Meet the newest member of the AltRider team

On January 11, 2009, I wrote the following:

“Hi. I’m Christina Olson, and I’m early for my appointment.”

That’s how my interview with the AltRider company began: early, and interrupting a discussion between Brianna, Don, and Jacob about how best to show off new AltRider products. I was nervous, but they introduced themselves and offered me a mug of coffee to relax. Then, Brianna and I headed back to meet Jeremy in the conference room to begin The Interview.

We went over the usual. “What are your strengths?” “What are some difficult situations you’ve encountered in the past?” “Can you show us your portfolio?” But as we talked, an interesting thing happened. Little by little, Brianna and Jeremy let some of their enthusiasm for AltRider slip out, and soon they were talking about the community that exists among riders. Jeremy outlined how a documentary sparked a passion for many, and Brianna smiled as she suggested that female riders might want a little more out of their experience than pink gear and accessories. I felt myself getting caught up in their vision and excitement. Yes: me, with my klutziness, my near-sightedness, and my utter lack of riding experience.

I don’t know what that excitement means. That I’d be a good fit for AltRider? I hope so. That I have an adventuress hiding inside my school marm exterior? Maybe. One thing is certain: everyone I met in this company was passionate about what they do and had high hopes for the future. There’s no doubt in my mind they’ll succeed, and I hope I get to be there when it happens.

Looks like the answer is YES, I will get to be there!

I’m the new marketing coordinator for the AltRider team, so you’ll be seeing me at events and hearing from me on the website and in our monthly newsletter. Looking forward to meeting all of you!

Beaches, Bikes, and Babies

Starting a business really doesn’t allow you to take months off to go on vacation. So, with several days off for Christmas and New Year’s we took advantage and headed down to sunny Puerto Vallarta to spend the holidays with family from across the country. No vacation that we at AltRider take is complete without a motorcycle adventure.

Before we left, Jeremy searched the forums for people to ride with and places to rent but got little back (unlike our South African journey). So we started our search in town for ANY type of motorcycle we could rent. We ended up with a late model Honda XR250. We admit there were some interesting changes Honda has made to this classic dirt bike: it now has 6 gears and no kick start, electric start only (not great). Otherwise it’s the same machine outfitted with driving lights so it’s street legal (unfortunate for us Americans this great little bike isn’t available as a street legal model). While small, it comfortably fit two of us. If you’re headed down there go see Miles at coolrentals.com.mx.

As for the riding, we sailed down the cobblestone streets (even when wet), through the winding hills (with barely visible speed bumps), and passed many a vehicle (far surpassing the intended passenger capacity limit). It must be admitted that the rider had a bit more fun than the freaked-out passenger (that’d be Brianna… yes, this was a part of the inspiration way back when to get her license). One of the best little trips on the bike was to a restaurant south of town called Le Kliff – where we enjoyed a nice dinner while overlooking the ocean from different “cliffs”.

Jeremy did get to have his own adventure, solo. He did take to the beach, kicking up sand and getting the crazy-gringo comments and looks. Later he was the entertaining uncle that rode wheelies down the street while the rest of the family watched from taxis. His four year old niece was most impressed by this.

Jeremy also ran into a group of adventure riders, several on KLR’s, one on a BMW and one KTM LC4. They had all met while on the road down there. Who knows, maybe we will run into them again…this community is big, but there are still a lot of connections.