Fab’s Friday Field Notes
Stage 1: When Holding Back Takes More Strength
61 kilometers. 1,100 meters of elevation. One deliberate choice.
I rode the first stage of Wines2Whales Epic with an overloaded backpack and my enduro bike – not exactly the setup for speed. But that wasn’t the point. My partner needed me alongside, not ahead, and my base fitness as a mountain and MTB leader meant I needed to level the playing field.
The ride itself? Easy for me, physically. But watching my teammates battle cramps and undertrained legs while demonstrating genuine resilience taught me more than any smooth solo ride could have. We became a real team in those moments, taking the right stops at the right times, supporting each other when it mattered most.
I met Jacques and Alastair through work, but liked them from the first day. That evening, gathered around glasses of excellent chardonnay, we did something increasingly rare in professional relationships: we were genuinely open. The conversation flowed from big tech governance to corporate strategy, from focusing on key client requirements to dreams of Namibian holidays and musings about Norwegian culture. No performance. No agenda. Just people enjoying being alive together.
Stage 2: The Partnership Priority
Stage 2 shifted everything. Worried about Michela’s cramps, I made the call – we rode ahead, just the two of us. Jacques and Alastair, I’m sorry for it. We’ll ride together tomorrow because if we don’t, we’ll miss the purpose of being here.
But today was about Michela’s breakthrough. Her sense of flow improved dramatically—I was genuinely impressed by her skill development. She’s getting better at reading context, observing other riders (even if we did overtake that last one a bit enthusiastically). Watching someone you care about discover their capability on a bike? That’s what these rides are really about.
Stage 3: Back to the Team (Tomorrow’s intention)
Tomorrow we reunite. Because leadership isn’t just about knowing when to hold back or when to push ahead – it’s about understanding what the moment requires and what the bigger purpose demands.
The South African Welcome
I’m frankly loving South African culture and people. Even at the race, the organisers have been exceptionally welcoming, mentioning me at every stage. Yes, I had valid (funny) reasons for it, but there’s something deeper happening here. I’m building the foundation to come back stronger next year – and this time, I’m bringing the Dolomites and Winchester crew.
This is where Fab Riders really takes shape. It’s the name I’ve given to all the friends—new and old—who share the ethos behind Fab Rides and Fab Wines. Not just a community, but a way of experiencing mountains, bikes, and life together.
Terroir and Trail: The Sensorial Connection
This experience is crystallising something I’ve been exploring through Fab Wines and Fab Rides – associating specific wine profiles with mountain experiences, creating a sensorial map of adventure.
For alpine terrain, Nebbiolo captures the essence perfectly: structured, demanding respect, revealing complexity over time, just like the mountains themselves.
But this Wines2Whales experience? This is Chenin Blanc territory. That wine’s extraordinary versatility mirrors what I’m experiencing here—the ability to be both approachable and profound, fresh yet capable of depth, and adaptable to conditions while maintaining character. Those notes of honey and stone fruit, the vibrant acidity cutting through fatigue, the way it can be both playful and profound—it’s the liquid translation of rolling through the Cape’s diverse terrain with friends, where challenge and joy flow together seamlessly.
Wine, like mountains, teaches you that the best experiences aren’t about domination – they’re about appreciation, patience, and understanding what each moment offers.
The Climbing Thread
I’ve been focusing on climbing lately instead of cycling training, and it’s revealing something important. Climbing gives me positive vibes, not just because I’m good at it, but because I’m discovering I’m even better at helping others get better. My daughters. My friends. They’re all getting stronger, and I’m learning that coaching outdoor passion isn’t about demonstrating your own strength – it’s about knowing when to hold back so others can step forward.
The same principle applies whether you’re on a rock face or a mountain bike trail: sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is moderate your own capability to create space for someone else’s growth.
Off the Trail: Building Frameworks
While racing through the Cape, the work continues. This week brought significant progress on multiple fronts:
Smart Mountains is moving through critical phases. We’ve finalised equity restructuring documents, created comprehensive IP protection frameworks tailored for our infrastructure business model, and developed detailed partnership structures. The challenge remains securing €2M in seed funding while exploring strategic partnerships in Italy and Switzerland that could provide non-cash contributions—warehouse facilities, staff, grant-writing capabilities, and local networks. It’s not just about the money; it’s about laying the right foundation for scaling environmental monitoring and landslide-prevention technology across mountain regions.
Legal and Partnership Infrastructure absorbed considerable energy this week. I developed integrated contract frameworks with comprehensive NDAs, MOUs, four-tier information classification systems, and VAR partnership provisions. These aren’t just legal documents—they’re the scaffolding that allows complex partnerships to function with clarity and trust—also delivered major project budgets for African initiatives, part of exciting projects emerging on the continent.
Digital Rights and Privacy Advocacy saw a major revision this week of an essay connecting Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” with the toxic culture documented in Facebook/Meta exposés. The refined piece sharpens the core insight: real resistance must be love-driven, not rage-driven. We need to create “empty space” around unethical executives, then fill it with genuine human connection. It highlights the remarkable story of someone walking away from $850M to create Signal, and examines the mental health crisis social media causes in young people. This positions me within the broader community of thought leaders on digital rights and privacy.
The Week Ahead
Stage 3 begins tomorrow, followed by partnership workshops that will shape the trajectory of Viasat, GReD, Smart Mountains, InsightTerra, FabCampaigns and it is . This trip represents something I increasingly value—the blend of personal passion and professional purpose. Using racing as a catalyst to advance projects, deepen partnerships, and strengthen friendships.
And next year? The Dolomites and Winchester Fab Riders join the journey. Building a community around wine, rides, and shared mountain experiences – that’s the real finish line.
What I’m Learning
Leadership decisions shift with context. Stage 1 taught me that holding back takes strength. Stage 2 showed me that sometimes partnership means moving ahead. Stage 3 will remind me that the purpose is the team itself.
The best teams aren’t made of people who trained perfectly. They’re made of people who show up, demonstrate resilience in challenging moments, stay open to real connection, and understand when to adjust for the bigger purpose.
Wine and mountains both teach patience, appreciation, and respect for what each moment offers.
And South African hospitality? It’s the Chenin Blanc of cultures – versatile, warm, complex, and genuinely welcoming.
Building Fab Riders one mountain, one bottle, one friendship at a time. Join us at fab-rides.co.uk and fab-wines.co.uk.
I am taking the liberty to comment – can’t help myself….
Reading through Fab’s reflections on the ride, I was struck by how much the emphasis was not on numbers or who got ahead, but on presence, pacing and partnership. As Fab notes: “sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is moderate your own capability to create space for someone else’s growth.”
That line really resonates. In many of our rides — and in life and work too — it’s not about how far or how fast we go, but whether we’re riding together, noticing when someone’s struggling, and adjusting so someone else can shine. Fab’s story of staying back, riding alongside until the moment for breakthrough, then stepping ahead when it made sense, is a vivid example of that mindset.
What I hope this reminds us of today is: in our team, among partners and peers, every one of us has the capability and the opportunity not just to lead, but to enable. To step back occasionally, so someone else can catch their breath. To ride thoughtful, not just fast. To become the kind of teammate who’s more interested in the shared experience than the podium finish.
So thank you — Fab, Miky and Alastair — for being part of that journey. For showing up, for noticing, for helping create space for growth. It’s not always about being the strongest on the trail; often it’s about being the one who makes the trail possible AND the one that identifies the best wines for these experiences…
Here’s to many more rides — together.