Welcome to Paseando MTB
Moving into Year 4 on Substack
Hello, everyone!
Three years ago, I started MTBeer as a newsletter through Substack. It was simply a community ‘zine, of sort, that set out to celebrate mountain biking, in all its wonders and glories, as well as have honest conversations about issues within the mountain biking community. Trip reports were sprinkled here and there, how-to guides happened on occasion, two columns (No Dabs and Fully Rigid) appeared monthly, Q&A series with MTB’s VIPs were well-received, and on and on and a whole lot more, not forgetting indie beer talk and indie breweries being featured from time-to-time.
It’s all here and still available to read. 243 posts and counting.
That being said, I’ve decided to end MTBeer for a few reasons. If you search the internet, you’ll see there are other MTBeer sites and vlogs. I have nothing to do with them. On social media, which I do not use, there are a lot of MTBeer hashtags and such, including what is mtbeer for Montana beer. All this is to say that I didn’t want my MTBeer to possibly be confused with what else is out there.
Ergo, I introduce to you, Paseando MTB. The verb pasear in Spanish is one of my favorite words. It can be translated into “to walk/to stroll,” but I came to understood it as being more than that. You can andar paseando, which sort of means something like to go about wandering. There is a feeling to it, possibly in that you don’t really know where you’re headed or what’s around the next corner. One can add en bici and you get a feeling like you have when you are on your bike, riding trails and being content in space and time, not really caring about much of anything. Paseando MTB is about that feeling, and Paseando MTB will be everything that MTBeer was, but it is also going to be more than all of that.
It’s going to include conversations about public lands use and who gets to play on those lands. We will address climate change, as well. I teach environmental policy, which is to say that I’m bringing some of the classroom into the newsroom. In the year 2024, it is like having responsibility deficit disorder if you are a mountain biker and openly choose to not discuss land use and climate change. It doesn’t mean we have to agree, but ignoring such issues is not acceptable.
A few housekeeping things:
New to Paseando MTB is Notes. At the top of the homepage on the crossbar, you’ll see it. Click on it and then you’ll see short posts from me. These can be about anything related to MTB and indie beer, the whole idea being that we can have our own chatter/banter about whatever is there. It’s open to everyone for commenting. Hopefully, the trolls will stay away!
Discounts. I have several lined up for December 2023 and there will be more in 2024. These are for paid subscribers only, as a way to say Thank You for supporting Paseando MTB. The mountain biking and indie breweries/businesses that offer the discounts are part of this community and are offering the discounts to you. One of the things that I love about Substack is that ads do not exist on the platform. I’m a Gen X’er, which means I would feel like I’m selling out if I were to ask for sponsors. Nope. Not a chance.
Want the discounts and/or simply want to support Paseando MTB? The absolute lowest rate that Substack allows is $10.20/year. To get that rate, you have to use this link: https://mtbeer.substack.com/subscribe?coupon=0fd4133e Being a paid subscriber, in addition to getting the discounts, means you get every post, including what might be behind a paywall. It also opens up everything in the Archive that is behind a paywall.
If you know a friend’s email and want to gift them Paseando MTB, use that link. If you want to renew and get that rate, use a different email than the one you’ve already used here, or unsubscribe and re-subscribe when it’s your time to renew.
Mountain biking has provided me countless positives over the past 30 years. Sitting in the saddle and pedaling away the day is time well spent. I completely understand that it somewhat serves no purpose to the greater good, and that it’s a privilege to have the money and time to do so. That is not lost on me. At the same time, if my writing can possibly lead someone to the trail, or maybe even contribute to our collective thinking and bring about change for the good, then I find reason to keep writing.
Final thought: Paseando MTB is AI-free. No robots here. While mountain biking magazines continue to close up shop, leaving us with little to read, this human continues to tap the keys. AI writers? Pffft. Despite what Ishiguro’s Klara might say, the bots have no personality.
Again, thank you for supporting MTBeer and the new Paseando MTB. Looking forward to year 4 in 2024.
Cheers,
James
