What is La Jolla Vélo?
La Jolla Vélo (LJV) is a product of a cycling obsession. It helps me share
my obsession through photos, stories, and links to online cycling news and
resources. LJV is to me as your "bookmarks" or "favorites" toolbar on your
browser is to you. This toolbar just got out of hand, and is all about cycling.
I have always enjoyed cycling for fun and exploration. As a kid in Atlanta,
I would jump on my bike and just take off. I didn't worry too much about where
I was going or how I would find my way home. No "horror stories" ever came
out of this habit of aimless wandering.
As I grew older, I did the "normal" things so many other people do... I went
to college, got married, went to work, went to more college while working,
had kids, grew old, yada yada yada. I also continued to ride. I rode around
town in Chicago. I rode across Iowa. I rode down the coast of California. I
rode across the country, I rode around Italy and France. I "shifted gears"
after a little, personal cycling event in 2005...
On July 14th 2005, I hopped on my bike and climbed a local hill called "Torrey
Pines Grade" fifty (50) times. It took all day. I rode over 160 miles that
day...half of it uphill. The elevation gain of that day's ride was over 20,000
feet. I was pretty proud of myself that night when I got home, and I thought
my wife would be proud of me, too. But when I got home well after dark and
told her that "I did it," she just had this twisted, curious look on her face
and asked me, "Why don't you try racing other people?"
I may not be the "idea guy," but sometimes when other people come up with
ideas I carry them out quite effectively. I joined a local bike club and started
trying a few races. Never mind that I was in my late 40's and had never raced
before. As it turns out, most of USA Cycling's members are in their 40's.
That
question from my wife turned into a passion for bike racing. I'm not terribly
passionate or successful with my own bike racing, but I'm definitely into bike
racing as a whole. By January of 2006 I was a board member of the San Diego
Bicycle Club (SDBC). In 2008 I became a sponsor through my company Marketing
Counsel. Now I subscribe to practically every English language publication
on bike racing and follow all the major races.
As my love for cycling (both racing and recreational) has continued to grow,
so did the "cycling favorites" page I had on my own web site (Goese.com). That
page got bigger and longer, to the point where I decided to move my "favorites"
to it's own site and expand it beyond one page. That is what is now La Jolla
Vélo. I decided to use the "La Jolla Vélo" name as the Marketing Counsel sponsorship
marquee. My marketing intuition told me that most cyclists are more
interested in something with the word "vélo" in it than they are in "marketing."
Hopefully someone, somewhere, will realize they have a need for my product
marketing and market research services while they are at home browsing this
site.
I may be the primary user of this online library of information and links,
but if you're visiting and have inputs on how to improve it for others, contact
me and let me know. I promise I won't try to sell you anything.
Enjoy the ride!
Dan Goese
President, Marketing Counsel, Inc.
Sponsor, San Diego Bicycle Club
Patron, USA Cycling Development Foundation
