting commentating on bike races for British television.

Mikkel B Rasmussen - Mikkel, one of the founding partners of ReD Associates, is a specialist at applying human science to business problems.  As the director of ReD Associates Europe, he works closely with the top management of some of Europe's most forward looking companies, including Adidas, Lego, and Novo Nordisk.  In his practice at ReD, Mikkel has pioneered new thinking on how to make social science methodology practical, creative and effective in business.  He is the co author of the book "The Moment of Clarity - How to Use Human Science to Solve Your Hardest Business Problems" published by Harvard Business Press in 2014 as well as numerous articles and essays.  Mikkel holds a Master in Economics from Maastricht University and Master of Applied Social Science from University of Roskilde. 

In 2012, Phil was asked to rejuvenate the legendary IBM design program, spearheading a broader transformation of how the company’s teams understand and solve complex problems. The program has established a modern standard for the role of the arts in business — adding formally-trained designers into IBM at an unprecedented scale, and reskilling its global workforce in design thinking and agile practices. This transformation has been documented in the New York Times, Fortune and in the documentary film "The Loop", produced by InVision as a part of its Design Disruptors series.

For this work, in 2018 Phil was inducted into the New York Foundation for the Arts' Hall of Fame. He is also co-chair of IBM's Global Women's Executive Committee, advocating for greater gender diversity and inclusion. Phil’s career includes 30 years as a start-up entrepreneur, and he speaks regularly on topics of corporate culture and large scale transformation. He graduated as a Pe-et (top ten) senior from the University of Oklahoma in 1978 and lives in Austin, Texas.

Phil is also a cyclist, and he rode with David and Mikkel in Girona, October 2019, where this interview took place.  

• Phil can be found on Twitter @philgilbertsr
• Check out IBM Design here
• Listen to Phil on the Change Lab: Conversations on Transformation and Creativity podcast here
• Documentary "The Loop" by InVision can be watched here
• Business by Design article in Fortune.
• Read this article about IBM's research into quantum computing.
• Peredur ap Gwynedd, the OFF BIKE composer can be found on IG @perryguitar666

Last but not least, David's CHPT3 can be found here, while Mikkel's ReD Associates is here.

Tim Marlow has studied art for most of his life, a scholar, writer, broadcaster, lecturer, and historian, currently he is the Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts in London, he has held that position (a position that didn't exist previously) since 2014.  2020 will see him beginning a new chapter, that of CEO of the Design Museum.

Mikkel B. Rasmussen and David Millar visited the Royal Academy of Arts where they also had the great privilege of an impromptu walk through the Anthony Gormley exhibition, check out the trailer here. Randomly they bumped into Kenton Cool and discussed Mother's Pride, have a look at this video in order to visualise what that particular discussion was referring to.  Find out more about The Royal Academy here.  And learn about The Design Museum here.

Mikkel and David spoke to Tim about his relationship with art and also their common denominator, cycling. By the end of the meeting a new Tour de France had been created, one that will take place in 2020, and will be known as the CTdF, as in the Cultural Tour de France, you'll have to listen to learn more.

Thank you Peredur ap Gwynedd for the OFF BIKE music, follow him on IG @perryguitar666

Find out more about David's CHPT3, the company and brand he founded in 2015 here, or follow it on IG @CHPT3 - David can be found on Twitter and IG @millarmind

Find out more about Mikkel's ReD Associates here, the firm he co-founded that uses human science to put people back at the centre of business decisions - Mikkel can be found on IG @themikkelman

Although our interviewees are recognised as being both successful and accomplished in their chosen fields it wasn't always that way, their early careers involved a cross-section of jobs and experiences, a process known as sampling.  We will delve deeper into this phenomena while also exploring their connection to cycling, as ultimately it is the bike that is the primary connector to the people we speak to in the OFF BIKE podcast.  This, the first episode and it is with the icon that is, Sir Paul Smith, David Millar interviewed him, and in his own words:

"I've known Paul personally since the early 2000's, we've had many interesting conversations over the years, he's offered me support while I was a racer, and advice as the founder of my new company, CHPT3.  His generosity of spirit and simple kindness has always taken me aback, yet there's something else I wanted to delve deeper into, his spectrum of abilities and range of interests is mind boggling and I don't believe is truly appreciated by the wider public.  The trajectory he has taken to arrive where he is today is a lesson to us all, especially in these days of quick gratification and impatience to succeed motivated too often by greed.  His life has been a journey of learning fuelled by an insatiable curiosity, and somehow through it all he has kept an even keel, the love of his life and wife, Pauline, being his partner in the truest sense of the word.  Anyway, I won't ramble on, I hope it all comes across in the interview."

The Paul Smith website is here and within the site you'll find "Paul Smith's Cycling Scrapbook" with the foreword written by David Millar, it can be found here.

Check out Paul on Instagram: his personal account is @paulsmith and the company is @paulsmithdesign

David Millar's CHPT3 is here.  Have a look around and learn a bit more about the next chapter.

Mikkel Rasmussen's ReD Associates is here.  Check it out and learn a bit more about the fascinating world of business anthropology that they specialise in.