Looking Sideways: 10 Things
Here are ten things I thought were worth sharing this week.
Looking Sideways is proudly reader and listener supported. Thanks to all my paid subscribers, who help keep the podcast and newsletter free for everybody, including recent paid sign-up
If you want to trial a paid subscription, there’s a really simple way: just forward this to five friends using the button below, and if they sign up free or paid, you’ll get three months paid sub free. Easy.
1. Last year, in an effort to revamp our ACM tone and editorial, I thought ‘Hmmm. I wonder what would happen if we hired the best magazine writer in the game?’
So we did, persuading the great Chris Sayer to come on board, poacher-turned-gamekeeper-style, and giving him the dream brief. Revamp our whole tone, and remind everybody that agency editorial can actually be insightful and fun to read.
His latest, on the ultimate Zoom backgrounds, is perhaps my favourite yet. Read it here.
2. There’s no Nelson’s Tour de Test Valley this year, so instead event steward and friend-of-the-show Marcus Chapman is organising a virtual ride to celebrate Nelly’s life. This takes place on Saturday September 16th - follow Nelly’s Tour de Test Valley on Insta here for the details.
Friend-of the-show Schoph has designed this year’s traditional commemorative jersey, and it’s a beaut. Purchase yours here - all proceeds go to CALM.
Plus! I’ve teamed up with TDTV, Vans Europe and CALM to take part in a special event at the Vans store in London on Thursday September 7th! I’ll be conducting a live chat with Schoph, Helena Long and a couple of others on the topic of mental health, which I’ll be recording and releasing as a future episode of the podcast. You can snag a ticket here, but be quick! Spaces are limited and these are expected to fly out like yer veritable warm scones.
Ride on Nelly. We miss you brother X
3. A theme of recent conversations (as with Easkey) and blogs (as by Rebecca Olive) has been to explore how we can have a more cooperative relationship with nature, and move away from the whole ‘this body of water exists to supplement my mental health’ schtick.
Hence why I enjoyed this thought-provoking post by Stan Townsend, which argues in favour of connection, rather than separation, to nature. Find out more here.
4 Ross Edgley’s latest attempt to break the record for the longest none-stop swim fell victim to Italy’s record-breaking air and water temperatures - but not before he covered a crinkly-finger inducing 70km. Watch the irrepressible Edgley’s debrief above.
5. More on the acquisiton of SLS by Thrill One Sports & Entertainment group (who intend to stream the events on Rumble, online home of Andrew Tate, Alex Jones, Donald Trump and others) in this great Vague mag piece.
6. Shades of Into The Wild in this unsettling story about a family who died while trying to live off grid at a remote Colorado campsite.
7. Db’s latest Pack Heavy Chase Light with Craig Anderson is great.
8. I thought this piece exploring the different ethical issues around Kristin Harila and Tenjen Lama Sherpa summiting all fourteen 8000 metre peaks in 92 days was really even-handed.
9. My pals at Protect Our Winters just released a report ‘ahead of the UCI Cycling World Championships that finds that climate change is threatening cycling as we know it. The report hears from athletes experiencing the negative impacts first-hand and explains what will happen as climate change worsens’. Read it here.
10. Like sewage in the sea, the scourge of non-biodegradable plastic bodyboards littering our shorelines and beach towns is surely the type of none-partisan issue everybody can unite behind. Which is why I was intrigued by this company raising cash to make bodyboards out of mycelium and hemp waste. Read more here.
Got a story or link you think might work for my weekly Ten Things, which goes out to thousands of readers each week? Let me know!
Kind words, boss! 🤘
Enjoyed the piece by Stan Townsend. Good to see more people involved in outdoor pursuits thinking about connecting to Nature. So often I think adventure communities are some the least "connected" to Nature despite spending so much time outside - good to see and feel a subtle shift taking place.