I’ve had good conversations with some smart folks recently about the stories we define ourselves by. Here’s a comic about it.
There’s a chicken and egg problem with a lot of mountain bike (and other outdoor) storytelling. There’s pressure from above to tell “safe” conventional stories that fit the mould for what has always worked to sell bikes. But, increasingly, there’s an even more disheartening pressure from below, from grassroots riders who see the generic “content” that so much branded media has become, and emulate it, instead of trying to create something that speaks to them.
Instagram is an especially obvious breeding ground for this, up-and-coming riders, filmers, and storytellers put their energy into copycats of clips they’ve seen go viral, complete with the same trending audio.
Sometimes I want to scream at my screen “Don’t make a ‘Get Ready With Me’ video if you’re not contractually obligated to!” “Don’t shout out your ‘sponsors’ if they’re not actually paying you!” So much of the creative output of professionals in mountain biking is dictated by the forces of capitalism, and the pros create it to fund the riding they actually want to do. When the rest of us emulate that sponsored content, all we’re doing is selling our own creativity short, and doing free marketing. This is the shitty part of those pros’ jobs, not the point!
Similarly, we see the same flattening at the media outlet level, in part driven by consolidation and predatory algorithms. The bar for creativity is low, and we still stumble over it.
When I was the editor of an outlet, I did my best to search out the interesting and weird, the stories I wasn’t hearing. And I was disheartened by how many pitches I got for mind-numbingly generic ideas, concepts that were obviously cribbed from mundane marketing materials.
I’m definitely not immune to this, and too often I catch myself evaluating an idea based on how popular I think it will be, instead of if it’s something worth saying.
And AI averages everything into a grey goup that technically contains all the necessary nutrients, but fails to satisfy.
I’m an optimist though. One of my favorite things about mountain biking is how often I see glimpses of uniqueness, creativity, and beauty. And, there are paths from making something because you love it, to doing it (somewhat) professionally. We can still carve our own myths out of this block of sandstone. There are plenty of readers and outlets and brands who support self-expression.
I don’t have all the answers, but I don’t think our stories have to be generic and boring. So, if you think you have a story that’s worth telling, and I can help you with a vibe check or a copy edit, my DMs are open here, and on Instagram. I don’t have much to offer, but what I do have, I’d love to give to helping talented folks shape the myth.