A Bike Bruising
Anyone reading this blog will know I love bikes. Don’t spend much on them, don’t compete that much, but just love the boyish delight of crashing through the undergrowth on a mountain bike… following a map!
But the love affair can be tested! Just this year;
- A fabulous Majorca road cycling SplashMap prototype was made with colleagues at Lovell Johns, but sadly never made it to market,
- I managed to bust two hangers on my bike (no one ever suspects this will happen twice… so I didn’t carry a spare)…
- Nick Jenkins at the Dragons’ Den preferred to totter around on a bike with a foldy-throw-away paper map and decided not to invest.
It’s great that SplashMaps appeal to all types of cyclists and can encourage them out on even the dullest days. But although the above can be chalked as “just business” and “good learning points”, a bruising doesn’t help the persistence you need with a new idea.
This is where customers help. Particularly the repeat ones ;-).
One of ours created on a custom made map (dedicated style, scale 1:125k and route added for a grueling Alpine challenge in France). You can add a title to any of our personalised SplashMaps. He titled it “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts for ever.“. I mean how often do we reach the brink and turn back?
I loved the sentiment, and it was this I was thinking as I picked my way 5 miles across the gorges of the Ardeche, my bike mech held together with my personalised SplashMap. The inspiration was great and I’d even found a new use!
We’re back on track now with cycling; Our Autumn campaign is already under way with UK Cycling’s “Cycle” magazine and newsletters running all the way to Black Friday. We’ve defined new products and retail propositions for the season’s cyclists and even joined forces with others to bring you the great distance routes for the UK and some of the country’s finest long distance challenges.
So SplashMaps make ideal gifts in the coming season. But never forget what these maps were designed for; they are particularly perfect gifts for cyclists!
