New direction - Letting go

Good morning pedalcyclers. We have come to know one another well over the last four years as NashvilleCyclist.com has become a fixture in the local cycling community. I have been blessed with many wonderful opportunities to use this platform for good positive social cycling change, and for that I am grateful. I have received tremendous joy building this "brand" and appreciate your support throughout. I hope you have enjoyed the opportunities as much as I have.

My quietness the last six weeks is no fluke, but for very good reasons. Sure, I have led a busy schedule with added responsibilities that did not exist a year ago, but I have also been considering an offer I realize I should not pass up. I have been wrestling with this for about a month, but time has come for a decision to be made. My life has been richly blessed with one wonderful opportunity after another. Some I have jumped on 100% while others I have said no to because the timing was not right.

Today, the timing is right.

I was recently approached by a group interested in taking NashvilleCyclist.com to a higher level in the cycling world. Their ideas very much mimic what my greater ambitions have always been for the site. I knew what I wanted the site to become even before it was launched, and had already begun some aspects of that future growth. However, being able to devote the time necessary to make it happen has proven impossible.

In order to achieve my goals with the site it would require me to set aside everything and devote 100% of my energy towards the goals. Well, I cannot afford that, as I must pay the bills like all of you. This offer is an outstanding opportunity for NashvilleCyclist.com to become what it’s supposed to be, and in the end make an impact on a broader scale.

Now here comes the bad part, and this is what I have been wrestling with for the last month. I have made quite a few commitments in my work and personal life that I cannot turn my back on. I have been asked to continue leading the site and all of its other social responsibilities, but I have a lot of myself invested in other areas of life as well. NashvilleCyclist.com is hugely important to me, but more important are the relationships and obligations I have towards people and organizations that rely on me for success.

My decision to make has been "what do I walk away from and devote my energy towards?" You wouldn't believe the number offers and opportunities I have to get involved with various projects, but what I am bad about is wanting to get involved every single time. I cannot keep up the pace and am beginning to get "dropped."

So here is the bottom line that is difficult to have to say, yet, I know it is the right thing to do. I am turning over the ownership and direction of NashvilleCyclist.com to another group. I will devote the majority of my energy elsewhere and for an interim basis remain as a consultant for the site and its direction. I have full confidence in the new "owners" and wouldn’t have turned over the reigns to someone I didn’t believe would serve the cycling community well. The site will continue on and grow to a higher level nationally/globally, and I will begin to put my focus elsewhere in life.

Cycling will remain a big part of who I am and what I do day-to-day, but the site and all that goes along with it will no longer be my passion. I have taken it as far as I can take it and now it’s time for others to take it to the next level. I am ready for that next chapter in my life and now it’s time to turn the page. I have always had a very hard time letting go, but this time it is for the best.

Thank you for all the joys and opportunities we have shared. I have sincerely appreciated your support and help building NashvilleCyclist.com into what it is today. Without you nothing would have been achievable. I wish the best of luck to each of you and the future of NashvilleCyclist.com.

I’ll miss you…..