By John Marsh, Editor & Publisher
Today’s issue of RBR Newsletter will be my last as owner-editor.
Lars Hundley, a passionate roadie and a fellow journalist/website publisher, takes the reins beginning with next week’s issue.
This is something I’ve been contemplating for a while. The process of pulling together each weekly issue – working all of my editorial chops to produce a well-rounded, informative, entertaining and useful Newsletter about one of my personal passions, road cycling – is indeed a labor of love. But there’s no denying that doing so every week for more than 335 issues over these past 7+ years has worn me down.
In short, the time is right to pass the baton to Lars, who will take over with the same level of energy (and is likewise full of new ideas) I had 7 years ago. Also like I was then, he’s a long-time RBR reader and fan, with whom I’ve regularly corresponded for the past couple of years and who has offered helpful ideas along the way.
I will now refocus my professional life on the financial PR/IR work that I’ve done for the bulk of my career. And now that we will be empty-nesters after this school year, my wife and I are committed to slowing down a bit and enjoying our lives more, with more frequent travel, etc.
I have always thought of RBR as a sort of “sacred trust” for the road cycling community. I’ve been a reader since almost the beginning, and when I took over in 2011, my goal was to live up to that trust by maintaining the same high standards of quality, useful, unbiased, broad-based information focused on road cycling that I had long appreciated as a reader.
I hope you’re in agreement that I succeed on that.
And I wouldn’t turn that trust over to someone whom I didn’t believe viewed it the same way. So I think RBR is in good, quite capable hands with Lars at the helm.
As I’ve discussed RBR (and life) with Lars over the past many months, I’ve been taken aback by how many life and career parallels we share: he’s a journalist by training (though he was smart enough to also get an MBA after his journalism degree), has in-depth editorial experience, has spent serious time in Germany, has a wife who is a CPA and – perhaps the most salient similarities – is a longtime, avid roadie and fan of RBR. Lars has built his entire career online and in ecommerce, starting all the way back in 1998 in the gardening category. He’s 48 and is based in Dallas.
In short, it has been apparent to me since we seriously started discussing Lars’ potential ownership that he possesses skills and interests that I lack but that seem necessary to help RBR succeed into the future. Combined with his excitement in taking the helm and trying his array of new ideas, Lars’ skillset and aptitude make me sanguine about RBR’s future.
Thank You!
I thank you, the roadies who take a few minutes out of their day every Thursday to read RBR Newsletter, and who comment on articles, suggest Quick Tips and Questions of the Week and are otherwise engaged in the RBR Community.
I deeply appreciate the contributions of all the RBR Crew and contributors during my tenure. I am perhaps most proud of having assembled a group of coaches, tech, nutrition, training and medical experts, and dedicated product reviewers, who share a couple of things in common. For starters, they’re just deep-down good people. But also, like me, they’re fans of RBR and what it stands for, and it’s as meaningful to them as it has been to me to be able to contribute to the road cycling community as part of RBR.
In addition to doing good work with those good people, I have greatly enjoyed the chance to correspond with so many RBR readers over the years. The next best thing to road riding is talking about it. And it has been my unique pleasure to have had the chance to do so week in, week out with our great Crew and readers alike.
I look forward to staying in touch with many of you; if you don’t already have my personal email address, hit me up at [email protected] in the next few days, and I’ll send it to you.
But know that I’m not yet riding off into the sunset, never to be heard from again in the pages of RBR; in fact, I will continue in some fashion as an RBR contributor myself.
Again, it has been my honor and privilege to work with you, and for you, over these past 7 years, and I look forward to seeing what lies ahead for RBR.
If you are ever in the Atlanta area and itching for a ride, look me up.
Stay safe, and I hope to see you out on the road!
—John
Thanks for the great 7 years, John. I don’t comment much, but am always out here quietly appreciating all you guys do to bring this to us week after week. Best wishes to you going forward!
John, I want to thank you ever so much for your work, and devotion to this wonderful website, I’ve looked forward to reading it for years, you brought some new ideas, products, and contributors to add to this fine site, thank you, and now go enjoy life a bit more, with lots more bike time, as well as quality time with your family . Art Monty
John. Like Winnie I too have appreciated all you and your colleagues efforts each week. Best wishes and happy riding in the future.
Thank you so much for your hard work over the years on RBR. I do enjoy looking for the newsletter every Thursday. I receive so much benefit over time from the site and newsletter. All the best!
Thank you John for your good work on RBR. I began cycling in 2010 so you have been at the helm for most of my years as a roadie. I have learned so much during your time and have really enjoyed RBR. I wish you the best for the future.
I really appreciate all the work you’ve put in making a very enjoyable and helpful read each week. Good luck and many happy years ahead as another chapter turns . Steve Koester
Thank you John for all your dedication and hard work. And thank you for keeping up the tradition of delivering excellent bicycle related content week after week. It may have been a labor of love, but I’m sure it involved a lot of labor. John, you have proven yourself to be a worthy successor to Ed Pavelka. Happy trails.