Ok I am doing this. Applying for a Kona Ambassadorship for 2020. I am publishing this application on my website as a blog…This is part 1, if I don’t become an ambassador it stays part 1 otherwise we are going to have a series of blogs as a Kona Ambassador. Let’s see. Wish me luck!
Dear people of Kona you’ll find my application to become ambassador below. In this blog I answer the application questions.
Please tell us a bit about yourself in a couple of sentences. (Please include your location)
My name is Jeroen Spoelstra I am mountain bike guide and a designer based in a village in the Spanish Pyrenees called Aínsa (you might have heard about it as it has been on of the race locations for the Enduro World Series in 2015 and 2018). Born and raised in the Netherlands, I moved to this beautiful place with my Costa Rican wife Marcela at the end of 2017. Since May of this year we welcomed our son Oliver and became a proper adventure family.
I am both passionate about mountain biking and about design. We have created a life for ourselves in which we can combine the two. With Unbeaten Adventures (my guiding company) I love to explore the endless Zona Zero trails around Aínsa - Pyrenees and then show what I’ve discovered to mountain bikers from all over the world. With Unbeaten Studio (our design studio) we work remotely as a design couple, where again we let de nature and the region inspire us for the work we do for our international clients.
picture by client Niek Peeters
If you could ride any Kona bike anywhere for a week, which bike would you choose and where would you go?
In this case I have two choices, two destinations and two bikes.
Number 1. I would pick a Kona Big Honzo ST with 29’ wheels. I own a 2012 steel Kona Explosif which I love and I feel the steel Big Honzo would be even better. if I could ride it for a week any where I would choose Uganda. I have been there on a mountain bike trip in 2016 and I feel I just scratched the surface of what that country has to offer for mountain bikers.
Number 2. I am the proud owner of a first generation Kona Process 153 from 2014. I use it for guiding in the higher Pyrenees on long alpine descents. And I would love to find out how latest Kona Process 153 CR 29 goes down these amazing trails.
picture by me of the Kona Process 153 just before we take off to hike-a-bike the Comodoro peak in the Spanish Pyrenees
What makes you unique in the cycling world?
I was a designer first and then became a mountain bike guide. I am a designer because I have a genuine interest in people and what moves them. I enjoy to listen to peoples life/ bike stories and learn about their different cultures. In return I love to share my travel/ life/ bike stories with my clients from all over te world. All these stories, these different point of views make me a rich person and sharing the experiences and learnings with people from all over the world makes me unique.
What kind of content are you able to create? Can you provide us with any examples?
For my guiding company I love writing blogs, take pictures and make small videos. In addition with my design studio I design infographics, websites and other graphical content. You can check my instagrams accounts @unbeatenadventures & @unbeatenstudio and have a closer look at my website unbeatenadventures.com.
I love to go out with my camera and tripod and take the time to show this area not just through a GoPro POV lens but through my lens. This video is made on a Sunday afternoon in the badlands of Ainsa just 2 KM from my house. This is stage 4 of the 2018 Enduro World Series race in Ainsa.
If you peruse through the 2019 ambassador contributions, which pieces resonate most with you, and why?
The piece by Brooklyn Bell resonates most with me. I always admire creative people that have different skills than mine. I love the piece of art she made, the colours, her style of drawing and the story behind it. She stood out when I scrolled through content of other ambassadors. From what I read Brooklyn is a powerful woman, from which we need more in the biking world.
Who inspires you most in the biking world and why?
French mountain biker, adventurer and artist Tito Tomasi is the person in the biking world who inspires me the most. I really admire the way he combines his adventures on the bike with his art. Also how he used his network and art skills to built a small NGO Vive la Vie with his wife, trying to protect the planet and work with kids in Nepal and Mexico and who knows where next. I have done a lot of social design work in Latin-America, Africa and Europe before I became a guide in the Pyrenees, so this is something that resonates with my core.
Why should you be a 2020 Kona ambassador?
This is the first time I truly connect with a brand ambassadorship. Most of the times these type of contests or request pass by I don’t feel that I fit in or can make a change. This time I do for several reasons.
a.) Kona it is a brand I love. Im an owner of 4 Kona’s at the moment.(Explosif ST, Blast, Process 153 and Rove ST). When we just moved to Spain, I was looking for a guiding bike at the end we went for a more local brand, but for 2020 I need something new and before I knew this opportunity was up, I was already looking again for Kona’s (coincidence?)
b.) Being a Kona ambassador means combining and sharing my two passions. I can use my design and creativity to create new content for the Kona mountain bike brand, and I can ride around as an ambassador sharing the brand stories with my clients. Clients always want to know why you ride a specific bike and brand.
c.) I am in the right place with the right job to be an ambassador. Ainsa and the bike area Zona Zero around the village has been hosting the Enduro World Series twice (2015 & 2018). This turned Ainsa into a mountain bike destination that is high on the list of mountain biker around the world. I have (had) guided mountain bikers from all over Europe, the US, Australia, New Zeeland, Latin- America and the Middle-East.
d.) The place where I live is epic to have a Kona Ambassadors meet up. The nature is amazing, the trails are stunning. If there are bike packers, gravel riders, road riders among the ambassadors. Ainsa has gravel, road, abandon villages and scenery for them to ride on and in.
I hope my answers to your questions, are the ones you are looking for. I am really excited to collaborate with Kona and other Kona Ambassadors. To make creative content around biking. Content with some impact, content that sticks. Looking forward to your announcements.
Jeroen Spoelstra
Did you like what you just read? Fancy a visit to Ainsa, Zona Zero? We are happy to guide you around in this magnificent place.
send an e-mail or call +34670443373