Sisu Magazine Issue Four: Plans Change by Sisu Magazine

SISU m

issue 4

plans change

SISU Pronounced see’-soo. A Finnish term embodying the spirit of grit, guts, and perseverance. Sisu represents a human being’s ability to face any adventure riddled with hardship, hopelessness, and impossibility, yet they still choose to stay the course. It’s not a temporary state of courage, it’s a way of life. SISU MAGAZINE A collection of uninterrupted stories, brilliant photographs, and stunning art that evokes the indomitable human spirit that exists in all of us. An exploration into the experiences and perspectives about the outdoors, told by our contributing writers, photographers, and artists who represent a bold, insightful collective voice.

Overco ming t h place on you e expectatio rself a ns you is neve nd r all fee easy. Only in your advent lg u r the fa ood, when y etrospect do re ct tha o e u settle s it ty You kn in with ow this ou did the r igh becau se you t thing. ’re still alive. Vayo P u gy o

CONTENTS

Dhuk

Pag e 32

6 opening paths in the woods

h yo

Geotagging by Meghan O’Dea

56 12

ask jenny

Social Media Loser by Jenny Bruso

a two-wheeled experiment for entrepreneurs A Cycling Revolution For the Working Class by Jennifer Gurecki

an indoor girl on the 14 outdoors Once Upon a Time by Melanie Briggs 59 16 how kittie knox changed bicycling forever The Reason Bicycling is for Everyone by Joe Biel 60 28

Brimmer

gear to get you started 5 Brands for 5 New Adventures by Erica Zazo

please send more orders Inside a Knitting Factory in An Ancient City by Jennifer Gurecki

bike Camping made easy A Few Faves from the Head Honcho of Swift Industries by Martina

poetry in motion The Treesome by Athena Fliakos

30 The pitch

New Origins of Coffee in Nepal with

Bhavana Coffee

Vayo Pugyo Dhukhyo

Cycling and

how not to be a bullying bitch in the outdoors Where Race and Travel Intersect by Kiona

Suffering Through Nepal by Jennifer Gurecki

68 What’s in Their pack

Type 1 Kit for

queen of the mountains

A Nepali Woman Reaching New Heights by Jennifer Gurecki

from the perspective of Nepal Sustainable and Ethical Adventure Travel by Mary Jackson, Ph.D..

not for his mouth

Following in His

DIY

who’s in charge

A Project with Topo Designs Get Dialed for Winter by

Lynsey Dyer

marketplace

eat, drink, + be merry

Shop It Pumpkin

Bread by Vanessa Barajas

Mother’s Footsteps

Behind the Brands

We Love

Type 2 Fun with Jen and Roz

between the seams

that’s what he said

Sisu Does Satire

by Andrew Pridgen

e re’s also th e h t , n io t ic s... It can lings of add u e e r f o f d d n a a b y p is ra ’d e see online Beyond the w t a h runners you w il f a o r t t e lo h a t t f o reality tha wasn’t, all ’d be more e it r e If h . t it d h n s a ll y u t b be a lot of ed and swea c a f d e r ny e b Ask Jen would be seeing Page 12 cellulite.

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FROM THE EDITOR

This was a particularly difficult issue for Lauren and me to put out. It may have been that it competed with summer travel plans, or perhaps we’re a tad bit tired now that we’ve reached our one-year mark. There’s the obvious sheer number of stories that we included, a departure from our initial vision of a tight and lean fourth issue. The deviation ensued when I found myself in Nepal with Roz Groenewoud and Julianne Gauron. I met too many fascinating people and my curiosity got the best of me; nothing could be left out. I suppose that’s the nice thing about being the Editor in Chief—you can make those executive decisions. I paid the consequences with a long list of interviews to transcribe, facts to check, and stories to write. The formation of Issue 4 paralleled our experience cycling through Nepal. Nothing went according to plan (you will read all about this in the photo essay Vayo Pugyo Dhukhyo). While this could have been a devastating realization, we chose to embrace the uncertainty. This decision required that we revel in our naiveté as well, which is something that I’ve found has suited me for quite some time. The truth of the matter is that if we knew everything, we would never be able to execute because we would be so overwhelmed and crippled by the details. I share this nuanced space of risk and vulnerability with the individuals whom you’ll read about in this issue. From Laxmi, our guide who has chosen a life unheard of for women in Nepal, to Caleb, who relocated his entire family to revolutionize transportation for the working poor, to Jennifer, who is opening up the world to Nepali coffee, there is a common thread that runs throughout stories in Issue 4: No plan survives contact with reality. While it’s easy to get trapped in the pain and suffering of change, you must also savor the sweet moments in between. That’s in part what keeps you going, whether it’s climbing 8,000 feet as you cycle through the hills of Nepal, launching a new business in an unexplored market, or changing long-standing practices and policies that marginalize and diminish us. The other key ingredient is a community of support, and we found that in our partnership with Liv Cycling. They helped to bring Issue 4 to life, and they championed us despite all of our challenges and changes. I hope that Issue 4: Plans Change inspires you to embrace uncertainty and challenge the accepted way of existing in this world. If we are able to meld and shift and grow and push, will be stronger and better prepared for the incredible transformation that’s happening around us.

Jennifer Gurecki Editor-In-Chief

FROM THE creative director Changing plans is likely part of any successful creative process, especially if you are doing a significant amount of creating. Many times our best work is quite derivative of our original intent, and most of the time far exceeds expectations (all of this provided you can roll with the punches and hang on through the tight corners). The lesson: Let go and hang on at the same time. Inside Issue 4: Plans Change, you’ll see artifacts found, created, and sought out from Editor Jennifer Gurecki’s travels through Nepal––a journey she imagined would happen one way, but progressed quite differently. She found herself in places, mentally and physically, that she didn’t expect. She did, however, end up immersed in the essence of the place, sort of like Alice on the other side of the Looking Glass. In this issue of Sisu Magazine, we experience her trip via her documentation through the lens of a Lomo wide format instant camera, interviews with unexpected acquaintances, found art work, and unusual stories of the road. It’s clear that when Jen stopped expecting, she started finding. Nepal is is full of color and texture. The brightest and most familiar of sights are the strings of iconic prayer flags that bless the countryside. Imbued with layers of symbolism, the flags are decorated with imagery, mantras, and the repeat of five of colors, representing the elements of the earth and sky. Though they often appear to be ancient, the commingling of brand new and threadbare prayer flags flown together actually represent the acknowledgment of a never-ending cycle—the permanence of change. As the new flags fly bright and bold, the older flags fade with their prayers and blessings blowing into the wind. This most beautiful icon of change is captured on this issue’s cover, joined with instant and analog photography, sometimes double or over-exposed, a snapshot of the perfection of flux. Join us in celebrating this creative lesson, to embrace change as a given, and let it teach us to follow paths to places we never expected.

Lauren Bello Okerman Creative Director

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Opening Paths In The Wo

How geotagging keeps some people in and other people out

philipp litvin

Meghan O’Dea | @live.true.stories

Caminante, no hay puentes, se hace puentes al andar. (Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.)” - Gloria Anzaldúa

hat’s a line from the groundbreaking, multilingual work “Borderlands // La Frontera,” a reflection on Anzaldúa’s queer Chicana feminism, as well as the poetics and politics of living in the liminal space between countries, cultures, and intersectional identities. It predates social media and the trend of geotagging the location of your latest summit selfies and lakeside hangouts by almost twenty years. Yet she manages in that one line to capture the complexities of how we navigate the intersection of identity and geography that now come with sharing location data online—especially when you aren’t white, straight, or cis-gendered. The debate around geotagging has exploded along with an increased participation in outdoor 6

recreation and travel world wide. Even as the National Parks Service faces funding cuts in the same ballpark as the annual GDPs of Sweden, Austria, and Hong Kong, outdoor recreation has never been more popular. American outdoor enthusiasts went on 10.9 billion adventures in 2017 alone, and for 13.6 million people, those excursions were their very first forays into the wilderness. Of those newcomers to the outdoors, vast numbers are minorities who are embracing hiking, camping, and RVing in a way previous generations of Black, Latinx, and Asian Americans did not. A smaller, but not insignificant fraction, are coming out of the closet as queer or trans people who happen to love rock climbing, rafting, surfing, and mountain biking

as much as anyone else. That’s not to leave out, of course, the significant number of disabled outdoor enthusiasts whose identities overlap with a variety of races, genders, and sexualities. For all of those people, as well as their white, cis-gendered, heterosexual, and able-bodied neighbors, sharing location data is one way that anyone new to outdoor recreation can find out where to go and how to get involved. If you don’t grow up hiking, camping, and trekking to swimming holes, not knowing where to have a safe, fun, scenic experience can be a deterrent. Location data shared readily online can feel like an inclusive invitation, whether you’re hoping to “travel like a local” while you’re far from home, or find a corner of your stomping grounds you haven’t seen before. That becomes even more true when you see familiar faces in a post about a place.

After all, of those nearly 14 million people heading outside for the first time, and even more who are repeat recreationalists, a vast number aren’t well-versed in the essential tenets of sustainable travel, regardless of their identities. They might not know why you shouldn’t step off trail in fragile ecosystems or why stacking rocks for the ‘gram isn’t a good idea. And even more haven’t given much thought to the potential impact of geotagging, whether for good or ill. That’s not only led to a controversial debate about the role of location data in enjoying and preserving online spaces, but crackdowns and consequences, too.

Accounts like Public Lands Hate You deride the impact that Instagram-driven tourism has on destinations like the super-bloom in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, where photo-hungry visitors trample the same flowers they’re ostensibly there to appreciate. That’s led to the application of call-out culture to the geotagging debate, including threats “Exposure to the outdoors occurs through made even to fairly privileged influencers like the parents or family members. If one has parents who white, straight-presenting Brianna Madia. She took had never thought of the outdoors as recreational a brief social media sabbatical earlier this year or had the time or money to recreate outdoors after followers due to immigration, of Public Lands socioeconomic “If one has parents who had Hate You began status, culture, etc., targeting her for then the next most never thought of the outdoors a years-old photo accessible place for as recreational or had the time of one of her dogs exposure is social standing off-leash media,” Kiona, or money to recreate outdoors in Arches National the editor and Park, and a more mastermind behind due to immigration, socioecorecent shot in the intersectional nomic status, culture, etc., which she was travel site How casually bathing Not to Travel Like then the next most accessible in a mud hole in a Basic Bitch, the remote desert explained. “Role place for exposure is social where she and her modeling, having media.” husband live in an representation, and iconic orange van. giving tips on where to go and how to do it” is key to getting more It’s not just a few online activists pushing back People of Color outside, she said. against location data, either. Last winter, even the tourism board overseeing the perennially popular Simply by being visible outdoors, People of Jackson Hole area of Wyoming took an unusual tack Color are building bridges as they walk. That’s even when their latest ad campaign recommended visitors more true when they’re tagging the places where “Post the photo. Trash the tag.” That’s a recent trend they’re going outside, anchoring those bridges in in wokevertising in which big companies follow in the real-world places where other people might see footsteps of digital sustainability activists working their adventures and be inspired to join in on the to align geotagging with the erosion of fragile fun. That fresh surge in outdoor participation has, ecosystems and in opposition to the principles of however, led to various crackdowns on the practice Leave No Trace, the organization most associated of including location data in social media posts, a with sustainability in the outdoors. habit that can help popularize places to degrees that become problematic.

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ASK JENNY bruso Questions and answers about life, the outdoors, and whatever from the creator of “Unlikely Hikers,” an online community for the underrepresented outdoorsperson JENNY BRUSO | @jennybruso

Dear Jenny Bruso, Instagram makes me feel really bad about myself. I think I need help, but I’m too embarrassed to talk to any of my close friends about it. My self-esteem is deeply affected by how well my posts do or don’t do. Worse, I feel like it’s having an effect on my outdoor life. While I’m trail running, I often think about Instagram captions and I’m not as in the moment. Sometimes, I can’t sleep at night because I can’t get off of my phone even though nothing I’m looking at is that important or interesting. The way I pick up my phone and start scrolling without thought makes me feel like an out of control zombie! Sometimes, I’ll go to the bathroom at work just to check. I think I’m addicted. I’m hoping you’ll tell me that isn’t possible…? I’ve tried leaving my phone at home when I go out for a trail run, and I always feel better, but my boyfriend and mom worry when I don’t update them with the play-by-play when I’m out alone. What can I do? Why am I having this problem while everyone around me seems to have control of it?!

influence what stays at the top of our feeds based on how quickly engagement happens. Lack of immediate engagement makes posts fall away. Posts in the feed aren’t in sequential order to keep us checking for what might pop up next. Our brains become addicted to the little dopamine blasts they get every time we have “good” notifications. When we don’t get them, we experience withdrawal, which can feel like a void or depression even if we’re not actually seeing anything “bad.” This is about as science-y as I’m going to get about this because even if that helps make sense of some things for you, it doesn’t do much for healing or having better boundaries. It isn’t as simple as just putting our phones away. Many aspects of our culture are dependent on our phones these days, like alarm clocks, the apps we use to arrange transportation and appointments and, of course, there’s the immediacy of text communication, etc. We are expected to be plugged in.

This email should’ve come with a trigger warning because It Is So Not Just You going through this. I’d wager that you have folks in your life who are also dealing with this in some form or another. Many people are.

I talked to a therapist friend of mine about your letter, and they told me that nearly all of their clients discuss social media in many of the ways you’re describing, especially when it comes to lack of impulse control and worsening self-esteem. They explained that it’s unlikely these feelings are coming out of nowhere and can be indicative of preexisting self-esteem issues, trauma, or addictive behaviors. Could any of that be true for you? If you think you need help, I really hope you’ll follow through. Therapy is normal. I wish I could make everyone go! And it should be free! It doesn’t deserve the stigma it can have within certain upbringings and cultures. The idea is deeply entrenched in American culture that if we’re not in control of everything all the time, we’re weak or failing. It makes it difficult for us to get the help we need.

Social media is designed to be addictive. Algorithms

Beyond therapy and feelings of addiction, the reality

-Social Media Loser Dear Loser,

Beyond therapy and feelings of addiction, there’s also the reality that a lot of what we see online is bad for us... It can be a lot of bullshit. If it wasn’t, all of the trail runners you’d be seeing would be red-faced and sweaty and there’d be more cellulite. is that a lot of what we see online is bad for us. Social media, especially Instagram, is like this non-stop highlight reel of everyone living their best lives. I’d say it’s worse when it comes to outdoorsy social media, but I may be projecting just a little. It’s often about getting the perfect shot and “good vibes” and looking a certain way while doing whatever one likes to do. It can be a lot of bullshit. If it wasn’t, all of the trail runners you’d be seeing would be red-faced and sweaty and there’d be more cellulite. Photoshop and other apps are making it easier to erase or blur the things about our bodies and faces we don’t love. And that’s fine, do whatever you want with your body, post only positive captions if you want, pretend you’re laughing at something hilarious even though it’s only you out there taking selfies. We’re all ultimately responsible for our own behavior, though it’s also true that this performance can negatively impact the person posting and those scrolling. I have to have really strong boundaries with social media because being online, especially on Instagram, is a huge part of my job. I’ve found a few things that work for me. I rarely stick to all of these and I’m imperfect with most, but they keep me accountable to myself: •

Turn OFF all push notifications. You don’t need to know the very second a single person engages with your accounts.

•

Don’t go on social media first thing in the morning or last thing at night so the mind worms don’t wiggle their way into your first and last thoughts of the day.

•

Create boundaries and stick to them as best as you can. What if you only went on from 9am9pm? Work on shrinking that window, or break

it up into blocks, like 10am-1pm and 4pm-7pm. •

Set a timer for scrolling. Even 5 minutes will feel like a lot of time when you schedule it.

•

Try leaving your phone in another room when you don’t need it. This is a great practice when eating meals or spending time with others. How often do you go on your phone just because it’s within reach?

•

Don’t sleep with your phone in the same room. Get an actual alarm clock!

•

Does what you post make you feel bad? Explore that discomfort. How might you change the way you post to feel more true to yourself?

•

When you see something that evokes bad feelings, break them down. Are you comparing yourself? What are you projecting onto this person about your own life that has nothing to do with them? What are they doing that might be “for the ‘gram?”

Loser, you’ve done something really good already: You told someone. This was your start. Please continue. There will be a lot of people who read this who need help, too. Thank you for starting the conversation. You’ve got this. Love, Jenny Bruso Do you have questions for Jenny? Hit her up on Instagram at @jennybruso for a chance to have your questions answered.

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How Kittie Knox Changed Bicycling Forever

Joe Biel | @beaugheale and @Microcosm_Pub

et me tell you about my hero. Kittie Knox is the reason that bicycling is more than just another leisure sport for the wealthy. As a Black teenager, she created the world that she wanted to see from the seat of her bike. Today, you can see the results of Knox’s success in the hundreds of cities around the globe where a bicycle is used to have a happier commute, as a social galvanizer among disparate individuals, as a political leveraging tool, or for tall bike jousting.

When police began raiding and hassling transient bars for liquor violations in Knox’s neighborhood, it was Black leaders, including Knox’s father, who held a protest. The Black leaders demanded more police protection from the white people’s “disorder.” (Let’s think about that for a minute. It’s hard to imagine Cambridgeport of the 1880s where Black leaders felt like the police were in service to their communities rather than existing as a threat.)

Much has been written of the bicycle as the great liberator of wealthy women from restrictive clothing. But as you will see here, it was working class women like Knox who changed the paradigm and made the bicycle into an actual liberator of women. While the upper classes clung to long, awkward skirts and tried to prevent women from embracing social bicycling at all, Knox was out there showing them how it was done and what the future would hold.

In the 1890s, white families worked upwardly mobile—though unskilled—factory jobs. Black families were not offered this luxury. Black workers typically were porters, waiters, and servants. Knox’s brother was a steamfitter, a skilled profession. Her parents separated when she was very young and her father died when she was only seven years old. Teenaged

Ideas of feminism have evolved in tremendous ways over the past 130 years since her day and Knox’s version essentially won history—not for accepting the norms of her time but for rejecting them in favor of her own view of the world. Naturally, this made for an unpleasant and bumpy journey as she offended each and every stalwart. But that’s what is involved in political change—not everyone is going to like it.

ittie Knox was born in 1874 near the African American community in Cambridgeport, a suburb of Boston. Her mother was white, from rural Maine, while her father was Black, relocated from Philadelphia to become a tailor and cleaner. Her father was a lifelong activist. In 1850, as the country braced for its first race war, he petitioned Massachusetts for the right of Black men to join the state militia. Knox’s neighborhood was a cultural melting pot of poor Blacks, Irish workers, recent immigrants, poor whites, and absentee landlords. Next door to her childhood home, a Black barber shared a property with a Russian-Jewish cobbler, adjacent to an Irish bar and liquor store. Throughout the next decade, southern Italian and eastern European Jewish people began to displace the formerly affluent residents of Boston’s South End, creating greater cultural acceptance for disenfranchised people through the city. Boston held a long legacy of abolitionist thinking, particularly in Knox’s neighborhood. The Civil War had ended a decade before Knox’s birth and middle class lifestyles suddenly felt attainable for Black families.

Knox became a dressmaker and seamstress. In 1893, the U.S. was hit by an one of the worst economic depressions in its history and suffered high unemployment. Conditions were poor ever prior to that. In Knox’s neighborhood, the average working person earned $500 per year (less than $14,000 in today’s dollars). In today’s dollars, skilled female garment workers like Knox earned only about $112 per week. 17

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please send more orders A glimpse inside a knitting factory tucked away in the ancient city of Bhaktapur jennifer gurecki | @yogurecki

here is an ancient city that exists in Nepal, rivaling the beauty of the mountains that surround it, yet you don’t have to travel long distances along death-defying, whiteknuckle-inducing roads to find it. Bhaktapur, the third of the medieval city-states in Nepal best known for its Newari architecture, lies less than an hour outside of the chaotic capital city of Kathmandu. Along narrow alleys adorned with traditional wood carved windows and doors, artisans throw pots, teenagers sit in smoky cafes as oxen pull carts down the cobblestone roads, and tourists stumble over their dropped jaws. In one of these alleys lies a three-story building tucked behind a weathered wooden door, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear women laughing.

Inside this building women are knitting Sherpa Adventure Gear beanies, and there’s a good reason why they are so happy. “If you are happy, it comes out happy. If you are angry, it comes out angry. That’s why we have to make them happy. It’s very important to us,” Sabi NarayanKayastha, the manger of the factory, explained. Rossna Shilpakar, one of the women who works at the factory, was quick to back up his claims. She said she sees how valuable her time in the factory has been to make new friends, chit chat, and laugh. “Life is good all of the

time,” she said. Rossna and the other women sitting next to her have been encouraged to work. Women participating in the workforce is not necessarily perceived negatively by Nepali society; by all accounts, women working in Nepal is an accepted practice. But as with everything, just because it is favored it doesn’t mean that in practice it is easy. Only 22% of working-age women are employed, yet Nepal’s unemployment rate hovers below four percent. As recently as 2015, 48% of women older than the age of 15 didn’t have any formal education, and only 25% of women receive a higher education, including technical and vocational education programs. Child marriage and the practice of chhaupadi—the banishing of girls who are menstruating—contribute to their lack of education and ability to join the workforce. Many women continue to act as the primary caregivers in their home; a traditional 9 to 5 office job that requires them to commute long distances also is unrealistic. That’s where companies like Sherpa Adventure Gear—who prioritize employing local women—come in. The factory, which works with a handful of brands including Sherpa, employ women who either work in the factory or work from home. During

The factory where Sherpa Adventure Gear manufactures a selection of its beanies is unassuming. there isn’t a sign telling the world that it exists. It sits next to a collapsed wall that exposes a living room with furniture and photos half hanging on, the remnants of the intimate lives of a family who lived there before the earthquake in 2015.

the busy season, women can earn about Rs14,000 per month ($123 USD), which is the average wage women earn in the country. (It should be noted that men on average earn Rs5,000 more, or $44 USD. The pay gap is rampant and everywhere.) It wasn’t until the international market opened up that these women were able to make a living off of a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation. “Knitting has been passed onto us from our ancestors; it is part of the culture that connects us to our family and friends,” Rajani Shresdha, a 29-yearold mother of one son who works at the factory, said. She, like all of the other knitters, are paid per piece and can work from home if they want. “But if they have a headache in their house, then they come here,“ NarayanKayastha said. It takes about three hours for one beanie to be knit, and the entire piece is handmade except for the embroidered Sherpa Adventure Gear patch that is hand sewn on the outside. “Women have more passion, more tolerance than a man. It’s very difficult and a man cannot do it. If I had to, I would need one month to make one,” NarayanKayastha said laughing. For many of the knitters, this is the only employment available to them, and they share a common trait with other women around the world: They want their children to have a better life than them. They value education. They want to contribute to their own personal success, as well as their family’s. Rita Ssilpakr, who is 36 years old, married with two boys, and shares a home with her in-laws, has been working at this factory for 10 years. She started working because she felt awkward having to ask to borrow money from her family members and husband. She

has a clear message for other Nepali women: “Since we womens [sic] are not much educated and used to be in housing [sic], I would advice [sic] all the womens [sic] to work and utilize their time and earn a living.” Rita’s co-worker Subarna Suaal, who is 37 years old and lives with her two children and a husband, has only been working at the factory for one year. “When I knit I feel empowered; I feel creative,” she said. “My mother died when I was a child, so I couldn’t continue my study. If I didn’t knit, I would have to stay at home.” While all of the women interviewed for this story had a slightly different take on their work as a knitter, there were two common themes: 1) They value independence, and this work grants that both to them and their children, and 2) They want to work more and they all asked, definitely and boldly, for you to please send more orders. What is apparent after spending a morning at the knitting factory is that Sherpa Adventure Gear isn’t uplifting women from a life of despair. They’re making sure that they don’t fall into one. Access to employment, in a safe place that encourages friendship, laughter, and family is what women need more of. And companies like Sherpa Adventure Gear are committed to creating those types of jobs. While the immediate impact of buying that beanie may be difficult to quantify, what it represents is priceless: A future generation of young girls who will be educated and independent, something their mothers are working very hard to make a reality.

The knitters gather in circles, sitting on square cushions shielding them from the concrete, fingers wrapped with yarn and quickly moving, laughing and chatting as they knit the beanies for Sherpa Adventure Gear.

Vayo Pugyo Dhukhyo : e n o u g h s u ff e r i n G : Words by JENNIFER GURECKI | @yogurecki Photography by JULIANNE GAURON |

@julianne_snow

JENNIFER GURECKI | @yogurecki ROZ GROENEWOUD | @rozgroenewoud LAXMI MAGAR | @magar_lux

ith legendary peaks like Everest, you can only imagine what the hills might be like in Nepal. This was not obvious to neither myself nor Roz Groenewoud prior to cycling the lower trans-Himalayan route from Kathmandu to Pokhara, but it became clear as day the minute we clipped into our pedals and began the daily ascent of 8,000 plus feet. What ensued was a hodgepodge of suffering and extreme Type 2 fun, peppered with a solid bout of heat exhaustion and childlike giddiness when the mountain tops peeked out from beneath the clouds. Along the way we stopped in quaint villages and bustling towns, meandering through river valleys and along ridge lines, exchanging “Namaste” with nearly every person we locked eyes with. Nepal lands on most people’s bucket lists and for good reason: The people are unassuming and friendly, the landscape is breathtaking, and the history and culture are rich.

Julianne Gauron

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Julianne Gauron

e knew that nothing would go perfectly as planned. It’s inevitable, as everything seems to unfold when you find your feet firmly planted on the ground as opposed to your fingers pecking away at emails in preparation. It’s only when you arrive in the country and have face-to-face conversations with the locals that everything materializes. But we didn’t realize just how much would be different. Nothing really went as we expected. Our third rider, Julianne Gauron (the photographer of many of these photos) fell ill before we left and doctor’s orders required her to stay out of the saddle. Then Roz and I met up with the team at Portal Bikes, and we learned that our initial route that favored road bikes—a 14-day trip that started in Kathmandu and took us south to Chitwan National Park and the birthplace of Buddha, before wrapping up in Pokhara—wasn’t ideal for a few reasons. For starters, there was the 90 degree heat and high humidity, both of which we thought could be mitigated with early morning rides. What we didn’t grasp until we were in Nepal was the palpable thickness of this combination; it was like moving through molasses. The second hiccup was not the vehicles we’d ride alongside, but the unique experience they would create. While we both cut our teeth road cycling through Africa with narrow to non-existent shoulders as semi-trucks, buses, and cars darted past us, what we didn’t know about Nepal was the honking. Drivers speak to one another by laying on the horn, which is never a simple beep, but more of the makings of an off-beat band, each with their own sound and rhythm. This cacophony, we were told, meant that we should wear earplugs and have a support vehicle follow us in case we were caught by surprise. No thank you. 34

fter hours of deliberation, we opted to ride the lower Great Himalaya Trail. Known as the “cultural route” in Nepal, our ride would take us through the lesser-known, remote country side, spanning jungles, green rice terraces, rivers, and villages off the beaten tourist path. We were told by our friends at Portal Bikes, and confirmed by our guide Laxmi Magar, that this route would have a fraction of the cars, and the weather would be far more temperate. The road conditions were questionable, but roads were marked on a map and we assumed that they couldn’t be worse than the ones we navigated across Africa. And given that both of us have spent a good amount of our lives in the mountains, we felt confident that we could manage the hills on the route. We assumed wrong—we shouldn’t have been so confident. “Flat” in Nepal defies physics. It is not what most of us, who were not born in a country home to Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, would consider climbing. Pair “flat” with the moments of “rest” that you are meant to experience while cycling through hills and things get very exciting/exhausting/embarrassing. No one told us about Nepali flat, but clearly it was something that everyone knew but us. Julianne Gauron

Roz and I spent a fair amount of time pushing our Liv Avail AR bike uphill (a word that I still use very loosely). We careened down rocky roads (also open to interpretation), proving that suspension wasn’t mandatory. We pedaled painlessly on the most inviting smooth gravel (wishing there was more). And we let it all go on 10 kilometers of tarmac that was likely the best road in all of Nepal (we earned that shit).

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queen of the mountains How one womAn’s dedication to cycling has taken her places few Nepali women have ever reached

jennifer gurecki | @yogurecki

hat would you do if you were standing on the podium after a big win, and as the men were handed checks with ample zeros printed on them, you we awarded a congratulatory paper certificate? If you’re Laxmi Magar, one of the top women cyclists in Nepal, you’d rip it up, walk away, train harder, and win again. From the outside looking in, it might appear that this brazen cyclist has risen out of nowhere, but that’s not the case. Despite her seemingly quick rise to the top of the cycling scene in Nepal, Magar has dedicated her entire life to the sport. She got her start on the rough football fields in her home town of Nuwakot. As a child, she would rent a bike for one rupee an hour and find open places to ride. She couldn’t reach the pedals so she would sit on the saddle and her friends would push her. Once her legs caught up with her tenacity, she borrowed bicycles from her relatives. But it was rare to find bikes, she said, particularly for a girl.

It wasn’t until Magar finished secondary school and began focusing on her studies at university that she found cycling again. She had left home, was living on her own, and couldn’t afford the bus fare. She picked up an old second hand bike and started riding to and from school and work. As she learned how to deftly dart through the Kathmandu traffic, she realized that she could go faster than all of the vehicles on the road. At the same time she started riding with a handful of Sherpas (one of the ethnic groups native to the mountainous regions of Nepal), and she became stronger both physically and mentally. “People think that I just popped out, but I started my life with zero. It was a tough life but I managed. It’s the hard work and years I have spent time on a bicycle and my experience and dedication. I left my father’s place. I rented a room and I rode my bicycle to work and at the same time I went to university. I studied, I worked, I raced. People don’t think that I had done training a lot before the race, months and

years, and the cost of maintaining a bike and traveling. When I win, they see just the winning part.” It was when she started beating the boys that things got really interesting. They believed they were entitled to be in front of her: men lead, women follow. But not in the case of Magar. The men didn’t quite know what to do with this newfound feeling of inadequacy, so they compensated the only way they knew how: “They made excuses like muscle cramps or I’m so hungry or my bike is giving me problems or I did not sleep well. Excuses,” she said laughing. It was then that she found her stride. “Now I can find mountains on my bicycle. It’s the happiest thing. I can see the views from the top. Enjoy the breeze. Enjoy everything.” Well not everything. Despite the current rise of cycling in Nepal, Magar is still an anomaly. Anyone who has pushed the boundaries and chosen a life outside of societal norms can find themselves lonely, despite the perceived success. “In the context of Nepal, mine is not a regular life––spending life as a racer and athlete. It was not preferable life according to my father, but I chose it, and it became my addiction.

That’s why I didn’t look for the life to settle and make a house and a family and a relaxed life and wait for my husband’s income. I didn’t look for that one. I looked for cycling.” What she’s found in trying to make a career out of cycling is what many women athletes around the world face: blatant sexism. “There is no equal opportunity. I don’t think women are treated equally or provided opportunity equally in Nepal or in South Asia. My race experiences are so bad,” she said remembering the times that prizes were promised only to find out nothing would be given after she traveled, competed, and won the race. “I forgot to laugh now because I’m so much sad [sic] with events and treatment from the South Asian organizers.” Magar responded the only way she knew how: challenging the race organizers, demanding a women’s category, and continuing to train, compete, and show up. Her attitude and absolute dismissal of the status quo in Nepal has earned her a bit of a reputation. She’s the type of woman whom many people misunderstand. Her quiet yet take-noshit approach has intimidated people in her cycling community. “Some people know me as Queen of the Mountains,” she said, “and 47

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A Two-Wheeled Experim ent for Entrepr eneurs How Kathmandu-based Portal Bikes is trying to revolutionize cycling for the working class JENNIFER GURECKI | @yogurecki In a country where it is impossible to find the proper materials, all the way down to the nuts and bolts, why would one entrepreneur start a bike company that only caters to locals? That’s a question that Caleb Spears, the founder of Portal Bikes, is still trying to answer. In 2006, when Spears moved to Nepal, he found himself frustrated along side the one million residents of Kathmandu who experienced load power outages. Everyone assumed that the country didn’t have the infrastructure or financial means to keep the power on 24 hours day, seven days week. One year, after the holiday season, the power miraculously stayed on. Come to find out there was a new employee—with an electrical degree and no ties to the large energy corporations—who chose to keep the lights on. The things that people thought were never possible all of a sudden were, and it elevated the spirit of the entire city. That was all the motivation Spears needed to start Portal Bikes, a social business whose mission is to develop the most innovative and adaptable bicycles that transform lives and power businesses. What Spears knew then, as he emphatically knows now, is that the bicycle could be used as a tool for economic empowerment. “People don’t need handouts, they need jobs,” he said with a unwavering conviction. What he saw all around him in Kathmandu were men of the lowest caste who had no way of transporting themselves, their supplies, and their goods around the heavily congested city. Their main mode of transportation was their own two feet, paired with a push cart. He wondered how he could make their daily lives easier and their existing work more efficient and 56

profitable. As an avid cyclist, Spears knew that there was a faster way to get form point A to point B: a bicycle. And since time is money, with more of it, his theory was that entire families would benefit. Hundreds of Kathmandu residents have proved his theory, using their bikes to beat the traffic through narrow alleyways, transporting their supplies from one job to the next, and delivering more goods to their suppliers. Despite the success with their early adopters, Portal Bikes is like any start-up––cobbled together by the founders who are constantly shifting strategies to solve problems , and meeting the needs of their community, all while staying cash flow positive. It takes grit, a certain amount of suffering, and a willingness to do what ever it takes. Like packyour-bags-and-defycustoms type of risks. “For the first few years, every piece we needed I carried over in a suit case and every spare part came from America,” Spears said laughing. Fortunately, Portal has evolved and improved their manufacturing over the

$400 on an old beat-up motorbike, Spears said. Unless the bikes are given away for free, there’s not a huge market. And while Portal was created to make money, it needed some sort of revenue. So Spears asked himself the question so many founders ask themselves: “How can we pivot to serve the local economy?” This question was answered for him, unfortunately. After the earthquake in 2015, things rapidly changed for Portal. They knew they had the capacity to build structures—they had the steel, the pipe benders, the know-how—so they trained 18 organizations to build more than 5,000 emergency shelters. They realized that they could alter their make-shift housing plans and turn them into permanent structures, which they did. 175 homes later, there’s still color-coded, Lego-like pipes at Portal headquarters waiting to be distributed to the next person who was ready to build. Portal Prefab and Portal Shelters are helping to fund and keep the momentum going for the 10 local employees at Portal, which is the most important part. Tenjing Gurung is one of the Nepali team members. He works at Portal because it’s a way for him to bring his ideas into reality, a way to bring positive change to his community. “I work for Portal because I want to help our locals whenever is possible. At the same time I get a opportunities to learn and explore more about social business. Portal is trying to bring creativity and sustainability in communities… There is incredible value to them,” he said.

years. They currently maintain relationships with manufacturers in India and Taiwan and assemble the bikes in Nepal, a decision that is allowing them to produce bicycles that are more reliable and cost less. Although things are improving and they are seeing growth, like every venture that begins in a place with limited infrastructure, nothing has been been easy. Despite the affordability and a seemingly huge market of people who need reliable and cheap transportation, it’s been an uphill battle. To state the obvious, people are unbelievably poor. Despite the rise in mountain biking— both with Kathmandu locals and tourists—bicycles are for the working class, the lower caste Indian immigrants; there is a social stigma that is difficult to overcome. And bicycles just aren’t that cool or fast when you can spend

When asked the one question that every entrepreneur dreads—”What will you do if you fail?”—Spears is relatively calm. “It’s our our poor choice,” he said laughing. “I guess we could have gone vanlife-ing for five years, but we did this for seven years instead. The kids will have to run faster or study harder to go to college.” For the imminent future, Spears is looking at how they can tap into the expanding market of mountain biking tourism with guided trips in the Himalaya that will support Portal in maintaining their bicycle production. Spears and the entire team are still committed to creating jobs and helping the lower castes gain a freedom of movement and economic empowerment that they haven’t experienced before. It’s just a matter of how long they are willing to wait out a market that will hopefully soon come to realize that with the costs of fuel and and the stand-still traffic, the bike will prevail as the faster, more economical choice for entrepreneurs who will are ready to take their two feet off the ground and onto the pedals. Learn more about Portal Bikes at PortalBikes.com and give them a follow on Instagram at @portalbikes. 57

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gear to get you

started

5 Brands for 5 New Outdoor Adventures ERICA ZAZO | @onecurioustrvlr We all have that bucket list adventure that we haven’t quite tackled yet. Maybe it’s learning to fly fish at Yellowstone for the first time ever. Or maybe it’s figuring out how to rig your bike to roll into the backcountry for a multi-night camping trip.

brings the sport back to the basics with a kit that includes a simple rod, line, tippet, and fly. Their lightweight, compact rods extend from just 20 inches to 10-13 feet in length and take less than a minute to set up. Beginners can opt for one of their rod packages, which includes everything you might need to get started.

Taking the plunge into trying a new outdoor sport can be overwhelming, especially when you see a bunch of other rad people online or on the trail excelling at the very sport you’re trying to get into. Here’s your reminder to take a step back. Think back to that first time you laced up your boots to hit the trail, packed your backpack for your first long thru-hike, or rolled out of your driveway for that inaugural long-distance trip. Each adventure started with the same itch to try something new. Test the waters with the help of these five brands that are making outdoor adventure more attainable, even if you’re a beginner. Bike Packing – Sierra Designs SierraDesigns.com Beginner bike packers will quickly learn that light gear that can be strapped to your bike is essential. Sure, you can shell out loads of money for fancy add-ons like saddle packs or rear racks, but when you’re starting out, chances are you’re rigging gear to your bike frame with bungee cords.

Fly Fishing – Tenkara Rod Co. TenkaraRodCo.com At first glance, fly fishing can seem extremely intimidating. The gear alone is enough to make beginners question if the sport is worth the hassle. Expensive poles, technical fly reels, pricey waders—the list goes on. Not to mention the learning curve that comes with fly tying, casting, navigating the water, and unhooking your catch. Tenkara Rod Co. has set out to change that mindset with their minimalist fly fishing setup. Inspired by the Japanese method of Tenkara fly fishing, their gear 60

Sierra Designs, an outdoor gear brand whose roots date back to 1965, has always made products that are functional and affordable. Releasing its newest collection for spring 2020, they’ve designed a key piece of gear—a bike packing tent—that keeps this booming crop of adventurers top of mind. The High Side 2 is a great option for entry-level bike packing. At only 3lbs 5oz, this lightweight tent features compact poles that break down small enough to fit across handlebars, a two-door vestibule for easy entry and exit, and a higher hoop pole at the head of the tent so you can sit up inside. An extendible awning included with the rain fly will also come in handy for extra shelter and shedding water during rainy trips.

Overlanding – Helinox Helinox.com If you’ve ever dreamt about cruising in a vintage Land Rover Defender or tearing up a backcountry road in a rugged Toyota Tacoma, odds are you’re into the idea of Overlanding. This vehicle-based, self-supported way of travel makes it possible to drive cross-country or deep into the remote wilderness and survive off-the-grid with only your car. Backpacking – Arrive Outdoors ArriveOutdoors.com Backpacking gear can run anywhere from hundreds, all the way up to thousands, of dollars. On top of that, navigating the myriad gear brands on the market can make for a confusing, stressful, and expensive process for outfitting a backcountry trip. Thanks to Arrive Outdoors, your gear closet just got bigger. This company makes packing and preparing for your next backpacking trip as easy as ordering a lastminute gift on Amazon.

Scroll through Instagram and you’ll find adventure vans, roof-top tents, and lifted SUVs sporting thousands of dollars worth of equipment. However, customizing your adventure vehicle can be a huge time, labor, and financial commitment. Fortunately, Overlanding doesn’t require those fancy add-ons. For those of us at the start of their Overlanding journey, it can also just mean packing the creature comforts, like an air mattress, etc.

With their warehouse of top-notch brands, including big names like Deuter, Marmot, and Thermarest, aspiring backpackers can curate their own gear setup on Arrive’s online marketplace. Once you have selected their equipment—from sleeping bags and tents to backcountry cookware—you can schedule gear to be delivered directly to you or any address near the trailhead.

Brands like Helinox have made a name for themselves with lightweight, portable camping equipment that also doubles as great Overlanding gear. Helinox’s Lite Cot and Chair Zero, for example, pack down small and are super light and duTrail Running – Salomon Salomon.com rable, making it easy to stow away in the back of a car or The two key elements for a successful trail run are hydration and foot safety. truck. Additionally, Helinox Supportive shoes and a well-fitted running pack can make all the difference for has launched a line of adapta new trail runner. Not sure which brand to pick? Salomon, a leading name in able accessories, including the trail running scene, is a great place to start. drink holders, sunscreen covers, and Vibram chair feet, that make it even easFor women runners, Salomon’s Advanced Skin 8 Set W goes the extra mile. Its ier (and more comfortable) unique design reduces pressure on the chest when cinched down and comes to customize your adventure with soft water flasks for extra comfort. For footwear, the new Sense Ride 2 progear. vides cushion, support, and a durable sole that doesn’t stray far from the feel of a traditional road shoe. The crucial difference is the trail shoe’s ability to handle long miles of rugged terrain. 61

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how not to be a bullying bitch in the outdoors from the creator of “how not to travel like a basic bitch: where race and travel intersect”

Kiona | @hownottotravellikeabasicbitch

Leave No Trace (LNT) has become the gold-standard organization for the entire outdoor industry, from non-profits to guides and outfitters to the average person frolicking in nature. These guidelines at first glance might seem beneficial for the general public and the environment. However, when we take a closer look at the cultural implications of these principles, we see that using LNT as a baseline and employing these rules in real life has led to unintended consequences–– like straight up racist harassment under the guise of LNT ethics. Indigenous Peoples Don’t Need To Be Told To “Leave What You Find” On a recent trip to Utah on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land with Alex Piechowski-Begay, an Navajo outdoors guide, I noticed signs next to the plants that were written in English, Latin, Hopi, and Navajo. They described the medicinal use of each one. I squealed with delight as he pointed them out. “I’m so happy they’re doing this and acknowledging the use for the plant AND in Indigenous languages. Wow! Way to acknowledge the people who have always lived here.” I mean, seriously, when was the last time you came across signage with a side of wokeness?

However, woke I was not. You see, he brought me here because he said that although it seems like progress, the land was stolen from the Navajo upon becoming established as a “protected” area. He posed the question: “Protected from whom?” The Navajo have used this land for medicine, firewood, and survival for millennia. They also used it track wildlife and gain access to bodies of water. All of it has since evaporated thanks to uranium companies and LNT practices. The Navajo are now no longer able to forage off the land nor track wildlife nor have access to safe drinking water. Let me simplify this for you. This land has been cared for by the Navajo for thousands of years. White settlers came, colonized, and destroyed the land. Now they have ironically created rules—or LNT guidelines—on how to preserve it. The original caretakers of this land, the Navajo, are being told what they can and cannot do. Does anything seem fucking backwards to you? “Leave What You Find” diminishes and invalidates the advanced knowledge and culture of Indigenous practices. Let’s Go On A White Supremacy Road Trip And that was just Utah. Let’s travel to the super bloom in California.

... if the purpose is to preserve the environment for the future generations, well, Indigenous Peoples have been doing that long before the Mayflower ever landed on North America. They have always been on the front lines of environmental movements. We just haven’t seen them. The super bloom is a rare phenomenon when California poppies magnificently dot the hilly landscape, painting them brilliant colors of red and orange. I saw the whole thing blossom online and was eager to check it out. Then I spoke with Rebecca Macarro, a member of the Payómkawichum Nation, an Indigenous Nation of California. She explained to me that she led an Indigenous youth group on a trip to harvest the poppies. These poppies, as well as chia and other plants, are ancestral foods that have lain dormant for generations and are now sprouting to be eaten. This gathering has been practiced for thousands of years. However, what was meant to act as an educational cultural trip ended up being a lesson in harassment and mansplaining when a White man in a Prius took it upon himself to get out of his car and be the nature police. His decision to yell at Indigenous youth about picking flowers, citing the LNT guideline of “Leave What You Find,” solidified his privileged position in White Supremacy. As in, you don’t need to wear a white hood and be a part of the KKK to exemplify your White Supremacy. Simply asserting your belief that these guidelines made by White Americans are more important than the cultural, spiritual, and religious practices and human rights of Indigenous Peoples of North America is asserting White Supremacy. These Indigenous children ancestrally have a right to this land, and their experience in the outdoors doesn’t need to be tainted by

the defective opinions of White men. These are only two examples of Indigenous Peoples across the United States experiencing unfair LNT guidelines that ostracize the way they live. And if the purpose of these guidelines is to preserve the environment for future generations, well, Indigenous Peoples have been doing that long before the Mayflower landed on North America. They have always been on the front lines of environmental movements. We just haven’t seen them. When looking at the LNT guidelines and the intention to preserve the environment, were these rules made with Indigenous Peoples in mind? Or were they meant to also police the forgotten about and unconsidered Indigenous Peoples? Do we consider those already had environmentalism built into their cultural practices and who have historically only had positive impacts on the environment? LNT is just one of the ways in which racist guidelines promote bullying from White communities that dominate the outdoors. White People Need To “Be Considerate Of Others” Now let’s travel to the Rocky Mountains. Two Black outdoor educators were leading a group of young Black men on a hike. These two leaders have won awards in outdoor education for championing programs for youth. On this day, they made everyone feel so comfortable that the group started to sing. How often do you hear people singing in the woods? Let alone men! These boys were rejoicing in the outdoors. Yet, they were met with “hush” and “shh” from nearby hikers, attempting to silence them with one of the seven LNT guidelines, “Be Considerate of Other Visitors.” This same behavior was mimicked in Texas. I attended a conference when Yesica Chavez, a Latina outdoors educator, recounted her first experience in the outdoors. She said her family was unable to afford a fancy vacation so they decided to go camping instead, for the first time. They sat around talking, trying to figure out how to set up a tent, cook, and make a fire. A short time later, they were met with, “QUIET DOWN,” from a White man who decided to harass them on their camping grounds, again citing LNT guidelines of “Be Considerate Of Other Visitors.” The family promptly packed up their camping gear and left. Vacation over. So, whose consideration is taking precedence here? Is nature meant to be enjoyed in silence or is nature meant to be enjoyed with singing and laughter? Who were these rules made for? Were they made with People Of Color (POC) in mind or for anyone who may recreate in the outdoors differently?

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b et ween t h e seam A look at the people behind the brands we love An Interview with:

KHRISTIAN GILHAM of Topo Designs | @topodesigns Who are you? Khristian Gilham, an apparel designer for Topo Designs, and you can find me on Instagram at @k.gilham. I’m from Montrose, Colorado, and I started school at CSU studying art and switched my major halfway through to apparel production and design. I am the youngest of five kids. I’m a bit awkward, I love naps, and hate ants. I like popcorn, beer, climbing, movies, being right, and airports. How did you land this sweet ass job at Topo Designs? Haha, honestly, no idea. Just kidding. I was persistent in offering up my time and energy and in showing I was eager to do whatever I could for the company in order to learn about the jobs. I happened to get sort of lucky. I started at Topo as the fit model, and then asked to shadow the designer for a bit so I could just learn from her, and then when she decided to go another way, I was given a sort of “trial period” to see how I would do. And I’m still here! It’s been such a crazy learning experience, but really, really rewarding. I also have a degree in apparel production and design, and I also had completed an internship for a company called Ohlin/D in New York. Being raised in Colorado with a serious interest in fashion helped me get along with our team pretty well. Where do you find inspiration for your designs? Inspiration comes from everywhere for me. I know everybody says that, but it’s true. I love old clothing, old photos, military surplus,

courtesy of Khristian Gilham

furniture, architecture, sculpture, art, streetwear to runway, style across the world, movies... the list goes on. As cheesy as it is, I really love to shop for old clothes. It always inspires me a lot, and reminds me why I love clothing. Walk us through the process—how do you go from idea to execution? There is a ton that goes into that. We are constantly changing the formula as the company

gets bigger. We do a ton of research at the beginning of each season to understand what we think cool, and what is already being made. We create mood boards and color boards, and we try to all get on the same page about what’s happening in the world. But in a nut shell, our team tries to come to an agreement about an initial idea for a product (like for example a coverall, a zip-up fleece or a rain coat, etc.). After this, I will do research around the idea and make boards around the specific product. Then I sketch out as many iterations of the product as I can (with sleeves, without sleeves, with pockets, adding different seams, changing up the silhouettes and showing as many variations of the design as I can). We narrow that down, and from there I sketch up the final ideas with more detail and some color options. Then we narrow down even further, and start the process of putting the design into a “design spec.” That’s essentially as much detail and specification as I can give around the product: stitching, color, zipper size, button size, label placement, and any trims we want. Then this “spec” goes to our production team, and they communicate all of this to the factory in a much more detailed, thorough, and digestible way. (They’re the real MVPs of the process; without them nothing gets made.) Then we work with them to work through fittings, color approvals, and problem solving. Once the product is made, our other teams try to sell it and market it! There’s wayyyyy more to it, but you get the picture! What’s an average day on the job look like for you? It honestly depends on where I’m at in the season. For instance, we are starting spring 2021 right now. So I am doing as much research as I can on trends, inspiration, colors, and silhouettes. Then I will compile all of that information and we will start the process I just described. Some days it looks like a full day of fitting prototypes of certain styles on our fit model, or finishing technical specs, approving plaid strike-offs, graphic tee artwork, or editing designs with updates from the production team, or even processing requests for collab projects.

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thaT's what he said

cry pillow

™

ANDREW PRIDGEN | @andrewjpridgen

Hi, I’m Guy Lewis, inventor and CEO of CryPillow™. Like you, my wife found herself extremely frustrated with her pillow going flat, getting mildewy, or becoming soaked from the frequency that she cried into it. I can’t tell you how many times she couldn’t get to sleep because of the sopping wet mess left after a typical evening of drinking wine and attempting to watch TV with me as I explained to her things like why women athletes can’t earn as much as men because they simply aren’t that interesting to watch, hence less ticket sales and jersey sales. Damn, I love my jerseys. She had a terminal case of what I call “Ugly Cry Face™” and it made her so much less fuckable, like when someone rolls over for a post-brunch, mid-morning sesh and wants to discuss the latest Elizabeth Warren policies. Sure, they might be the most well thought-out and viable options any candidate has thrown out there, but I’m a Bernie Bro 78

through and through. As the inventor and entrepreneur in the family, I regularly forced myself, to like really look at her in the morning, her face seemingly smashed to one side. Finally, one day, while putting on my funky socks with the chicks hatching from my latest company’s logo, I said, “You have a problem, honey. I can fix it.” Instead of changing my behavior to relieve her of unnecessary stress, it’s off to my workshop I went, doing what I do best. I decided the only way to help her sleep through the night was to get rid of her worn-out, tear-streaked pillow. And what a difference it’s made. Now, in the morning, as she patiently waits for me to get out of the shower (even though she’s running late), instead of looking at me with bloodshot eyes a runny nose, she gazes admiringly at me as do that

thing I do when I’m naked in front of the mirror, flexing and checking out my teeth up close (for like 20 minutes). Before CryPillow, she got dressed and did whatever she did to get herself and the kids out of the door with little more than a goodbye grunt. Now, refreshed, she does it with a smile. I’d be lying if I said I invented the CryPillow™ just for her and her peace of mind. Sending her off into the world in a slightly better, or at least different mood, enables me to have the house to myself. I can jerk off, send a couple Slacks to the team with “The Office” gifs, and schedule a 1 o’clock Zoom with my product manager who has been spending a lot of time in Vail, “Slaying and Playing.” Love that guy. Known him since college. CryPillow™ is made in the USA, designed in our lab by women and for women who cry all the fucking time: women of color, women who are elected officials, women on dating apps, mothers, grandmothers, professional athletes who don’t earn as much as men, women who work in marketing departments and aren’t ever able to speak in meetings. Women who are stalked on LinkedIn, in real life, in Ubers, at bars, in line at the deli counter, before or after yoga or pilates. We have a roster of world-class criers who con-

tinuously A/B test our product. And the results speak for themselves. In other words, EVERY woman who works for us is also a PROUD USER of our product! Innovation is also the key to our success. That’s why this fall we’ll be introducing a whole new line, including: the Travel CryPillow™, with special sound muffling capability for when you just have to let it go on an airplane but also want privacy. The CryPillow™ Eye Shade for when you only have two or three minutes during a break in a meeting to go throw down a bathroom cry and don’t want to come back with puffy eyes. The CryPillow™ Sleep Mask wicks away the involuntary tears that come when you’re sleeping, so you wake up looking and feeling fresh. The Car CryPillow™ which is, from what I’m told, pretty selfexplanatory. And, my personal favorite, the Desk CryPillow™, which attaches to the base of your keyboard and automatically puts itself away. And finally, our CryPillow™ App, which algorithmically tracks your day and optimizes your crying times, setting a timer for you to be done and back to work, back to life, back to your day! At CryPillow™ we believe you. And we’re here for you, every day. “Every. Single. Tear of the way.“